November is just full of birthdays in these families of ours. Parents, siblings, nieces, David, and Kollyn. We started off this month with David's birthday on the 5. I bought him a bunch of Batman things (a mug, a travel cup, a couple of magnets, some new sweat pants (Thanks for the tip Nancy, he loves them!), and a metal vintage Batman poster) and then we went to try the Pizzaria 712 which so many people rave about. It was pretty good. They had different flavors of pizza that I'd never thought of, but were still good. We got a regular one with sausage, bacon, and onions and we also tried a butternut squash and Gorgonzola cheese. It was a strange combination but it worked and it was pretty tasty. :) I also made this poster for him with Kollyn's feet. I got the idea from my awesome friend Tiffany who did it for her husband's birthday with her little girl who is the same age as Kollyn. K actually was really still and let me paint her feet and everything. She did flinch a little and giggle because when I painted her feet it tickled, but she held really still while I put her feet on the canvas, which was really great.
On November 8, we had a small party to celebrate David, my niece Aleah, and my niece Riley who all had birthdays the first week of November. My parents had been on vacation in New Zealand and wanted to celebrate when they got home so we went to my sister's house and had a little party. It was a lot of fun, and they even brought back a little stuffed kiwi bird for Kollyn, which she loves. Stuffed animals are the way to that girl's heart. :) She snuggles with her penguin every night (those Dynes family members will know the story behind David's stuffed penguin) and she loves it. She'll sit in her bed every morning and just jabber to it, which is nice for me because I don't have to get out of bed when she gets up. We usually meander out of bed at 9:30 and I love it. Sometimes when I go in, she won't let me get her out of her bed, she just wants me to turn on the light. This little girl really loves her sleep and that makes David and I happy. :)
I love this picture. Carli and Kenley love playing with their "baby Kollyn" and she loves all the attention from them. She smiles and giggles and runs around with them and it's so fun to watch! I love watching her play with her cousins!
We live right around the corner from our church building so, since winter doesn't realize it's suppose to be cold, we walk to church some weeks, which Kollyn loves. She also loves taking her stuffed animals to church and the last few weeks, we've actually even been able to sit through all of Sacrament Meeting, which is huge. She normally was super wiggly and wouldn't sit still and would cry if we made her. Now she's ok sitting on David's lap, my lap, or the chair next to us while she has her snacks or her toys. It helps a lot.
David is really liking his job. Sometimes his meetings go longer than he'd like, but he enjoys what he's doing and the perks from the company are awesome. And the environment is great too. We love going to visit him during lunch and Kollyn liked being able to play in his office since it was a new place. She liked sitting in the chair by him, "helping" him type, and playing "find the snack" on the floor. It was a welcome break for both of us and helped us to keep from going stir crazy.
We have had a lot of fun watching Luke, K's cousin, and Oliver, my friend Maddie's little boy. Kollyn and Luke love playing together. They follow each other around all over the place and love to share toys, snacks, anything else they can get their hands on. Luke also knows how to get the lid off the puffs container so one day I looked away for a minute and looked back to this. He had gotten the lid off and then he and K had dumped all the puffs out on the floor of the living room and were eating them. It was a mess, but it was really cute at the same time. It was so much fun to be able to watch him a couple days a week. We also loved watching Oliver grow up over the semester. We started watching him when he was just over 2 months old and now he's almost 6 and he's just grown so much. It has been fun to see.
Luke felt the need to take a selfie and I had to share. Karin and David have one of the smiliest kids I've ever seen and I loved being able to capture it. He sure got excited about getting his picture taken!
I also thought it was funny that Kollyn really likes to sit in the Bumbo more now than when she was smaller. She'll sit in it and eat snacks, read her books, play with her toys, and whatever else she feels like doing at the moment. She'll pick it up and move it over where she wants it, then set it down and sit in it. It's so cute!
This kid cracks me up. I was doing my hair one day and she came in, saw all her bath toys (bath time is one of her favorite times of the day), and climbed into the bath tub where she played for about 15 minutes without even looking up at me. It was so fun to watch her climb into the tub. It took her a few minutes to figure it out, but she kept at it and was really proud of herself when she finally got in. She looked up at me with a huge grin and then started playing with her rubber ducks. We call her our "little explorer" because she is constantly on the move, looking for new things, exploring life. She loves going outside and experiencing new things. She isn't afraid of stuff, except going down the stairs since she fell down once, and loves to run at life full speed ahead. She has the most adorable personality and she is getting more and more adorable every day!
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We did Thanksgiving at my parents' house the day after Thanksgiving, since that's our family tradition. Kollyn had a lot of fun at her first Thanksgiving (well, her first out of the womb experience) and loved playing with all her Bonner cousins. Even the Bonner cousins from California were here. Gemma is only 10 months older than Kollyn so they get along in a fun way and Hazel, Carli, and Kenley all loved playing with her too (like always).
Kollyn enjoyed her Thanksgiving meal. She had ham, turkey, stuffing, potatoes (always a huge hit), and green bean casserole (she loves green beans). We also had fun riding in the tractor bucket for the first time. She kept saying "Woah!" the whole time (her new favorite word) and looking around with a huge smile and wide eyes, like she couldn't look at everything fast enough. I liked being able to experience it with her because I have such great memories of it from when I was little. I'm glad we're able to share those things with her.
Sunday, November 30, was Kollyn's first birthday but we had her birthday party on Saturday, November 29, because my siblings were still here but were leaving that day. We were really glad they stayed long enough to let us have her party, though we're sorry it took us so long to get up there and made you guys leave later than you wanted to (Thanks Todd and Angie for being so great about it!!!!). She was happy to share her first birthday with her cousins, I'm sure.
And now, be prepared for first time mom, first birthday, picture overload!
She wasn't sure what to think of the streamers at first, since she's never really seen them like this before.
It's hard to believe this little girl is a one year old now. It feels like it's been forever since she came into our lives, but it also feels like it's been a blink and passed by. I, for one, am loving this stage the most so far. I love that she's independent (she doesn't like us feeding her much anymore if she can do it herself), she snuggles every once in a while, and her personality is so big and bright that it's hard to have a day that's the same. We let her pick out the crown (it was a choice between the princess crown and a ladybug hat since she loves the Very Hungary Caterpillar) and she had fun wearing it, even if it was only for a few minutes before she took it off.
She loved having everyone's attention and getting to be in the spotlight, since she's absolutely NEVER in the spotlight. She was hamming it up for everyone, like she always does. She'd laugh, and that would make everyone else laugh, which would make her laugh, and make everyone else laugh. She'll keep doing that forever if you let her, which is so fun. She loves making people smile and laugh and will do anything to get those reactions from people.
This is my attempt at a Very Hungary Caterpillar cupcake cake. It's her favorite book and so we decided to do it this way, to make it easier for everyone to eat. I actually really like how it ended up looking, even if the face does look a little funny. :) And it was a lot easier to make than I thought it would be!
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At first she wasn't sure what to do about the cupcake. She has had cake before, but not with frosting, so she didn't know what to think at first, so she tested it with her finger, and then just face planted right in. She then proceeded to licking off all the frosting and leaving the cake, but it was a funny thing to watch. Then she tried to get all the frosting off her fingers, but ended up getting most of it in her hair. It was a great experience for us and we loved sharing it with my family.
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Then we opened presents. She got a big toy dog that she can ride on, push around, and "feed". It makes sounds, plays music (thankfully a lot of different songs so it doesn't get too repetitive), There is one similar to it at her doctor's office and she loves it, so we thought she might like one and it has been a big hit so far.
She also got a stuffed bear from my Aunt Kaye (she's holding it in the last picture), a new Christmas dress (we found it at Costco and it was the only one in her size, and we had looked there every time we went for about a month and they only had 4T for the longest time), a bunch of wooden cars on a string that she likes to carry around the house, and a mini version of our water bottles since she loves to drink out of our water bottles. We found a few that were smaller, and easier for her to carry, so we decided to give her one for her birthday. She has carried it all over the place since then. :) She's even perfected opening and closing it. She is so smart. She learns things so quickly and doesn't get frustrated when she can't figure something out right away. She works at it and that is something I need to learn, and I get to learn it from her. She gets very focused when she's concentrating on something and not much can get her out of it. It's cute to see that kind of concentration in her.
She is very much like David in more ways than one. She is very social, loves to entertain people, and doesn't have a problem chatting up a storm to complete strangers. She gets very focused on something and doesn't want to stop doing it, just like he does. She gets very excited about things when she gets them figured out. She loves to be silly, make people laugh, and loves getting good reactions out of people. If she sees you're upset, she'll come over and give you a hug, or a kiss, both of which are very rare, and gives you these huge smiles that could just melt your heart and make anything better.
She has really been the most amazing blessing in our lives. We may not have planned on her being born this early, but if we had to choose between a different kid and waiting, or having her, we would choose her every single time. It has taken a huge adjustment for both of us this year, but we have learned so much and we have been amazed at how much we love that little girl. And how quickly she has gotten us hooked on her.
She's a total daddy's girl and loves him so much. I am so happy that they love each other. He constantly tells me how much he loves that little girl and it's so obvious how much she loves him. The minute he walks in the door from work, she gets so excited and runs to the stairs to meet him. She smiles her huge smile and shrieks in excitement. He always makes a huge deal of saying hello to her and snuggles her, gives her hugs and kisses, and he is the one who makes her laugh the hardest and the most, especially right after bath. I haven't seen anyone love someone as much as those two love each other and it just melts my heart every time. I am constantly realizing how lucky I am to have him and her in my life and am so happy with how everything has turned out. :)
We can't believe she's a year old and we are so excited to experience the rest of our lives with her. She makes our lives such a joy and brings so much light and happiness. We love you Kollyn!!! Our little Kooky girl!
And lastly, a picture of all the Bonner cousins together. It was hard to get everyone to sit still and focus on the camera, but this is the one that turned out the best. It was so fun to have them all together and see how they all interact. We're lucky to have such close families, both David and I, and it has really been a huge blessing for us both as we try to figure out this whole being a parent thing.
We have had a really fun month, between Thanksgiving, David's birthday, Kollyn's birthday, and hanging out with family and friends, it has been crazy but worth it.
