Buns, selfies, and water

That's just life lately. Lucy is all about water and wants to either be in the tub and up in the sink splashy to her hearts content. I can't turn on the faucet without her little hands reaching out to join in the fun. I've also found myself my new favorite hair style. It's a big ol' bun that sits right on top of my head. It's quick, it's easy, and some women even compliment me on it. That's wins from every direction if you ask me. Another bonus? It doesn't require showering.

Birthday

You know your memory isn't serving you as well as it should when you legitimately can't remember if your husband is turning 24 or 25. Really, this occurred. And has probably occurred 10 times since his birthday when I find myself calculating his date of birth and counting the years to the current day. I've got a feeling I won't be remembering how old he is exactly for the rest of the year. But at least I know how freaking wonderful and awesome he is. That my memory can't seem to shake.

So happy birthday to my wonderful! You make my world go round.

This year his birthday was all about getting all we could for FREE. I spent the days and weeks leading up to December 12th, finding every place I could that would give us something for free. I found mostly food, but I love free food, so I was all about that. Too bad they don't let you go to a free movie on your birthday, that we had to pay for.

I got the entire day with him and just loved it. This boy, deserves to be spoiled more than anyone I know. He works so hard and treats Lucy and I like gold. Gosh, we are lucky.

Thanksgiving + Port Angeles

For Thanksgiving this year my mom hosted at her house. Our contributions were a turkey (Jord makes a mean Thanksgiving turkey) and sweet potato casserole. We had a mixed group with some family from the Tingey side and some from the Breitweiser side, it was a great time!

We darted out a little early to try and beat some bad weather. We drove straight from my parent's house to Port Angeles, Washington where Jordan's grandparents live. It is a 16 hour drive so we split it up and stayed in a hotel at the halfway point. It almost wasn't worth it considering Lucy barely slept an hour. She was up and down bawling because she could see us from her pack n' play. We tried turning on the tv and music because we didn't want our hotel neighbors to be upset. Eventually we just had to let her cry. And cry she did. It was rough.

We made it to Seattle mid afternoon and we finally got out of the car and walked around Pike Street for a bit! I was terribly impressed with the flower arrangements everywhere and had so much fun pushing Lucy around looking at all the neat stuff on the sides of the street. After our little walk around town we grabbed some lunch and hopped on the Ferry on our way to Noni's house!

Spying Seattle from the Ferry!

We spent the weekend relaxing by the fire, eating incredible food (Noni knows how to cook!!), chatting, making Christmas cookies to send to loved ones, watching football, feeding the birds, and my favorite thing-- going to the feeding zoo.

Noni picked up a few loafs of bread on our way and we got to stay in our car for the whole zoo! It was crazy fun and I couldn't stop busting up laughing. Basically, you just roll down your window and all sorts of animals come up while you are driving and eat the bread you give them. They slobber all over the car and aren't afraid by any means. It was hilarious. (my pictures are terrible because I was much too absorbed in the moment.) We went straight to the car wash afterwards to get off all of the slobber!

 This is a Lama, I believe.

 And here Jordan is feeding a bison!

Here are some pictures from the rest of the weekend, I'm kicking myself wishing I had taken more!

Grandpa was such a good driver Lucy and I both fell asleep.

This leaf was from their backyard! The leaves were ginormous!

Jordan's comfy spot for the football game.

 We had such a special time! We are so grateful to have all our grandparents with us. How blessed are we? Thank you, Noni and grandpa!

Eating Dirt

Lucy has found my potted plants in the front room. And any chance she gets to scurry away from me she crawls to them and shoves dirt in her mouth by the handful. It's so yucky, but she loves it.

My grandma said she probably needs some iron. And she's probably right!

Halloween 2015

This year for Halloween Jordan get's all of the brilliance credit. (Which is especially amazing knowing that my sweet boy hates to dress up in a costume, no matter the occasion). I guess making him a daddy made him a little soft towards some good Halloween fun!

So, who'd we dress up as? Mr. and Mrs. Draco Malfoy. Oh, and their house elf, Dobby, of course.

We got together with the Tataipu's and had our tradition of homemade rootbeer witch's brew! We always have the best time with them. After giving out some candy we took the kids out trick- or- treating. Lucy stayed in the stroller the whole time. She hasn't quite grasped the concept. ;)

 They dressed up as all the characters from "Inside Out". They nailed it and looked so darn cute!

The sweetest little Dobby. I cried when he died in the book and movie. 

Creepy looking husband...

This was Jordan's carved pumpkin. The kid is so creative and did this without any sort of help!

We give this Halloween 2 big thumbs up!

Lucy's 1st Birthday Party

I had so much fun planning Lucy's birthday party. It had to be pink (with a little gold, no brainer) with sparkles and all of her favorite treats. Never did I think throwing a birthday party could be so dang fun! I just loved it.

I ordered a FREE smash cake from Macey's. WHAT!? When I found this out I about died. I was so sad thinking I would make a masterpiece cake only for it to be smashed and beaten. They did a great job! I was so darn happy about that.

I made a non-smash cake for everyone else. I decided a wasn't going to make a cake because I've never made a fancy, cute cake before and I didn't want my first attempt to be one that was going to be eaten by a bunch of people. BUT, my sweet mother-in-law gave me some tips and tricks and motivated me to do it. And I am so glad I did! It was a simple cake, but it was just what I wanted and I was so proud I made it! High five.

We had a Lucy meal served with all of Lucy's favorites. Applesauce, apricots, fruit (especially pineapple, grapes, and clementines), hummus, crackers, and cheese. I was impressed that her taste choices at this age were well rounded enough to make a meal out of! Haha.

We had a small group of people to our house and it all was so sweet. Because it was so intimate Lucy got lots of love from grandparents and great grandparents as well as from aunts and uncles. It was sweet and our home was filled with so many loved ones!

Lucy LOVED her smashcake! She grabbed herself handfuls of goodness, even let me try some, and delicately finished her cake by tipping it over onto the floor.

 "Mmmm, guys! This is good!"

 Action shot right before the cake went on the floor!

I put together a video montage of Lucy's first year. It was so rewarding going over all the videos I took of our sweet baby over this last year. After it was finished, I cried the first 50 times I watched it. Having her in our lives has made it the best year we've ever had. She brings so much light and happiness into our home and showed us what it means to really, really love. You can watch the video here:


Lucy's First Birthday! - Large from Madelyne McKee on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday to our sweet girl! We love you so!