This was just a good shot of Grandma Joyce, Grandpa Phil, and Amelia on the last day of their birthday visit.

All kinds of fun things on Amelia's first birthday weekend. Opening gifts with both Grandmothers, attempting to eat some birthday cake and freaking out when the messy stuff wouldn't come off her hands, playing with balloons, hating my fantastic birthday hat, hanging in my new ball pit. Thanks to everyone who made the journey to make it a special day, and also to everyone who sent Amelia some great stuff.

Amelia, being helpful around the house as always. Entropy is apparently a deeply rooted human instinct that mothers break us of slowly over the course of our youth. Good luck containing this tornado. She is a bit like her father in this regard. Sarah might have to start calling Amelia PigPen part two.

Amelia already has her parents taste in movies. That damn Hansel, so hot right now!

Everyone needs a comfortable place to cozy up with a good book, or just to hang out. Amelia has chosen Wallace's bed. We don't ask questions.

Like Father, like Daughter.

Here are some pics from this week of our little monkey. We're settling back into our normal routine (sort of). I think she's forgotten how to play by herself in the last few weeks. Zach has been on vacation a lot lately and she's not sure what to do now that there's just me at home giving her attention. She is following me everywhere and constantly pulling on my pants trying to get me to pick her up. She's our little cling-on.

We puppy sat for my parents this month and so Wallace became a permanent fixture around our house. I'm sure he's glad to be home and with Mom and Dad now though. Amelia is way into Wallace, but the feeling definitely is not mutual. Wallace isn't known for his sweet spirit so I've had to keep them separate as much as possible. Wallace spends time in our bedroom separated from the group by a baby gate. Amelia enjoys tormenting Wallace through the gate. This includes climbing the gate trying to get to the other side, sticking various body parts through the gate, and launching toys over the gate. Poor Wallace can't get any rest. In the pics below Wallace is having a meltdown because Amelia want stop teasing him. She thinks it's great, but you can see him howling in the background.

We hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas. We enjoyed every minute of it (except the part where our car was broken into, but that's another story).

We had a great visit from Joyce and Tara a few weeks ago. Amelia finally got to meet her Aunt Tara. We had such a good time and did a ton of shopping. With Joyce and Tara came lots of gifts for Amelia. Here are some pics of Amelia in her giant tutu from Joyce. It's super soft and bigger than she is! Thanks for making the trip out! We love you guys!!

Amelia turned 10 months old this month and decided to take her first steps. Crawling is still her first choice in getting around, but she will occasionally get brave and use her feet instead. We have her first steps on video and hopefully Zach will get them up soon. Here is a pic of her cruising around.

I'm not sure why but Amelia is obsessed with rearranging the furniture. Here are some pics of her in action. I would move them back so she finally decided that they all belonged in the other room. I hope that this isn't a sign of OCD.

I'm not sure how I could forget but Amelia also got her first tooth in November. I was never able to snap a picture of it. Every time I would get close she would clamp her mouth super tight. She's not a big fan of flashing her snaggle tooth. So far we only have one (thank goodness)... her first tooth involved a few late nights including one night where she stayed up until 3am. It was horrible. It only lasted a few days, but I'm hoping that she doesn't get her next tooth until she's 15. My first clue that she was teething was the fact that she was chewing on everything in our house... the blinds, her baskets, anything.

Where does the time go?? Amelia turned 9 months old in November. Things have been pretty quiet this fall, but we did sneak in a trip to Chicago at the end of October for Nicole's baby shower. We had a great trip and Amelia seems to still enjoy traveling. We also took a visit to see Connie, Mitch, and Ella (hence pictures of babies in the bath). We had a great time and the girls seemed to enjoy each other. Amelia was in heaven with all of Ella's toys. We came home and ran to the toy store to get some of her favorites from Ella's house.

This was Amelia's first Halloween and she was the cutest monkey ever! We only went to a couple of houses, but she did love the Milk Duds she received at Miss Grendel's house. They were the perfect size for little hands and sounded a lot like little rattles.

Amelia's favorite book is Little Hands Love. It's a touch and feel book that her Grandma Joyce and Grandpa Phil gave her. I was in the kitchen and Amelia went silent on me, which is never a good I went into the living room to find her quietly "reading" her favorite book. I thought it was pretty cute. She can now locate her favorite page in the book when you ask her to show you the teddy bear. Of course we think she's the smartest baby on the planet when she does this. Ha! Parent goggles are great.

The month of October brought with it Amelia's first black eye and busted lip (both on my watch). Her head is like a magnet for metal objects. I promise I'm a good mom, but somehow these things just happen.

We took Amelia on her first Utah trip over Labor Day Weekend. We had a great time and Amelia got to meet the Roberts family. She also attended her first US soccer match and her first hike. It was also Amelia's first cross-country flight... it went much better than I expected that's for sure. We can't wait until we get back out there. I'm thinking our next cross-country trip will be when Amelia clearly understands the following phrases, "No" and "Don't make me take you to the bathroom". Once we have those down we can do anything.

Here are some pictures from Amelia's first bike ride. Zach was super excited about his new bike seat for Amelia until he realized that it didn't fit any of the three bikes in his garage. So, he had to buy a new bike. Amelia seemed to enjoy the ride though and it looks like she has a lot of room to grow in her new seat (and helmet).

Amelia spends a decent amount of time in very noisy gyms and so we thought it made sense to get her some noise-canceling headphones. She loves accessories so why not. She was super happy to wear them until I started talking and then she was super confused as to why she couldn't understand what I was saying.

The month of September flew by. Amelia had a big month with lots of firsts including her trip to Utah and figuring out how to "crawl". It's definitely one of those modified crawls that babies do before they figure out how to really scoot. She's gotten quite fast these days and it's starting to make life a bit more difficult. She's instantly attracted to cords and so I can't leave her alone for one second. Thank goodness for the Joovy Room (her playpen). So apparently I take a lot of pictures of Amelia with no clothes on! She got a new pumpkin hat (thank you Grandma Joyce) that she was modeling in some of the pictures. She also got some new boots that we tried on. My goal for October is to take more pictures of Amelia with her clothes on!

Amelia turned 6 months old in August and I snapped some pictures to document the day. We also had our friend Charles take some pictures and I still need to get them up here.

Amelia loves accessories and so I thought I would snap some pics with her new hats (not so new anymore). Ignore the fact that the hats don't exactly go with her outfits. She was just modeling them for me.

Here are some random shots from the month of August. I've been slacking in the picture taking department lately.

Our niece, Ella, turned 1 on July 30th. Happy Birthday Ella! She and Connie made the trek out for a visit a few weeks ago to celebrate Ella's birthday with us a little early. Here are some pics of Ella and Amelia together. It's funny to compare these to the pics we took of the two girls just after Amelia was born. Amelia is definitely catching up in size with her adorable, petite cousin. The two girls couldn't be more different. Amelia was fascinated by Ella (who is super mobile). Ella has a head full of beautiful brown hair and I was feeling bad for bald Amelia, hence the bow stuck to her head. We wish that they lived closer!!

I wasn't going to do it, but Zach convinced me that Amelia needed a walker. I'm not sure why I was so opposed, but it's probably because the "experts" say that it potentially delays walking. Little do the "experts" know, but I'm ok with that. I'm enjoying my immobile bundle and I'm dreading the days that I have to chase her all over the house. Our walker arrived yesterday and after watching me struggle to assemble the equipment she got to go for her first spin. Needless to say she didn't really know what to do, but she loved the toys on top. I started by pushing her around and she would just drag her legs (probably why the experts say that it delays walking). After a few minutes though she figured it out and was able to scoot around a bit. She's still not very speedy in the walker, but she has figured out how to back up and turn around when she runs into things. This is huge since I really didn't want to have to move her every time she got stuck. I did remove the brakes though since they seemed to impede her ability to scoot (probably a bad move I'll regret later, but I still can't figure out exactly what they are designed to prevent).

Here are some random pictures that we've taken this month of our funny girl. She's starting to figure out that when the camera comes out she needs to smile (or at least open her mouth wide). Thanks to Aunt Tara and Uncle Shane for all of the cute Australian clothes! We love her whale jammies.

For some reason I got a bug in my bum to make something. I guess it's because I finally finished the paintings for Amelia's room (still not hung up) and wanted to craft something else for Amelia. I saw some cute onesies on Etsy.com and thought "I can make those", so I did. Amelia was a fantastic model sort of. Once I figure out how to thread my sewing machine there's a little jumper I'm going to tackle next. I'm shooting to make her a few things for spring since there's a chance that I'll finally have them done by then. The dog onesie is a shout out to Amelia's little friend Wallace.

I can't believe that Amelia is already 5 months old. She had a very busy 5th month... we started swimming lessons, took our first plane ride... train ride... bus ride... cab ride, celebrated cousin Ella's birthday, discovered her love of water bottles (definitely gets that from Zach) and a visit from Uncle Ted. Oh and she pitched her first real fit. Her little personality is really starting to come through and I'm getting a bit nervous. She's a girl who knows what she wants, but as of now has no means to get it. She still doesn't cry much (although that's been on the rise since our return from Chicago), but she lets it known that she's not happy with a series of "MMMMMMs".

Amelia took her first trip on a plane this month. We headed to Chicago for our friend Kristina's wedding. In fact she had her first ride on a plane, the "L", a bus, the Metra, and several cab rides. Surprisingly (at least to me) Amelia did fantastic. Amelia did great on both plane rides and I think she enjoyed the attention she was receiving from our fellow passengers. I do think she got a bit airsick though since she decided to puke all over baggage claim. We got to spend time with the Nielsen clan and Nicole and Kris (who are expecting a baby girl of their own this December!!). It was a great trip and Amelia didn't start to show signs of fatigue until our last day there. I think it had something to do with the fact that she was sleeping in the bathroom, which wasn't well ventilated and so she wasn't sleeping well. We spent some time playing tourists and Zach finally got to go to Buckingham fountain. We took some pics of Amelia at a little garden by the fountain and Kris and Nicole got in on the action. She also pitched her first fit while we were in Chicago. It was quite cute actually. She really wanted to play with Zach's big, red water bottle, but he took it away. She started pounding her feet and screaming a bit while flailing her arms. It only lasted a second or two since she was immediately distracted by something else. It was a small glimpse into our future. I thought I had this parenting thing under control, but I quickly realized that I have no idea what I'm doing. I had no idea how to handle the situation. I guess I need to do some more reading. Thank you Mom and Dad for making the trip with us!

This will teach me to never nap in the morning. Amelia decided to wake up one morning at 6:30 and after 30 minutes of wrestling with her in our bed she finally went back to sleep for about an hour or so. I was exhausted when she woke up and so my sweet husband decided to taker her for a walk so I could get a few more minutes of sleep. He also decided to dress her with a onesie he found in the bottom of her drawer. I really liked this onesie when we bought it (about a year before we even got pregnant), but when I realized that he put it on our daughter I all of the sudden didn't like it anymore. Needless to say, I think she looks like a little boy in these pics and I've made a note to self to not let Zach dress her on school picture days. I'm having flashbacks to when my dad dressed me for my 2nd grade school picture. I wasn't showered, hair hardly combed, and I too looked like a little boy.

So Amelia has a problem... she likes to claw the crap out of the left side of her face. Actually she likes to rub her left eye when she's tired and somehow that ends up with her clawing her face. She usually has a small scab on the left side of her face at any given time and even has a scar from when she was about 8 weeks old where she put a big gash in her cheek. Part of the problem is that I let her nails get too long. So after being harassed by Zach to cut her nails I did. I did a great job cutting off her daggers, but I also managed to cut a little piece of her thumb off as well. I couldn't stop the bleeding and the only thing I could think to do was put a band-aid on it. Well as soon as I put the band-aid on it she started sucking on the band-aid. So I grabbed a sock and put a sock on her hand. At first she was obsessed with the sock, but after a few hours she acted like the sock was her new hand. I snapped these funny pictures right after the incident. She's not crying because of her finger, but because she was ready for a nap, promise.

After a visit to the pediatrician this month for some poop related issues he insisted that rice cereal will solve the problem. So I did some research and found what I thought was the "best" rice cereal to try. I guess just because it's the "best" doesn't mean that Amelia will like it. Here are some shots I took from her first encounter with something other than breast milk. She enjoyed sucking on the spoon, but preferred the spoon when it didn't have cereal on it. For the past few weeks we've given her cereal almost every day just for practice so that in a few weeks when she can eat real food she knows what to do. I've already stocked up on some good organic fruits and veggies to puree and freeze. Should be fun.

So my mom discovered this crazy tub, the TummyTub, while watching the Today Show and ordered one right away for Amelia. It's basically a glorified paint bucket, but Amelia does enjoy it. The only problem is that she has figured out how to stand up while in the tub. If you turn your back for a second she's on her feet and trying to grab stuff from around the sink (to put in her mouth of course). She's had lots of fun in her new tub. I think her favorite part is that her face is closer to the water and bubbles making it easier to get a snack while bathing.

It doesn't matter what you read as long as you read, right?? I hope so since Amelia has taken to "reading" magazines and I usually only have People or Us Weekly around the house. She apparently likes to catch up on her gossip (and is very concerned about Jon and Kate's relationship status). She loves to turn the pages and, of course, put them in her mouth where all things go. I love her expressions. Her face says a thousand words.

This past month my mom, Amelia, and I headed down to Orlando for a week. I was coaching and I brought mom along to help out with Amelia while I was in the gym. It was a great week and I think that mom and Amelia had some fun while I was out. Mom was nice enough to take pics of Amelia having fun without me. My team ended up taking 5th, but we only lost to one team and they ended up winning the whole tournament. So really we were second. Amelia also took her first dip in a swimming pool. As you can see she was quite prepared with her sun hat and glasses. She loved the water and spent most of the time drinking and kicking. I'm planning to sign her up for swimming lessons in August. We'll see how that goes.

This month Amelia added two new skills to her repertoire... smiling for the camera (finally) and sitting up. Finally we have some pictures of Amelia where she isn't giving the camera a blank stare. It still takes quite some effort to distract her from the shiny object. Usually we sing Old McDonald or the Smurfs theme song, which produce instant smiles. We're still working to master the art of sitting up, but she's doing pretty well. When she gets tired she will stick her arms out for support, but she's gotten much more stable these days.

One thing we haven't been able to live without is The Miracle Blanket. This blanket is amazing. I swear it helps her sleep better (and prevents her from clawing up her face while she's sleeping). It looks a bit like a medieval torture device, but she loves it. To prove to everyone that she does enjoy her swaddle here is a pic of the happy Baby Burrito. I'm hoping that we haven't done permanent damage to her, but we'll know in a few years.

Amelia turned 4 months old this month. I can't believe it... Time has literally flown by. Amelia loves to be out and has been such a good kid. Zach insists that we shouldn't press our luck with another one since she's been such a breeze. He's convinced our next kid will be a terror. I'm thinking that Amelia is just waiting for the right moment to really go wild. This month has been so much fun and she's developed a funny little personality.