Birthday Bash Pictures

We had a wonderful time at Nora's birthday bash on Saturday. The weather was great with lots of sunshine, but a beautiful breeze to cool things off. We headed down to our neighborhood pool for some swimming, swinging, and good food. Both sides of the family were in town for the celebration, and we also invited a few neighbors and a couple of our good friends from church. Our neighborhood pool isn't that big, so we were quite limited on our guest list. However, Nora never knew the difference and had a BLAST at her party. She is such a social girl and just enjoyed having all of the people around. She had more fun than I expected, and so did we! Here are a few pics of the shindig!

Nora on the swing
Getting pushed by Granddaddy Paul
My Mom (Nana) and Hillary (my youngest sister)
Jonathan's Mom (Granna) and Amy (Jonathan's Sis)
Me and JB
Nora and Grandpa Roger
Opening Gifts
Finally getting the hang of cupcakes
Here Daddy, try this.
Yummy
Not quite sure if she's going to participate in the hat-wearing
Homemade cupcakes....they were delicious.
Scared or Thrilled?
Just hanging around.
Momma and Baby

Nora's 12 Month Stats

Whew! We are having a busy week! We just got back from the doctor this afternoon, and here is what's new with Nora!
She weighed in at 18 lbs., 8 oz. (15th percentile), measuring 28 1/2 inches long (35th percentile). Her head is just slightly above average (which is not a surprise, poor girl!). Nora did NOT have a good day at the doctor and cried almost the entire time, especially when it came time for the shots. Doc says she is looking good, so we are thankful to the Lord for good health and growth!

Birthday Cake

We celebrated Nora's first birthday last night with Jonathan's family. We ate supper together, and then Granna and Granddaddy surprised Nora with a birthday cake! We stripped her down and sat it in front of her, then we just let her at it. She didn't have a clue what to do with it at first, but she quickly got the hang of it. She barely made a mess or even a dent in the cake, but as soon as I was ready to take it away, she dug both hands into the cake in protest! Nora didn't get to bed until 9:00 last night (her bedtime is around 8:00). Surprise, surprise, but someone was on a sugar high for a while! She was scooting around the house like the tazmanian devil, until the sugar wore off and the sleepiness kicked in!

The Birthday Girl

Well, it's here! Nora is going to be one year old at 5:31 pm. I can't believe that my baby girl is now a one-year-old! Crazy! We are truly blessed by the Lord to have such a healthy, happy, and loving little girl. We will be celebrating over the next few days. Actually, I guess you could say that our festivities began last night as Amy (Jonathan's sister) came in town, and we enjoyed a yummy supper at Wasabi. Granddaddy Paul was certain that Nora would be highly entertained by the hibachi "production," and, all in all, she did really well. She got scared a few times by the cook and the fire and the fact that he was throwing food everywhere and at people! My parents will arrive in Knoxville sometime tomorrow, and we are having a small birthday party on Saturday evening. More pics and updates to follow!

Granddaddy's Girl

Ready for Spaghetti

Saturday night I cooked spaghetti for supper and we gave some to Nora for the first time. The pictures should speak for themselves, but in case you can't tell, Nora LOVES spaghetti. She was covered from head to toe in tomato sauce, but she enjoyed her meal so much! Toward the end, she took both hands and started to rub her hair! I think she thinks her hair serves as a napkin. We enjoyed our spaghetti leftovers after church yesterday, and the dish was still a big hit!

Nora turns one in just 3 days! Our girl has grown up so fast!

Flat Iron Steak

My father and mother-in-law came in town yesterday, and I must say that we had such a delicious supper last night: flat iron steak. This was my first time cooking a flat iron steak. To be honest, we rarely have steak simply because it is such an expensive purchase. However, I bought this cut at my mother-in-law's suggestion. The flavor of the meat was wonderful, and get this, one steak fed four hungry adults for a mere $6.50. I marinated the meat for about six hours and then grilled it for 20-30 minutes. YUM! Just thought I would share this recent find with those of you who have yet to discover it. It is such a versatile cut, the meat was very tender, and Jonathan really enjoyed it. We'll be having this more often!

Reminiscing

With Nora's 1st birthday just two weeks away, Jonathan and I have found ourselves reminiscing quite frequently about this past year. It is amazing how quickly time goes by. It is astounding how quickly children grow. Our girl has been with us for almost 12 months now. She has changed so much. Just last night we were talking about how LONG she's gotten. Unbelievable that she was once the length of my forearm. We are so in love with our Nora!

Jonathan's parents are coming in town today to spend the next few weeks visiting with us. It's been a while since they've seen Nora, and she's been a busy girl learning new tricks and skills, so I know Granna and Granddaddy will be highly entertained.

Just to mention a bit of what's new with Nora:
-She's scooting around everywhere! She follows me throughout the house and is my little shadow. She is constantly playing at my feet.
-She is just beginning to get the confidence to pull up on things to her knees. She's not getting on her feet yet.
-She is quite the talker. She has conversations with us and herself all the time. She can tell us what a Puppy Dog and a Sheep say. I'll have to try to catch those on video.
-We recently acquired the Baby Einstein Signs video, which Nora loves. She's mastered "all done," "more," and "eat/food." I have also seen her do the sign for Momma.
-She will sometimes say her version of the following: "all done," "baba" (which could be all sorts of things), "ball," "uh oh," "hello," and "layla." Of course, I am probably associating meaning with this more often than Nora is!
-Nora now has a total of 6 teeth: two on the bottom, 4 on the top.
-Nora loves to "clean out" her diaper bag, she loves to go grocery shopping with Momma, and she thoroughly enjoys playing with the Tupperware.
-Last, but not least, one of my favorite nuances of Nora is that she has become so affectionate over the past few weeks. She LOVES to give hugs and kisses. For a while, she would share the love with everyone but Jonathan, but lately she has been kissing him up a storm! It's the sweetest!

Enjoy the lastest pics!

Swimming with Daddy


"Cleaning Out" the diaper bag


Look how long her legs look in this picture!


Pulling up to her knees!


Getting a manicure.


Lots of teeth!


Nora's trick...so funny, she just holds her leg up for short periods of time.


Our swinging girl!


Loving her baby!


Feeling under the weather.