16 months

this girl loves to be outside,

 walk, climb stairs, imagine that the kids at church or the park are chasing her, give momma hugs and kisses (miracle, indeed), have a say in what she wears,

try new foods and say "mmm," have conversations with me in the car (vocabulary isn't quite there, but her pragmatic awareness is better than most adults), dance to primary songs, lead the music at church (since she was a couple of months old-- weird), and be carried around by daddy. Some things don't change, right?

do you know

today is national donut day?

Nohemi does!

We tried going here for their heavenly treats, but they'd closed shop and taken all the treasure to Fountain Square downtown. I have no idea where that is, and it's more than I was willing to drive. Instead we went here for their pretty-good treats. We bought a glazed cake donut (I know, but everyone in line had ordered one, so...) and a "fried danish" (no, it's not worth the calories), and they gave us two heart-shaped donuts and a tea cookie. Somebody was so sad when the cookie was gone that she refused to eat a donut. See how long that lasted?

Happy Holidays!

Have you tried

this

(no explanation needed)

or this?

(lasts 7 days! if it is too thick, add a drop of nail polish remover. 2 coats and then 6 days of, "It hasn't chipped yet??")

You should!

And some baby pics:

Nohemi with her favorite tio and favorite empty orange juice jug.

We're back!

We went to Los Colmos park and enjoyed the Japanese garden and the duck pond. I met a Japanese-Mexican rat, Noah and Abuela fed squirrels, and Nohemi did laps with her abuelo.

 (Bet you'd like to know if Nohemi drank from that cup after this!)

Later that night we met up with my study abroad "familia." I can't believe it's been almost 11 years!

Papa quickly changed from an enemy to an ally, we ate salchichas (Mexican hot dogs), nieve (a really tasty, natural kind of sno cone in a cup), and went to the temple to use our connections to see if we'd be able to get in the next day.

(Anyone know where my wallet--with my temple recommend-- is?? Nomhemi, do you know where it is?)

we're in mexico

enjoying momma's favorite treat

 finding treasure,

 and playing (fighting?) with inflated worm walking toys.

not enough pictues

yes, my fans, i've been busy.

 i enjoyed the snow (from inside!) on valentine's day,

 met my nice friends and one of their big chickens, carefully held the tiny chicken's tinier egg,

 went crazy for two of their rabbits,

 enjoyed a tour of local parks and the wonders of spring after a real (part of a) winter,

got older, tried some new hairstyles for my flowing locks,

and celebrated Easter by going to church and eating chocolate. i liked it!

For Tisha

Sorry my homework was late!

We are

still alive. I think you were wondering.

Happy Birthday, Baby!

This little girl has changed our lives for the better in so many ways.

She's taught us about ourselves and the people around us.

She makes every day special and fun just by being herself. 

The days go by too quickly and every evening we're surprised and grateful for another perfect day. (We tell her so, too!)

 She finds joy in so many simple things: the kitty on one birthday card, the puppy on another...

She is our greatest blessing.

Happy birthday, angel baby! We're SO lucky you're ours! Or we're yours...

papel picado party preview

We (Michelle and I) made these to decorate for Nohemi's party.

 We thought it would be a quick project, but nothing ever is. Imagine poking out every piece. It was a good excuse to enjoy a few days together, though.

 More than 40 flags later, we had a very festive porch.

Now let's see her party!

Treasure

You probably haven't noticed, but we switched Nohemi's earrings. I had the nurse take them out because I was too nervous to do it. You know how those starter earrings are. I replaced them with the diamonds my mom gave me when I graduated high school. I imagine she knows they're special even though I'm sure she has no idea.



taken 2 Thursdays ago

Last Thursday I was nursing her in the morning and noticed the right one was missing. Nohemi and I said a prayer; "It's really important to me, and even if we just find the front..." Very specific. Maybe too specific. I searched Nohemi's sheets, pajamas, and even used mom's "crossword style" carpet search (imagine going back and forth and back and forth a milimeter away to continue the process). No luck.

Meanwhile, Nohemi had been telling me she needed a new diaper. "Just a minute." Throw a new toy in the crib. "Where's your earring, babydoll?" Check the bathroom, towel... "Wait, what's tha... ew."

Finally, I gave in and put her on the changing pad. You will never guess-- oh, you already did.

THE EARRING WAS IN HER DIAPER.

(just hanging out there--still tidy and sparkly if you know what I mean)

It made me think. 1) Saying a prayer is absolutely the way to go if you need something, 2) if you are doing what you should be (instead of wasting your time combing through carpet), Heavenly Father will have a much easier time answering said prayer, and 3) He's totally listening.

I keep looking for the back of this thing in the carpet, her clothing, her... diapers but still haven't found it.



winner

A couple of weeks ago Nohemi met Santa,

Just a little freaked out

 rode a pony,

Right after this she ate her first Goldfish cracker, too.

 and entered a coloring contest.

Is she ashamed that she tried to eat all the crayons?

 We just got a phone call that she won!

Maybe it was beginner's luck; that was her first picture.

twins

 Dad sent these two days ago.

 I wrote the captions as an elementary school project.

happy thanksg... halloween!

these two pirates caught a little parrot. she squaked, flapped her wings, and held crackers to play the part.

we watched "shoot the turkey" (kids of all ages shooting a bee bee gun at priests very convincingly dressed as turkeys), trunk-or-treated, and enjoyed the bonfire on Saturday at the ward activity.

on Monday we were in Sharonville, OH and trick or treated in a friendly neighborhood near the hotel. i asked everyone what they thought she was: "oh, honey, i don't watch those cartoons," "a... monster?," "a dragon," and my fav, "a Christmas angel." maybe they didn't see the obvious parrot tail in the back? ;)

next year we'll start her costume in June and she'll be able to decide.

Noah finally

got a coat. I asked him last night, and he says he thinks he had one as a kid. I've never known him to have one.

Ok, it doesn't look very special here, but it looks great on Noah. He's at work.

Mom gave her input in Kentucky, and Noah gave his in Cincy. We made a call on a "red phone" that wasn't red. I haggled with the salesperson. Did you know you could do that? $100 off and free shipping.

look what i can do

i'm so strong. i do yoga poses for fun: plank, dolphin plank, full boat, cat, and happy baby, of course! mom didn't know it was special until everyone kept pointing it out.
but she knew my mountain was special.

i do a mean center and side split, too.

this little piggy

went to the market.

Nohemi loves to "coupon" with me;

she likes the colors, the lights, the admirers, the deals,

and as daddy says, "Chiquita must go out every day!"

and how do you like her piggy?

We forgot

I was sad that we forgot to do a shoot on Nohemi's real 8-month birthday, but here's one I got of her that day. She's proud of herself for crawling.

Here's one a couple of days later-- her official shoot.

I like the candid better!

(I think the grass does, too!)