Esther Photo Shoot 1 Year

My friend has a nice camera (and lens!) and was so kind to let me borrow it for Esther's pictures. It too me a month to finally get everything together (then we didn't even end up using the pvc pipe backdrop Jay made- oh well!) Esther was sick for 2 weeks, then teething CRAZY last week so she is 13 months in these but she pretty much looks the same as 12 months! (I was so stressing out that I wasn't going to be able to capture her exactly the way she is at 1 year- once they grow- that same exact look is gone- you know- her hair falls a little different, her teeth a little different- everything is just so constantly changing!)

After everything I'm so glad we got some cute photos of this angel.

I had to get her a cat for the big day! She's always meowing.

Not too keen on smashing...

She loves bubbles!

I had fun with the color editing on this one- just look at those lips! 

sweet curls

an always will smile for daddy- even when she's done and grumpy.

Esther the One Year Old

Esther Joy

1 Year

Esther has many names around here:
Sparkles.
Fun.
CRAZY girl.
Dancer.
Cat.
Baby boo.
lil' giwrl. (Grant when he's being sweet to her)
Goo-goo (I call her that- I hate it- I think it's the dumbest nickname ever but for some reason it continually rolls off my tongue when I'm talking to her.)
Wiggle worm (she squirms around on the floor with her face flat on the ground- it's super weird and adorable at the same time).

Favorites?

Food: yogurt and peaches (that's pretty much it- she's kind of been picky- I think because of teething)

Activity: Books- that will always make her smile. She also is enjoying the water table we just got and the sand box. She also LOVEs playing "chase" with daddy- he holds her and runs after Grant- I think she likes to be in the middle of the action.

Word: Meow. Seriously. That is just her word for any animal- and she also meows at me when she wants to go outside. And she also has to meow right as she's nodding off to sleep. It's like her thing- she likes talking about it and she's so happy when you talk to her about any of those things that she is referring to from her meowing.

Person: Mommy. She likes dad but it's pretty much mom she wants. I know she likes being around Grant...sometimes.

Article of clothing: SHOES! She loves loves loves her shoes and socks on. And sweaters. Because that means we are going outside! She loves outside.


Least favorites?

Being strapped into her highchair

Oh- she's totally done with the crib. Won't sleep in it anymore- she likes to snuggle as she drifts off and I am not climbing into the crib to do that so we took the mattress out so we can snuggle as she falls asleep.

Strangers- she is totally not liking them. At. All.


We celebrated just us and made a watermelon cake.

 This past year has been one crazy ride but I'm grateful this girl has been here with us. She brings light into our lives and adds so much to our family. Love you Esther girl.

Here's some pictures from last month:

Did you find a book baby?

This one!

first pigtails

she loves color 

more pigtails! she's not a huge fan.

finger painting....

I popped her in the kitchen sink afterwards :)

"EESH!" she copies grant now and says cheese when I get the camera out. so cute.

Helping to wake up Grant- she climbs on him...he doesn't really like that.

That smile!

 Love her to pieces!!!!

Happy Birthday beautiful!

Esther 11 Months

 Esther Joy 

11 Months

It works this way. Esther as the 2nd child. I don't think it would have worked the other way around- personality wise.

When I would read to Grant, he would sit there contently as I made expressions and inflections and he would smile.

Esther is a whirlwind. She demands to be read to. "Uhhhh Uuuuh!!!!" is her plea. I had to move the bookshelf out of her room so she wouldn't jump off my lap and break her neck from all flinging herself in despair that we can't keep reading and take a nap.

But really- I had time with Grant- he was my first baby, I had time and attention all for him as he was just patient and content. Esther needed her personality as the 2nd because there is a toddler and if she's going to be read to it's because she makes it perfectly clear that it must be done.

She is demanding. That's the word for the month. Okay, and FUN. I can't not say that word this month as well.

She dances and sings and copies little noises.

Exhibit A:

Her first one was "Uh-oh" and she would say it all day into the night as this and that drops to the ground- on purpose of course, just for the joy of using her words! Then lately it's been wagging a finger and saying "Uh-uh" (meaning "no"). 

From her curly blonde hair, blue eyes, to her "Mater teeth". Have you seen Cars? Yes, she has Mater teeth right now. And her fat playdoe feet! I could watch her all day- oh wait I do and I love it! She is so beautiful and lively.

She is just full of LIFE.

Mater Teeth

Did you know one night I was feeling sad. I was just needing some comfort. I remember thinking how wonderful it would be if God could just send me an angel to give me a big hug. Guess who woke up not 5 seconds later?

At first, I sigh, going, "You have to be a mom even when you don't feel like it" to realizing that God was telling me he sent me an angel. And as I held her and caressed her sweet cheek with mine I felt my Heavenly Father's love.  She is one of my angels. I'm so blessed to be able to feel her little heart beat so close to mine.

She keeps me on my toes. Especially when she is tired. At church today I realized she isn't going to sleep as long as we are out somewhere and there are people.  I could persuade Grant with some nursing but Esther is a different creature. So I brought this tired tired baby to Relief Society with me (did I mention we have 1 o'clock church- right during her long big nap) and she's sitting there blowing raspberries, demanding the lady next to me she must open her bag and see what's inside- which the kind lady let her look and gave her some snacks- which of course are better than the snacks I brought her- and then dancing to the hymns.

I don't think my heart can take it. How can I have been so blessed?

I love you Esther girl and can't wait to celebrate 1 YEAR here at the end of the month!

E 10 Months

Ladies and Gentlemen....

We have some changes here.

Crawling! On Thanksgiving day- and of course it was at Nana and Papa's! (Big milestones for the kids are always reached there for some reason as we visit).

Binky throwing champion! She grabs it and flings it angrily across the room thinking that means she doesn't have to sleep. I'm not going to fumble through the dark to go get it- guess that means no binky but sleep is still part of the program missy. I'm such a mean mom sometimes.

Biting! Yikes- Grant takes a toy and watch out! Attack mode happens quickly along with a screech of anger in a split second with Grant around.

Laughing- there is always plenty of that too- they do play well together a lot of the time. And it's the cutest darn thing. It's music to my ears.

Screaming...okay so after the laughter inevitably comes the warrior cries. Now that we have a mover, I've come to terms that I do actually have to teach my children to share and play nice. Grant just has to learn now- I guess that's where I come in the picture. Wish me luck. It really is a battlefield. 

Nursing- wars are over though! She finally loves nursing- still on her time table of course- but she actually enjoys cuddles with mommy now! I'm so glad!

Favorites?
Frozen peas of course. Great for those tender gums as the teeth come through.
Baths!
Going anywhere outside and different people and places. She gets bored at home.
People- but favorite is mom at the moment.
BOOKS!!! Oh my she can't get enough of them. She'll be dead tired and scream if I close the book and have the lights off so she can sleep. But then she'll zonk out- oh man but wow- very expressive about her love of books.



How would you describe your little E?

"Whipper snapper"-Jay
"Feisty"-Grant
"Strong-willed"- Aubrey
"FUN!"- both parents
"Inquisitive"
"Special"- friends

I don't know what it is about this little girl but she does have a special spirit. There is something important on this earth that she is meant to do here and she has an effect on others. I've had a few people say that they feel they know her or have known her before. Well, it doesn't surprise me I guess that people would know her because I totally know we existed before this earth life- but that they will tell me that and know it themselves.  This girl has the personality to be strong. I can only imagine what she will need to face going into this crazy world we live in nowadays.

I kind of question sometimes if I can be a mother to one so strong. She makes me want to do better and be better and learn more about our Heavenly Father and our purpose here with our family. We are so very blessed to have her influence and light in our lives. Oh and how we love her.

She enjoys eating! All by herself. 

Pointing and "talking" She babbles about EVERYTHING!

after bathtime she has the SWEETEST blonde little curls! 

E 7 Months

Happy 7 Months baby girl!

Favorites:
Clawing your eyeballs out when she's happy that is. I mean she is excited and happy she goes for the eyeballs- so cute and painful.


Sitting up. She will not do tummy time anymore. She doesn't like feeling like a helpless little blob on the floor! Come on! I can sit up mom and be big and important and look around and be busy with more important matters with my toys.


New Stuff:

She is cutting 4 teeth. Did you get that? Not 1, not 2 but 4 teeth! And guess what? The amber teething necklaces REALLy do work. Like she isn't screaming in pain from FOUR teeth coming in. I mean WOW. I am a believer.

Rolling over!!! From tummy to back! She gets so happy and proud of herself.

Grant always says "Both fit!" I think when we bought this we weren't planning on fitting all the children on here but it helps G sleep even if E is fighting sleep off.

Mom's tip: bath the baby in the sink while you do dishes....uh....good idea but with little miss here that ain't going to happen! I spent all my time trying to contain all the water from being splashed EVERYWHERE! She is crazy in water!

Love those rolls.

"Selfie"

We got to watch a friend's baby! It was kind of fun pretending I had twins for a couple hours....as long as Jay was there. They were fun watching them interact and "talk" to each other.

Those beautiful blues. I adore having a blue-eyed baby.

So much personality! She is not content just being a baby. She is ready to be a big kid and run around- I can see her frustration at not being able to do things that she is seeing Grant do.