Holly in Blessing Dress 1 Year Later

One year ago today, we blessed our little Holly Ann in our living room because there was a massive snow storm and we weren't sure everyone would be able to make it to the church on time. (Some wards, like Layne's, canceled church because they couldn't keep the parking lots cleared.) By afternoon time, the skies cleared and the temperature rose, the roads cleared, and everyone who was supposed to make it, did. I didn't want to reschedule the blessing because my mom was here visiting and I had a ton of food prepared. In the end, it was a beautiful, happy day.

So today, being one year later, I decided to dress Holly in her blessing dress and take pictures. It was a little tight across the chest, but other than that, it fit pretty well.

February 2, 2008

February 2, 2009

Holly loves to sit and spin in the rocking chair. Look how mad she got when I tried to make her stand.

I Know An Old Lady...

I'm sure you all remember the song...I Know An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly. I was thinking that today as Holly disappeared behind the couch and then a few seconds later reappears with something in her mouth. I stick my finger in to swipe the mysterious item out. Out comes this slimy black thing and I realize it's a fly. GROSS! Why are there dead flies in my house in January????

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOLLY!

Today was Holly's special day...she turned 1. Too bad we all have head colds that have been lingering for over a week. Charl and I went to the doctor to get antibiotics in hopes of speeding up the recovery. Granny Louw came over to sit with the kids while they were napping, but they were mostly awake during the hour that we were gone. Holly and Andersen can't really take any medicine so they just have to deal with me and the tissues! We got Chinese takeout, since I didn't feel up to cooking dinner. We had Crispy Beef and Sesame Chicken. Holly ate some of the rice and maybe a bite of chicken...but preferred her jar of sweet potatoes. Andersen, like usual, didn't eat any dinner. Here are some pictures from the evening.

Holly eating some Chinese food.

Holly posing with her first birthday cake. She could not wait to get her hands on that butterfly. The cake turned out cuter than I thought it would...I'm glad someone told me how make butterflies out of pretzels...they were the most sought after part.

Mommy and Holly.

Blowing out the candles. Anders was a big help with this.

Here we go...DIG IN! (Notice Holly's clothes have been removed.)

That was a YUMMY cake!

Mommy and Daddy gave Holly some jeans and beads. Andersen gave Holly a push toy that plays music, but Andersen thought all the toys were for him.

These are the 2 books that Granny Ann sent. The Gallop book is really cute. The animals "move" when you turn the page. Anders really liked this book. He pretended to be the animals.

Holly sporting her new bead necklace.

I can't believe that a year has passed since you were born. It's been fun reflecting on all the joy you bring us. You are such a sweet little girl. We love you a ton!

Baby steps for Holly, Leaps for "Momkind"

About a week and a half ago, Holly started taking baby steps, but she would always fall by third step. In that week's time, she has upped the number of steps. This first video is when we were excited about the first little 3 steps and we tried to video her. As you can see, she was not in the walking mood.



I tried again the following day and the result was much better. I think her motive was to get the toys that Andersen was playing with.



Because I am a persistent mom... I filmed her again the next day and this time she made it across the whole room (OK, only 2/3's of it, but that was her best stretch yet.)



CONGRATULATIONS HOLLY!