Candy Cane Hunt

We went to a Candy Cane Hunt today in Jefferson City with our playgroup friends. The Candy Cane Hunt is an annual event put on by the Jeff City parks, recreation, and forestry staff. It had a Candy Land theme and was really cute. The main activity for the children was to find the missing candy canes (All the candy canes were stolen and replaced with licorice, so there was licorice hanging from the ceiling, on the Christmas tree, etc.) There were many stops for the kiddos to enjoy while on the journey to find the missing candy canes.

Here Paige is listening to a story read by Mamma Gingertree.

Gramma Nut shared some helpful information that Lord Licorice was the one who took all the candy canes. She gave us a little gift to give to him in hopes that he would give back the candy canes.
This is the elf, Deedle, who led us on our journey. She is holding the gift for Lord Licorice.

Paige got to stop at Mrs. Claus's Bakery to decorate a candy cane cookie. She did a good job of spreading the icing.

Doesn't it look yummy with those sprinkles...the icing is peppermint flavored, too!

Here is Lord Licorice sharing the candy canes because he was so happy to get a gift from us...he said that no one had ever shown him such kindness.

Paige even got to visit Santa and sit on his sleigh with her playgroup friends.

Paige had to check out Santa's tree and his really big candy cane!

Relaxin' with Daddy

Winding down after a long day alongside Daddy. Doesn't Paige look tired...her daddy propped her up on this pillow to watch cartoons, and then he proceeded to fall asleep. Guess they were both a little tired!

Jefferson City Christmas Parade

We went to Jeff City today to watch the Christmas parade. Paige really loved it, and it was a lot of fun...but man was it cold!!!! It was really, really cold!!!

Paige's favorite part was seeing and hearing the fire trucks. In this picture she is smiling because she is excited about the fire truck that is coming toward us...she really loved the sound and lights.

Here we all are...trying to keep warm!

Decorating for Christmas

So, I have had the Christmas tree up for two days with just lights on it, but Paige and I finally got to put some decorations on it today. We have just been really busy and not home long enough to tackle this activity. However, we got it done today...we started right after breakfast, so Paige was still in her PJs.

Paige had a great time...well, until she got bored! She enjoyed going through all the ornaments, playing with the balls (baubles), and looking at the photo ornaments. Although, that only took about 15 minutes of time and, as you know, it takes a lot longer than that to put ornaments on the whole tree. So, I had to try to find ways to keep her interested...and I had to finish quickly.

Paige putting the first bauble on the tree!

Paige handed the baubles to me to put on the tree...she was a great helper!
Playing with the 'balls' on the ottoman!

Baby Love

Paige has had a real fondness for baby dolls for quite some time now, but recently it has taken on a new dimension. She can't seem to go many places without at least one...even to bed.

This is a little concerning to me because I imagine it would be pretty uncomfortable to roll on top of one of them. However, there is really no way around it. One night I took her baby out of her bed while she was sleeping and she awoke at 5:30 am calling out, "Baby, Baby" and we immediately met that request with eagerness to get back to our own bed.

I wonder if she would be happy with a totally plush baby doll. I would feel a little more comfortable with her sleeping with that..I am gonna have to try that out. Hopefully she won't be picky about having one of these two...these are her favorites.

Feeding on the Farm

Paige loves to feed the animals on her grandma and grandpa's farm. Until recently, she only had cats to feed. However, one of Grandma and Grandpa's cows had twin calves, and the momma only claims one of them. So, the other calf has to be bottle fed twice a day. Paige loves to partake in this event! She enjoys helping make the bottle and even holding it for the calf to eat (no matter how cold it is outside)!

Here she is helping Grandpa hold the bottle. Look at her feeding that cute calf!
After feeding the calf, Paige goes inside the barn to feed the cat and two kittens.

She can get the food out of the bucket and pour it in their bowl all on her own.

Sometimes she likes to sit down on the ledge and watch them eat the food she's given them.

Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving in Indiana with my side of the family. We are very fortunate and get to 'stuff' ourselves twice in one day because we have lunch with my dad's side of the family and then eat dinner with my mom's side of the family. Here Paige is pictured with two of her cousins. These are my brother's daughters: Nevaeh (left) and Emilee (right). Paige had lots of fun playing with them!

Laughing with Grandma Jenny!
Here I am with cousins Kirsten, Adrianna, and Megan!
Paige really enjoyed playing with all of baby Adrianna's things...she especially enjoyed getting in this cradle!

Laying down with her baby. Back at the Morris Home getting ready for bed as we read a book...the end to a long day filled with family and fun!

Paige received her Christmas gift early from the Morris's, since we won't be back for Christmas.

It was a very fun puppy to play with...he tries to find his bone and teaches body parts.

We visited my biological dad, Rob, and got to sit in this cool car that he built with his bare hands.

It is a 1937 Ford Custom Coupe! Pretty Awesome!

Here we are at my aunt and uncle's house. We all decided to walk down to the lake to get some fresh air...Paige was really excited to do this.

Photos by the fountain...

Me and Paige

Here we are with cousins and second cousins!

Paige loved playing with the baby, Adrianna. She also loved giving her hugs, as she is doing in these photos...of course, once she got started we kept egging it on!!

So sweet!

One last picture of the girls together before we left to go home to Missouri. Paige really enjoys being around Megan and Adrianna, so it was a little sad to leave.

"love you"

Today was an amazing day...Paige said "love you" on the phone while talking to her Grandma Loethen. She has said it to me before (just in the last couple days), but not as clearly as she did on the phone today...what a sweet moment...so glad we could share it with you Kathy!

Doctor Visit for Weight Check

We took Paige back to the doctor today to check how her weight is progressing. Dr. Herrbold wanted to make sure that she is gaining weight since she fell off the curve at her 15 month appt. She weighed in at 18lbs and 4.5 oz, so that is a 5.5 oz gain in one month. Her doctor said that was a 'typical' gain...hey, we will take it! That sounds much better than what we have heard in the past. Typical does not cause me stress about worrying how I am going to get my little girl to eat more or worrying that something may be wrong. She is still below the growth chart for her weight, but she is progressing. As for her height and head circumference, she is in the 25th percentile...so she is doing great there!


We go back for her 18 month appt. in January, so hopefully she will still be progressing as expected. Please say a little prayer for my petite little angel. Here she is posing on the stool while we wait for Dr. Herrbold to come in...what a ham! By the way, Paige did excellent with the stethoscope this time. Thanks to a lot of practicing at home with Aunt Abby's old stethoscope and some moral support from "Baby"(she got examined first today)!

Playing on the Farm

Today was a pretty nice day outside, so we took advantage of the weather and spent a lot of time outdoor with Paige. We even went down to the creek and let Paige walk in the water with her frog rainboots on. We always say we need to do that, but this is the first time we actually remembered to bring the boots along with us.

Paige really enjoyed it and wanted to walk out farther than we could reach her, so Neil had to go in the water too! Now, it was nice out...but not nice enough to go wading in the water with flip-flops. Needless to say, Neil's feet were freezing, but he enjoyed the time with Paigey! Paige also spent some quality time with 'her' kittys. She really loves these cats at her grandma and grandpa's house and loves to feed them. However, today she just spent some time relaxing on the hay bails with them. It was pretty cute!

Pigtails!!

Yay! Paige finally has hair long enough to put in pigtails! So exciting...actually, the most exciting part is that she let me put her hair in pigtails. The last time I tried (about a month ago), I got one in and when I was working on the second one, she pulled them both out! That was a little disappointing, but not now! Look how cute she looks.

Paige also peed on the potty again tonight! This time the water for her bath wasn't even running...I was sure that was what made her go the first time, but maybe she really knows what she is doing! We'll see... but there is no pressure here for training anytime soon!

Potty Time?

We have had a potty chair sitting in Paige's bathroom for a couple of months (with no intention of potty training for a long while) and today she decided that she wanted to sit on it before her bath. So, I took off her diaper and sat her on there and, low and behold, she actually went pee! I couldn't believe it! We were all so excited! Potty training can't be this easy...this is a fluke, right!? She isn't even 16 months yet, and her doctor told us not to start training until she is two! Yep, this has to be a fluke!

Halloween Fun

Paige was a duck for Halloween. She really loves her duck costume and wants to wear it all the time. She will find her costume and then say "quack, quack" because she wants to put it on. However, since last night was Halloween, she didn't want to put it on. Can you believe it? I guess that is the way it goes...you never know how a one year old will react to what you want them to do.

Eventually, Paige put her costume on...thank goodness, and we went trick-or-treating to a few houses in Linn. Afterwards, we stopped at Paige's Uncle John and Aunt Pat's house, where she was delighted to get her most healthy treat: a banana! Then, we ended the Halloween fun at her Grandma and Grandpa's house (where we had plans to eat dinner). She was so excited to be there and excited to eat dinner that she did the sign for eat and walked right past everyone to her highchair. I guess all that trick-or-treating really worked up an appetite for her!

Trick-or-Treating on Klebba Drive

Pointing at Mommy

Trick-or-Treating at Uncle John and Aunt Pat's

Daddy's Lil' Ghoul

Our Jack-O-Lantern