This morning Vidalia had a birthday party. A few friends from the ward came over and we all had a blast! Her friends James, Kayli, Bryce, Trey, Dane, Abby, and Mia all came over (with all their parents). We didn't do a very good job taking pictures, but here are a few.
Yesterday was Vidalia's first birthday! We had so much fun. The very first thing we did was turn her car seat around so she can finally look at something (versus nothing). I would say she was pleased with the change.
Vidalia and I dropped Ryan off at work. Then we went to the store and I let her pick a little cake. She picked a little strawberry cheesecake. She must have known that cheesecake is delicious (and perhaps there were only four choices and three of them were cheesecakes).
Later in the day we went to Village Inn for a birthday get together (not Vidalia's). Our friend, Tina, in the ward shares a birthday with Vidalia. We were celebrating her. She's an awesome person and Vidalia enjoyed herself.
Once it was time for Ry to get off work, we went and got him. Once we got home, we called up my mom so she could watch Vidalia open the presents she had sent her. (I don't have any pictures of the last three events, but I did have my camera with me. It's just hard to remember all the time.)
After that, we had Vidalia open the rest of her presents. She had about a billion, since we bought her something on purpose, forgot about something we meant to put in our stockings and so wrapped it for her instead, and I pulled out all the clothes that are in her upcoming size and wrapped them. It really made it seem like we got her 10 presents when really we got her only one intentionally. :) The good thing about 1 is that she liked all of her presents, clothes and not clothes. However, the clothing was her least favorite, but I don't think she knows that.
She was so pleased with this violin. Oh and the reason it looks so real is because it is real. She got a foam violin for Christmas. Both the real and the fake are size 1/32, which means tiny. We're going to teach her to play. We'll start with the foam violin and teach her about being nice to it and gentle with it and teach her how to hold it. I estimate it will be a very long time before she is actually using this violin, but I just wanted to teach her so bad. I decided it was a good choice when she first plucked at those strings. Her face lit up and she giggled. I don't know if you can tell since she's not looking, but the face in the picture above is a very pleased face. I think she's going to be a musician. I've always thought that though. She took to music from the day she was born, quite literally.
She got a card from Aunt Burns with money in it. She looked and looked and looked at the card. The money on the other hand, she picked up and threw on the floor.
One spoiled baby!
After presents we ate dinner. Then did the cake.
Then we headed to the bath and put her to bed.
I think she enjoyed her birthday. Little does she know she's still having a party. Y'all are invited (it's on Saturday at 10am at our house). We're going to let her play with other kids and eat a little more cake, then I think we will rid our house of all things sugar until next year.
Christmas was good for us this year. It started with Christmas Eve. Ryan had to work and didn't get home until 8:30. I went to a party with Vidalia in the middle of the day. I was feeling glad to have somewhere to go because it already feels lame knowing it is a Saturday when Ryan is at work (what can I say, I'm brainwashed), but knowing it was Christmas Eve made it feel extra lame. Eventually Ryan got home. We spoke briefly to my family and then drove around and looked at lights and talked about how we felt lonely not being with family at Christmastime.
Part way through looking at lights, I climbed in the back of the car to try and help Vidalia see them. Everytime she saw the lights she would point and say, "Da!" She's a cutie. After our little driving, we got over our lonely feelings and decided to have a good time anyway.
Then on Christmas morning, I made Christmas Quiche, we got ready for church and then showed Vidalia her stocking, which she was afraid to touch, at first. We don't have any pictures of that. I plugged the camera in on Christmas Eve before we went to bed, then when I went to use it, it said the batteries were exhausted. Weird. We pulled out the computer and got them charged, but we didn't actually catch too many pictures. Once Vidalia figured out that she could touch the stocking and pull things out of it, she was super excited to see what was in there.
After the stocking, we started opening presents. We didn't know if we'd be able to open them all before church, but we tried really hard, opened all but two, and were late to choir practice (yet still on time for church). She was really cute opening presents. She got a little stuffed duck from her cousin Aly. When she was opening it and saw inside of it, she got really really excited, pulled it out as fast as she could and then promptly bit it on the beak. I'm guessing she loved it so much she kissed it.
After Church we hung out at the building for a little while and talked to some friends that were also unable to go home for Christmas and another friend whose husband passed away a few days before Christmas. They had been married less than a year. I can't imagine what she's even going through now.
Then we went and picked up a single friend who had nowhere to go for Christmas and took him to Brother and Sister Smith's house for a potluck dinner. (They are the ones Ryan lived with when he first moved out here.)
After we left their house, we met some other friends at an Assisted Living Center for caroling. It was a lot of fun. When we got home, we were able to talk with Grammy, Papa, and the Parks for just a little bit. Vidalia had a couple presents left, so they watched her open them. Then we talked briefly to my family. It was a merry Christmas around here. That's for sure.
Our ward Christmas party was a lot of fun. We had a dinner, the primary kids and young women each sang a couple songs and then Santa came to visit. Vidalia was not particularly excited, but we made her meet Santa anyway...and I think made her is a very appropriate way to put it. We did force her. I think her personal objectives were different from ours. She did pretty well though.
Sitting with her friend, Keen, waiting to meet Santa.
Almost V Baby’s turn. (The little girl in line behind her is her friend Ava who is just 1 month older than her.)
Trying to figure out what Santa is showing her.
Who is this Santa guy and what do I think of him?
Looking to Daddy for reassurance.
Not feeling so reassured. Getting nervous and scared.
A couple weeks ago, Vidalia’s friend James came over to play while his Dad took a final. Vidalia really likes James and James likes her too. He was trying to teach her about soccer and playing different games. She didn’t really get it and he got a little frustrated, but apparently he loved playing with her so much that he asked his parents if he could come over here everyday for the entire next week.
I think I already told you about our Thanksgiving (and even had pictures), but those pictures were from my phone and I just uploaded the good ones (well, better ones). So, with few words, here are some pictures.
