Merry Christmas! 2011 Photo-bomb...

My cousin, Katie, and I took the two kiddos to The Picture People to have their Christmas pictures done. My mom gave each of us a Groupon to use here and it made for a really good deal for us to go together! We'll be returning for Valentine's Day pictures, so stay tuned! This was a really fun shoot and the kids did great with 3 clothing changes in 15 minutes! We sure do love these little guys and their unique characters! The kids love each other, too. I sure hope they'll be as good of friends when they're older as they are now!

Aria Models for SO CAL BABY!

I took Aria to a cute little kids boutique in downtown Fullerton last week to participate in a model search for their store. SO CAL BABY Boutique is a trendy, somewhat edgy, baby and kid's clothing store that my cousin and I are looking to get into with our Kid Kuzzins merchandise. They hosted their grand opening in early December, which included a modeling contest, so Aria, Grammy and I headed over. Here are a couple shots of Aria wearing her lollipop leggings, one of the items we are looking to sell through this shop.

Even though my little cutie didn't win the contest, I think she did a great job! She was patient and good tempered while we waited our turn for pictures. She also found a boy crush that she followed around the store! Beware! This little girl likes older men! He must have been at least 6!

Visiting with My Grandma

We went to visit my almost 90 year old Gramma for a Christmas lunch at her Alzheimer's care home in early December. We had a good time visiting with her, even though she cannot really even form many words anymore. She is happy and laughs a lot, which makes me happy I guess, but I sure do miss my Gramma. It's really hard to watch someone you love and are so close to slowly disappear before your eyes. I helped her eat her lunch, since feeding herself is becoming harder, and Gabe and Aria walked around and checked out the Christmas decorations.

I don't know how we managed to mess this picture up. It was SUPPOSED to be "4 Generations", but somehow I ended up taking the picture. Ha, ha, there is no end to what chaos and mommy brain will do! Oh well, we will get another one next time we visit.

My all time favorite picture this Christmas. I just love how Aria and my Gramma are looking at each other and how happy my Gramma looks! It's just such a precious, genuine moment and one that I will always treasure.

So, we are not much of a fan of Santa this year. Nor the fact that he apparently got a dog over the summer. This was our best shot: Aria frantically trying to get as far away from this hairy beast and his accomplice as possible!

This was our BEST attempt at a family Christmas picture this year...and we tried many times to get a good one. Pictures with toddlers are hit or miss, and although this isn't too bad, I was hoping for a happy, smiley Aria. Instead, she was focused on making sure Santa and his little dog didn't sneak up on her during the photo shoot. You gotta watch out for that man in red, you know!

Attempting to Catch Up...A Daunting Task!

Over the next few weeks, I will be attempting to update our family blog. I am a total slacker and am so far behind that its quite overwhelming, actually. So, let's see, as of yesterday, little Miss Aria is walking! Ok, so she's taking unassisted, on her own, holding onto nothin', cute little steps, and oh boy is she proud of herself! She's still quite hesitant to really start cruising, but oh those steps are the sweetest thing!

Today was her cousin Tyler's 1st birthday party. It was a pirate pool party where everyone dressed up pirate-y for the occasion. I made Aria and Ty these cute little mustache pacis, which, I think, were awesome! Aria made quite the darling pirate. She swam and swam until I made her get out because the water was really cold and I was worried about her getting hypothermia or something (overprotective mother, probably). Then she flirted and played with all the party guests. Everyone kept saying what a happy baby she is and how she is just so sweet and active and interested in everything. It made me think of what her name means: "Sweet Melody", and she really is just that. Even though she's not always super happy in the day to day, she really is almost always super happy and sweet when we are out with others and I am so thankful for that. She really is able to brighten others' day and bring them joy with her friendliness and her smiles!

I cannot, and I repeat, CANNOT believe that my sweet little baby girl will be 1 year old in just 4 days! Ahhhh, time is going so much faster than I expected it to, and I just wish it would all slow down a bit. My cousin's sister-in-law had her 1 week old baby girl at the pirate party and seeing her made me so nostalgic for those first few weeks of newborn life! I am truly loving watching Aria grow and develop into the wonderful little lady that God made her to be, but at the same time, longing for her to stay a baby. Hmmm, maybe its time for another one? Ha, ha, no...not yet! I can barely handle one right now, so I'm definitely not ready for number two!

Next week we are going to start working on potty training. I know, it seems early, but I've done a lot of research recently and everything I've read points to early potty training being easier and quicker and, obviously, cheaper (in that you are no longer buying diapers!). Did you know that the average age for children being potty trained in the 1960s was 18 months old? Did you know the average age today is 40 months? So, we're attempting to go "old school" and get back to the 60s in our house. I'll let you know how it goes.

School's Out!

Ahhhhhhh, I need a margarita! I am done for the semester, done for the year, and done for the foreseeable future...and it feels great! I will miss my kiddos, especially my advisory class who was with me for the past three years, but I know that God has given me this wonderful opportunity to stay home with Aria right now. Being her mom is my most important job and I am so looking forward to actually getting to spend time with her now. I would be lying if I said the past 6 months were easy, because they were anything but! I cannot tell you how hard it was for me to spend my days away from her these past 6 months. I am eternally thankful that I won't have to do it again come September.

On a less serious note, Aria popped her first two teeth this week! They are the bottom front teeth. These were not bad, as I am unable to recall any teething "symptoms" recently. Let's hope the rest will be the same, and let the teething fun begin!

9 Months Old and Off and Running...Almost

Aria has been crawling for about 3 weeks now, and she is cruising! She is starting to get adventurous, which means she is into everything. She has a special affinity for shoes, cords, remotes, and DVDs. However, I think we will lose our crawler and have a walker soon! She is pulling up on and walking around tables, chairs, mom, dad, and whoever else will stand still long enough.

Her new loves, food-wise, are peaches and kiwi. She is a huge fan and eats little chunks of them almost every day. We have started trying some new, chunkier, stage 3 foods to try and transition her into eating some more table food. This is a bit difficult, though, because she hasn't got any teeth (no sign of them coming anytime soon, either). So, for now we are sticking with purees, chunky purees, and soft fruits. She is so over puffs, too - not interested in the least.

Aria has started babbling a lot this past month! She says Ah-da-da and Ah-ba-ba all the time, but not yet in reference to anyone or anything. She is really getting her intonations and expressions down and it's really cute! She has also learned her name well, and also what "NO" means, ha, ha, ha. She is being a really good girl about stopping what she is doing when Mommy or Daddy says "no" to something. Unless, of course, its a shoe or a cord - apparently those items are just too irresistible to put down!

This summer, Aria will be taking a baby dance class, a sign language class, and hopefully swimming lessons through Long Beach Parks & Rec. We are thankful these opportunities exist for her. It should be a fun summer! Aria will also be going on her first plane ride next month to Kansas to visit Gabe's family for the first time. We are excited about this trip! Mommy is also a little worried about how she'll do on the plane ride, but she'll probably do just fine.

Aria is such a precious little bundle of joy and we are falling more and more in love with our happy, giggly, little girl!

Correction To The Previous Post

As of Sunday, May 29th, Aria is, indeed, CRAWLING!!! ...yikes...