Where did the year go?

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It's been a year full of firsts, and we've loved every minute! OK, mostly every minute...:) We celebrated her first birthday at a party in her honor on Sat., 11/28. She enjoyed having a house full of guests and didn't shy away from all of the singing as we crowded in around her to see what she'd do with her "smash cake." But she was a dainty little lady and didn't make much of a mess, much to her spectators' dismay!

We're looking forward to seeing what year number two brings for us!

Trick-or-Treat

So the whole family played along with my brainy idea of dressing as the "characters" from "The Princess and the Pea." In case you're having a hard time deciphering who's who: Maria's the Princess, Allegra's the Pea....and Leo's the Mattress!

At my work Halloween party, we just dressed Allegra in her "Halloween dress" which was a hit! This was a gift from our friend Sara.....So cute!

Allegra's 1st official play date!

Allegra and Frankie Grace go waaaaay back.....But it's been a while since they have seen each other! Frankie Grace came by to play at our house, and the girls had a BIG time playing with their toys and books, and making their little baby girl sounds and squeals. So fun!

These boots are made for walkin......

Thanks to Godmother Keely, Allegra has a push toy that she loves to use to motor around the house! She's starting to make the corners with ease, and is pretty proud of her accomplishments. She also loves to make silly faces, her preference is that we mirror her when she makes them. The picture above may look familiar to my parents, this is a face I made often as a baby!

Our first family vaca

The 3 of us hit the road in Sept. to vacation in beautiful Seagrove Beach, FL! The weather and sunsets were beautiful, despite the occasional rain and thunderstorm. Leo did a lot of cooking, Allegra did a lot of exploring, and all 3 of us looooved the R&R. Nana and Papa (Linda and Leonard) joined us for a few days while we were there, which allowed us to have a fabulous dinner out to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary, albeit a little early. We can't wait to go back!

Hurry, before summer ends!

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So we decided before summer ended, we'd have some family photos done at Kauffman Gardens. Our dear friend and Godmother to Allegra, Keely, took these photos for us. Believe it or not, it was a cloudy, overcast day when she took these pics!

Allegra is just a ball of energy these days.....Squeals LOUDLY (or should we say shrieks?) when she's excited, which is pretty often! Loves to dance (first song she rocked out to was "Crazy on You" by Heart), cruises around the furniture and is not afraid to crawl around into uncharted territory. Her favorite words right now are "Uh-oh" and "Wow". She more or less uses them in their correct context. It just gets more and more fun by the minute, seriously!

Gotta love a 3 day weekend...

We did a lot this weekend....Including trying some new foods, seeing some art at First Friday in the Crossroads and picking apples in our own front yard! Here are some pics from the apple picking at home as well as lunch at Dempsey's Burger Stand in Lawrence, where they have AMAZING burgers and DUCK FAT FRIES!! And TRUFFLE FRIES, too! Allegra tried them both, and loved 'em! This was her first taste of french fries, which will be hard to beat!

My favorite trick....for the time being.

So Allegra's discovered the joys of the adrenaline rush! She loves to pull up on things....Then let go and to let gravity take its toll. Weeee!!! She is getting a little more cautious these days, as she's found that it's not always going to feel good when she lands, depending upon where she drops! She's starting to say Momma (awww!!), still says Dada sometimes, and Baba (which means many different things right now.) Yes, she's still fascinated by her hands...And her latest favorite foods are homemade marinara, heirloom tomatoes, and imported olives. :) We attended cousin Danielle's wedding on 8/28 at beautiful Powell Gardens. We had a ball and partied late into the night!

Summer's flying by

I can't believe it's already late Aug. and our little Sweet Pea is 9 mo. old! She's crawling everywhere (albeit a one-legged crawl), pulls up on things and tries to stand, and has found all sorts of new food that she loves (heirloom tomatoes, homemade marinara sauce, olives, you name it!) Yes she still stares at and talks to her hands.....What can we say, we have a girl who knows how to entertain herself! We celebrated my mom's 60th b-day in Weston a couple of weeks ago and Allegra had her first night away from Mommy and Daddy. Nana Linda and Papa took good care of her and she did great! Here are some pics from the b-day celebration in Weston, as well as some "old" video from July of Allegra doing two of her favorite tricks: Clapping and crawling!

Family time

Allegra LOVES watching and playing with "big" kids! We had a family gathering in Arrow Rock on 7/25 for Uncle Glen's 30th b-day, and she had fun with Cousin Ben. Cousin Jakob didn't want to have much to do with her, mostly because she was taking HIS spot on Grandpa's lap! How dare she....:)

More summer fun!

We've been having fun in our backyard pool! And as it turns out, no matter where she is, Allegra's hands are still so fascinating to her! We also had fun at Lisa and Brett's 4th of July party. Lots of family, friends, fireworks and food!

She indulged her mama....

So I'm trying to learn more about this fancy camera (yes, I've had it for 6 mo. now.) But give me a break, I've been busy! Here are some shots from the last few days. I put her back in her baptism "ensemble" for some more pics. Her dress which was made by a dear, sweet coworker of mine, was made out of the wrap I wore with my wedding gown. Mom found the bonnet at a thrift store when she was first born, and somehow it all worked together perfectly!

June is Bustin' Out All Over!

We had a busy month of June! We celebrated Grandpa Wolfe's b-day, Allegra's baptism, Leo's first Father's Day, and even had a day of "firsts" with Mommy/Baby yoga and swimming in a "big" pool at our friend Kristin's house! Allegra loves the water, so getting into an actual pool was no big whoop. :) A couple of times during June (at age 6 mo.), she really surprised us! On Father's Day, she started babbling "da-da-da-da." Coincidence? Maybe so! And during yoga, she got in "down dog" on cue! Granted, it's one of her favorite positions when she's playing on the floor, but it was very timely (and adorable!) nonetheless! We're looking forward to more summer fun....

May Day, May Day

We were busy in May! We celebrated cousin Jakob 1st b-day and cousin Ben's 4th. The following weekend was Mother's Day, which was special for all 3 of us! Then it was Leo's 35th b-day, which included lots of celebration and surprises. :) For Memorial Day, we went to Celebration at the Station for live symphony music and fireworks. Allegra handled all the excitement pretty well, but the canons were a little much! She turned 6 mo. at the end of May, and we're constantly amazed at her changes.....She's quite the chatter box and LOVES to roll around all over the place! She sits up well and is grabbing at everything. We are blessed to have such a happy, healthy baby! She's now 14.5 lbs and 26" tall!

Allegra in April

OK, I'm going to make a consorted effort to do a new blog entry at least every other week....So I have some catching up to do! April was beautiful, and we were able to spend some quality time outside as a family. We were in Marshall for Easter, where Ben and Jakob hunted for eggs and shared some w/ their little cousin, even though she's a girl!

The Many Faces of Sweet Pea

She's been known to go from smile to frown and back again in a matter of a few short seconds! Here are a few of my recent favorites....