One Year Old

Too excited for her birthday!  Just the day after we returned from Europe.  She was the first one awake  at 3:30am.  Oh jet lag is fun...can't you tell?

 

I didn't prepare or plan anything since we had been gone for the previous weeks, but I had some ideas.  I knew we'd be tired but I wanted to do something because the big kids had been looking forward to it.  So we headed to the store to get balloons and cake ingredients and I had the kids each pick a $5 present to give her.  It was pretty funny to watch them have so much fun playing with all the baby toys.

 

 I had the idea to make a tradition of taking a picture of Lily with the number of lilies to match her age...we'll see how far we make it :)

Kate got her "swippy cups"

Rachel got her a xylophone

There were a few tears about letting Lily open her presents and who gets to help her.  They were really tired.

Tommy got her a stuffed elephant

Grandma got her a rocking horse

See

For the past year Jake has been telling a series of made up bedtime stories that typically start out with Lily chasing a butterfly.  So in honor of that we had butterfly pasta for dinner.

Not sure who came up with it, but my kids call this "a nice day at the beach"

 

Lily loved eating sand every time we went to the beach, so when I saw this cake online I thought it was perfect.  Crushed Nilla wafers with one oreo...looks just like it and tastes really good.

I love this picture.  They truly were having such a great time!

Daddy loves when our babies turn one...

She has now been added to our chart!  She sure is getting big.

And since this was nearly 5 months ago and she has changed SO much since then I have to copy and paste my journal entry from that day (at least I'm pretty good at keeping up to date on that):

A few things about my baby:

·      She’s a decent sleeper, and an amazing trooper.  With missed naps and early awakenings she handles it all so well

·      She is a happy baby, always smiling, and good natured

·      She’s a great eater and we haven’t found much that she doesn’t like, she’s even mastered the spoon to feed herself

·      She scoots around on her tummy using both arms at the same time and her feet to propel her forward, she’ll then get on her hands and knees to sit back on her bottom

·      She has recently learned to pull up to standing and is doing it all the time. She still has yet to figure out cruising, and moving those feet. A couple times she has tested her balance and a few days ago she tried to stand in the middle of the room.

·      No real words yet.  But oh how we love her sounds.  One of my favorites, “ah rah!”

·      She loves to rock back and forth (especially to music) and she often pumps her arms in and out.  It makes me think of row, row, row your boat.

·      She loves her Daddy.  When he holds her there is no getting her back, she’ll always turns away and snuggles in.  She’s enjoying the upside down stunts as well

·      She got 6 new teeth when we were in Europe

·      She’s a beautiful baby, she has been called the Gerber baby from a number of people and it was fun to hear the Italians call her “bella”

I feel so blessed to have four beautiful children.  Lily is such a great addition to our family and I have loved watching the big kids interact with and love her.  

Bergamo, Italy

We used our sky miles for our flights and therefore didn't get our first preference, which would have been a direct flight.  However there was one option that seemed to make the best of having a layover...Italy!!

Absolutely stunning views.  We were all glued to the window.

With a layover in Milan we debated whether we should do Como (which we have done before) or something new.  We opted to do a town called Bergamo based off of a couple peoples recommendations.  We didn't do a lot of research here either, we kind of just went for it.  We wanted to just have a slow paced enjoyable day to soak it all in.

We happened upon this piazza right off.  I can't remember where Jake went but we hung out here for a while.

Such beautiful buildings.  I was amazed how happy being in Italy makes me.  I just love it's culture and architecture, maybe it's the memories, the food, or just everything about it. 

I can't remember the name of this church or cathedral.  I just remember something about it being the "oldest" 

I loved this wall that had no rhyme or reason to the construction of it

The kids' first gelato.  Coconut, hazelnut and pink (I think it was strawberry)

Now that we got dessert first...time to look for pizza.

There's something really fun and special about sharing things you really love to those you love.  Sadly, I tainted Rachel's opinion of Italian pizza by accidentally ordering pizza with blue cheese on it.  But the others were SO good!!

This one LOVED it.  But there's not many a food she has found that she hasn't liked.

Tommy!  Mother heart attack.  We spent a little time at a local playground

We took a funicular up to the top of the city with lovely views

Potty breaks mean waiting, but a great time for a photo shoot

They were being Italian statues

And of course, more gelato!

Hopefully I don't get in trouble for this one

And this picture kills me.  I had a college roommate that I went to Italy with on a study abroad.  Rachel reminds me of her a lot.  I found Rachel here and it reminded me of the time Kari was doing the very same thing while saying, "I just love Italy!"  I even have a picture of it.

And thus ends our European adventures (for now, although it's going to be harder than ever to get back again, so who knows?).  I'm very grateful for the privilege of having these experiences and memories with our kids.  I know that we are very fortunate.