one.

Just a year ago my baby girl looked like this.

She now is one year old (as of last Friday). This year has gone by so fast and I cannot imagine life without this darling in it. She brightens my day and I love her beyond description. Here is a run down of her big day.

Waking up a one year old!

I had to really ponder what to make for her "birthday dinner". Not because she doesn't have any favorites, but because everything seems to be her favorite. She loves food and has been known to grunt and point until you give her whatever it is that you are eating. She even grunts when we give Nell dog treats. I ended up deciding to make biscuits and eggs with orange slices. Delicious sounding I know, but she really loves biscuits.


Here is the birthday spread.


The cake. I decided to do an applesauce spice cake with a cream cheese frosting. Not a work of art by any means, (Like it would have been if we were still in Pennsylvania and the famous Deb Kreiger made the cake) but it was tasty!

She was really cute when we were singing to her. She just got this little smile on her face like, "are you singing for me??"




We didn't go crazy in terms a party. We invited our good friends the Walkers and then any family members that live in SLC. Marci, Seth, and Ellen were able to come and we loved having them here to share in her big day.






Happy Birthday baby girl! You sure are loved!


Here are some stats and facts about this one year old:
Weight: 20 lbs 15.5 oz- 50%tile
Length: 30 1/4 in.- 90%tile
Head: 45%tile

• She now has 6 teeth (4 on top, 2 on bottom).
• She is finally sleeping all night long! Just like Mason, she didn't sleep all the way through the night (meaning like 7:30 pm to 8 am), until 11 1/2 months. She finally kicked the early early morning wake up and for that I am grateful.
• She is transitioning from two naps to one. She still takes an occasional morning nap, but mostly she goes down after lunch and sleeps for 1.5-3 hours. I like it better this way. It gives us the mornings to get out of the house.
  
• She is offically weaned from breastfeeding and drinks from a sippy cup.
  
• She started walking at the beginning of May. On May 10th she walked all the way across our living room and she has been at it ever since.

• She really loves to play with Mason. He calls her his "Sagie girl". Their favorite games include: Mason throws the ball and they both crawl to it as fast as they can to get to it, Mason runs around the couch and Sage chases him, climbing the stairs and singing songs.
• On her own she loves to put things inside of any container she can find. I often find little toys and trinkets inside our shoes, or inside tupperware in the cabinet.
• She loves to dance. She points at my ipod and grunts or else just starts dancing without any music. In church she dances and "sings" to all the hymns and even waves her arms around while she watches the conductor. If you just say the word "dance" to her she wiggles her bum.
  
• When she is crawling or walking really fast (usually in an effort to get something or somewhere) she breaths really quick and heavy. She usually has a big smile on her face and just acts like she is working so hard to accomplish her task. She has done that since she started crawling. Its how I know she is on the move when I can't see her.
  
• She has a cute little pout as pictured below.
  

• She still stiffens her arms and legs and rotates her wrists and ankles when she gets excited. She loves it when daddy comes home or when Mason wakes up (if she is up before him).
• She loves to be outside.
• She loves to go to the park and swing on the swings or play in the big tube. (She often does the above mentioned movement when she sees the park.)
• She still has a deep raspy little voice and the funniest laugh. Her fake laugh is super funny.
• She says "mama" "dada" and "nell nell".
  
• She scrunches up her nose when she laughs or smiles. I LOVE it.

She is such a happy girl and such a bright spot in our lives. Love you Sagie girl!

Birthday Girl

Happy Birthday to my sweet baby girl. One year went by so fast. Stop growing, ok?

(A more detailed post of Sage's first year to come after we celebrate tonight.)

Mason-isms

• After bath time, Mason comes into Sage's room while I'm getting her in her jammies. He has been having this conversation with Nic in the other room and wants to tell me about it.
  Mason (pointing to his nipples): "Mommy I have these on my body. So does Daddy and Sagie and Nell Nell. So does Mommy. Hers go boing boing and Mommy uses hers to feed Sagie milk. My (I) don't want to use mine to feed Sagie. Mine are just little. They don't feed Sagie." (Mine go "boing boing"? Should I have that checked out?)
• Mason was trying to ask me about a helicopter and if it was landing over our house or something like that. I wasn't entirely sure what he was saying and he was getting frustrated until he finally said, "Mommy! Tell me the truth!"
• Mason: "Mommy? You be dead and your eyes turn red and you snap books on frogs?" (What??? No idea where he got that from.)
• Sage: Babbling. Mason: "Sagie is saying 'I love you brother and you are awesome!'"
• We were at the Huntsman center having dinner with Nic and a nice elderly man, dragging around an oxygen tank, was talking to Mason about the impending storm outside. After their little conversation Masons says, "Excuse me. Is that (pointing to the oxygen tank) to spray people with?" The man just laughed and got on the elevator.
• The other day Mason was outside playing with some of the neighbor boys. As he as coming in the house I heard one of the boys yell, "I love you Mason" and without skipping a beat Mason called back, "I love you too Tavis!" Must have been a great play session.
• I was trying to reach something that was high up and Mason informed me, "Mommy, you'll never be big like Daddy. I eat lots of food and I'll be big like Daddy. You are just small."
  

• The other day we were going to the bank. When we pulled into the parking lot Mason asked, "Is this the bank?" "Yes." "Are there lots of piggies in there?"

• Mason kept pointing to his cheek saying, "Look mommy! I'm growing a horn like daddy!" "You mean a mole?" "Yeah. A mole. Like daddy!" Nic says that now he know what Mason really thinks of him.
• We use the doors on Mason's closet to display his art work. The other day I found Mason standing in front of it, hands on his hips, with a scrutinizing look on his face. I asked him what he thought of his work. He said, "Its. AWESOME!"
  

Easter weekend equals....

Farmington Easter Egg Hunt where Mason made a killing (after being coached by Nic as to how to get the most eggs. "Don't stop and look at the eggs Mason. Just keep putting them in your basket as quick as you can." I tried to add to be nice to those around you and don't push etc., to which Nic replied, "Yeah. But mostly just try to get a lot of eggs.")

Easter morning. Mason was so excited for the Easter bunny. I told him when the sun came up we could go find his basket and so sure enough, as soon as the sun peaked over the mountains he was in our room ready to go. So fun.

Sagie girl woke up a little later and enjoyed the celebration as well. This is her first Easter and also her last first holiday. sigh.

(Of course Mason loved Sage's present almost as much as his.)

Church in the new digs... (My mother-in-law bought Sage the cutest little Easter dress, but unfortunately it was too big and she was "crawling" out of it. My mom and I had bought this dress before Sage was even born for her to wear on her first birthday so we pulled it out and it worked great!)

Nic did a little photo shoot on our front steps while I was getting ready for church. I thought these pictures were so funny and so typical of my kids. Sage was doing her pterodactyl scream and flapping her arms laughing and Mason was mimicking her. Even my friend Camille who lives a street away could see Sage flapping her arms. So even though we didn't get the "perfect shot" I love seeing these pictures that so perfectly capture my kids personalities and their little quirks.

We really do love our daddy, despite his absense in this photo. We were in a rush so we just grabbed this picture instead of setting up the tripod to do the whole family.

Not pictured: We had a nice dinner at my aunt and uncles house and had a chance to catch up with my cousins. Awesome folks they are. We also had Chris, Marci, Seth and Ellen over for dinner on Sunday. It was nice to spend some time with them and Mason adores his cousins, so he was loving life.

On Saturday, while Sage napped, Mason and I went to the store to pick up some things for dinner. I had the chance to talk with him a little bit about the true meaning of Easter and it was so sweet to watch as he tried to understand the whole thing. After church on Sunday Mason kept saying, "Jesus came out of the tube and he's not going to die again!" Tube. Tomb. Close enough right? I'm grateful for this weekend where I was able spend time with those I love and celebrate something that is so important to me.

Finally...

...its warm enough for some of this action.

(By "this action" I don't mean eating wood chips at the park, but that is certainly a part of the package deal.)

(Note the lack of pictures of Mason. This kid is so happy to finally be outside that getting him to stop for long enough to snap a picture is near impossible.)

10 months

This little girl is officially on the move. As of a few days ago she is now crawling all over the place. Time to start some serious baby proofing.

Her 9 month stats:

Weight: 18 lbs 12 oz (50th %tile)

Length: 29 in (90th %tile)

Head: (50th %tile)

She only gained 6 oz in the last 3 months and dropped from 90th %ile in weight to less than 50th. Her length is right on the her curve though, so she is growing well. We were all sick for those 3 months, so hopefully her lack of gain is due to that.

A few facts about Sage:

She loves to dance. And by dance I mean completely rock out. She wiggles her bum and throws her head from side to side. I'll try to get some video on here soon. Its hysterical.

She is starting to be more discriminate in her "talking". She knows that Nic is "dada" and will squeal it when she sees him.

She is starting to imitate things we say. If we say "Nell Nell" she says, "Ne Ne". She also says, "Ni Ni" for "night night".

She is a really laid back baby. She is happy to sit and play with toys.

She still pukes quite a bit. I think this topic will likely have a whole post at a later date.

I think she is finally coming out of her stranger anxiety phase. At least she doesn't burst into tears when someone else holds her.

She adores her brother. She lights up when he is in the room and he can make her laugh with very little effort.

She likes to eat and will make a very loud and demanding grunt if I'm not quick enough when preparing her food.

She has been getting her top teeth the last few weeks. She has her right front and right lateral teeth, and the opposite two should be here any day.

She is starting to sleep better. Usually goes to bed between 7pm and 8pm and wakes once around 5 am ish. Then she usually sleeps until 8. Hopefully we'll get rid of that 5 am wake up soon, but as of now I'm pretty content.

She is a good napper.

She has the sweetest laugh and is not at all stingey in sharing it.

She loves to give kisses and will lean in for one whenever she gets the chance.

One of her favorite "games" is to hand me something and then take it back. She could do this for hours. Its so cute how she holds her arm straight out and kind of hunches up her shoulders to hand it to me and then looks so proud when I take it. Love it.

She crinkles her nose when she smiles really big.

She has the cutest, grunty little laugh. Sometimes if she is trying to get attention she makes a high pitch grunt over and over again that kind of sounds like a dolphin with a horse voice. Funny.

She loves bath time.

She is an absolute joy. Seriously, I am over the moon over this little girl.

This is a typical Sagie girl picture. Tongue out.

Cheeks.

Love it.

3.

Mason has been so excited for his birthday. He has been waiting and waiting for "March eight" so he can turn "free years old". Every time I have asked him what he wants for his birthday he has said, "a strawberry, chocolate chip birthday cake." So last night after he had gone to bed I made him a strawberry, chocolate chip birthday cake while Nic decorated the house with streamers and balloons. I told him he could have a hot dog for lunch today (we bought them special just for him yesterday), and this morning when he came in my room he immediately said, "Mommy its my birthday. Lets have a hot dog for breakfast!"

I can't believe three years have gone by since I became a mom. Since I became his mom. Last night while he was in the tub I commented to him about this being his last night as a two year old. I got a bit teary. Nic then, ever so sensitively (but really just joking), said, "Mason, tell mommy to get over it!" So Mason said to me: "Mason says, 'Mommy get over it'. Then mommy says (and his voice goes up 4 octives into a a squeaky whine) 'I don't want to!'" Yes. Three years old and he is already mimicing me. Nic was on the floor laughing.

Mason is funny, smart, sweet and a bit quirky. Here is a run down of Mason as a freshly turned three year old:

• He has quite an active imagination. He loves to hide under the covers of the bed (usually right after its made) to hide from the giants. He yells, "Hide everyone! Mommy, hide Sagie!" That is just one of the many games that we play. All day long.
• He can count up to 29 and recognizes numbers to 20. He loves numbers.
• He knows all his letters and is starting to recognize words (like stop, tree, and Mason).
• He likes meat. Especially if its spicy.
• He has been potty trained since mid-November. There have been a few accidents since then, but pretty much once he decided he wanted to do it, he did.
• He loves to read and has most of his favorite books memorized. Its funny to hear him "read" them using the same voice inflection that I use when I read them.
• He jumps off of everything. I have bargain with him to get him to only jump off half the staircase instead of the whole thing. He also climbs on everything. Everything.
• For all his imagination he does not like to draw or color. He'll do a few squiggly lines and I'll ask him what he drew and he'll say, "um...some squiggly lines."
• He is so sweet with his sister. He talks to her in a high pitch, squeaky voice and whenever she cries he says, "Its okay Sagie. I'm here."
• Every night he asks Nic to NOT go to work the next day. He loves his daddy.
• His favorite foods are: eggs, pizza, "meat", cheese, apples, applesauce, strawberries, spicy chili., chocolate.
• His favorite songs are: the "temple song", Jesus wants me for a sunbeam, Popcorn Popping, Twinkle Twinkle, ABCs, and pretty much anything else he's into for the day.
• He still loves airplanes, helicopters, trains, etc., but has broadened his horizons a bit to include pirates and treasure. He often informs me that "X marks the spot mommy."

Today in celebration we went to the library and then Nic came home early and we went to the Gateway Discovery Children's Museum. He loves it there. After the museum Nic and Mason rode the train home (another great love of this boy). We then had pizza, opened presents, and ate cake. Overall I think he had a pretty special day.

Birthday boy first thing this morning.

The weather outside. (We had a big snow storm last night).

Nic's decorations.

Birthday boys get to blow bubbles in their milk.

At the museum:

We got Mason a tool bench. He was thoroughly spoiled by his grandparents and pseudo grandparents. This is one loved little boy.

We love you darling boy.