Happy 1st Birthday Clementine Rose!

Dear Rosie,

What on earth is even happening? How are you already turning one?! This both confuses and excites me. Mostly I'm excited because every day I get to know you that much more.

Being my third baby makes your first year different compared to June's first year. You've been thrown into the mixed bag of two other sisters, work, school, swimming lessons, dancing lessons, tumbling lessons, house building, and all the other things that come with a busy, full family life. But my dear Rose, you have been the best baby about it all and you have not only fit into our family as if you've been with us all along, but you have added to our family and filled our hearts to the brim.

You have been my calmest, most easy going newborn and I cannot thank you enough for that. You nursed well, slept well, and had such a calm and sweet spirit. It's been a delight taking you everywhere with us in our crazy lives.

From day one you have seen and noticed your energetic sisters. It started with your eyes following them around a room and has now grown to you following them around the house. You trust them, (even if you shouldn't ha!) play with them, laugh at them, climb on them, and always want to be with them. It's no wonder you started walking so early- I truly believe it's because you just want to keep up with them!

While you are a mama's girl, you have also always had a trust and bond with your daddy. From an early age you have been aware of him and especially when he gets home from work- you always want him to hold you. Even just the other day you were with ME (your favorite person, right?) but as your dad walked away and out of the room you cried out after him and then broke down into the saddest sobs. Recently you've discovered that you too can wrestle with him, as you've seen your sisters do your whole life. And now anytime you see him lay on the ground you book it towards him and start to instigate play time.

You, my dear, have so many nicknames and potential nicknames. Mostly we call you Rose, Rosie or Rosie Posie. Sometimes Rose Bud. But with your first name being Clementine we have discovered many for that as well such as "Minty' or "Lemon." I've tried out "Minty Rose," "Lemon drop," "Prim Rose," and probably other random names as well. haha You are going to be so confused in life about what your real name is.

Oh my Rosie. This past year has been hard on me as a mom. Everyone was right that having three kids is the hardest.  But I want you to know that YOU yourself has not been the hard part! Overall you have been nothing but a delight and I am so grateful for your calm yet silly nature.

However, you are getting a bit crazier now ;) But only in the best ways. You are SO curious- you have to put everything in your mouth, and climb on, through or around everything. You're a chatty little thing! You LOVE your blankets and will search the house for them if they are not in your sight. You are pretty patient with things and people and have been known to be "chill." You're observant but often you seem lost in your own little world, dreaming about something.  You eat well in quantity but despite my best efforts you have already become a bit of a picky eater.... While you are a great smiler, you have not been one to give out your laughs very easily and it took longer to get that first laugh out of you when you were first starting. You still take a pacifier and THANK YOU for taking one- it's made this year so much easier haha.

And since I've had three babies now, I can note how, in my experience, babies all love the water and playing in it. But now I can also note that there are some babies who love it more than others and YOU love the water more than others. You make the biggest mess of it splashing around, and the biggest fuss when it's time to get out. You don't care about it getting in your face or going over your head. You happily take showers with me and crawl around while the water pours down on you.

And anyway, I am rambling a bit but mostly I just want to say THANK YOU for coming to be in our family. Getting to know you is wildly exciting and spiritual. You are beautiful and bursting with life. Happy Birthday little Rose. We love you 1 million times over the amount of nicknames you have.

At One Year Rose:

Has nearly six teeth popping through

Took her first steps at 8 months

and is now walking more than half the time

Has dainty little eyelashes and pink little lips

And blue eyes

And surprisingly dark hair!
With a twist in the front of her hair line that causes all her hair to swoop to one side
The best scrunched nose smile
And a faint little raspberry between her eyebrows
Tiny little feet
And a subtle dimple on her left cheek

Loves cottage cheese, berries, yogurt, oatmeal, 

(So, apparently she's a fan of breakfast foods)

Nursed until 9/10 ish months

Is my little ankle (and blanket) biter

Loves music, especially when mom sings

and dancing to the beat

Gives the kisses
And chomps, if you're not careful!

Loves to steal our phones

Climbs stairs

Loves touch and feel board books

Does NOT care much to play alone, but wants someone with her

Talks all of the time

And is very clear in her baby communication about what she wants haha

Loves to do tongue thrills

And a deep, low, throaty growl

Makes all the baby sounds but seems to always favor "mama." ;) 

She's been to: Utah, Idaho, Oregon

Touched the Pacific Ocean

Flew on an airplane

Got a passport (but didn't end up using it... YET) (sorry Rose!)

Went to the ice castles

And a hindu Temple

And the Aquarium, dinosaur museum, curiosity museum, and planetarium

Became a huge swimming fan

Been to the movie theaters

Gone to a few plays- Wizard of Oz, Pinocchio.

Been in the mountains a lot

Gone to a roller skating rink

Went to the Tulip Festival

And a Kite Festival

And a Colonial festival 

And a Scarecrow festival
(so maybe we like festivals)

Got photos in a photo booth

Went on a train ride
Went to Disney on Ice

Fell into a duck pond and lived to tell the tale

Went to a funeral and a couple weddings

Watched fireworks

Went to a jello food fight party

Went to Shoshone falls (huge water falls!)

Got to sit in a (not too hot) hot tub

Pet a llama

Went glamping

Got to "see" a solar eclipse

Got to swing in a hammock

Go raspberry picking

And pumpkin picking

Dressed up as a cat for Halloween

Spent a week away from her family :(

Happy Birthday Rosie Posie!
 May your merry mischief, scrunched-nosed smiles, babbling chit-chat, and neck nibbles continue to brighten every day as you grow and grow and grow.
---------------------------------------

Since I didn't manage a good "scruntched nose smile" 

in these photos, click on THIS POST to see a few! 

Thanksgiving

Oh hey, everyone. I hope y'all had a belly-filling thanksgiving this year. We went to Boise to be with my family. And while it started out as a belly-full time, it certainly turned into quite the opposite for me. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

First of all, the day before the holiday, we tried to get some family photos taken. Here are a few taken either by me or with my camera by my parent's friend who came to take photos for us as well:

 The candy sunset!

Fun times. 

The day of Thanksgiving the girls made cards and picked out treats and then we took those around to the fire station, police station, and hospital to say "Thank you" for working during the holidays. 

 

 We had a lot of fun and there will be a blog post more about it later but for now I want to highlight the fire station stop. We got to go in and tour the fire truck. Ginny was not thrilled and June and Hazel were hesitant (not like it was their first time, but whatever)  But then they were jealous that I got to go in the truck and turn on the lights so finally they took a turn too. I'm adding all the photos because while there is one story going on of me in the window of the truck, there is also another story happening if you look closely.

Good times. 

This photo makes me laugh for a few reasons.

A cousin past time, playing "Crab."

Once we were back home it was time to get the food ready...

And snitch it...

The cutest turkey plates!

The cutest nephew!

And.... the grumpiest Rose.... you can't win ALL the photos, right?

Yes, our cat Luna made the journey with us there.

My mom is cute and made "turkey leg" bags with little toys inside that the girls got as incentive to eat all their food (tough life.)

The food was perfect! My mom and sister (and Dad and Dan?) did an amazing job. (Yeah, I was no help. Just wanted to channel my teenager years I guess? I don't even know what happened.)

 

Kids table for the win!

The face of someone who's about to be sick....

And then I went downhill and never came back up. But guess what did come back up.....?

Sigh.

I HATE THE STOMACH FLU.

And I had it the rest of every day that we were there. :( It was sad. I was sad. It was rough, man. I've never had it hold onto me for so long! So all the other plans we had were off. But it's fine, I'm trying to focus on the blessings like the fact that with my parents and Buck there to watch the girls I actually got to be sick! Like lay in bed and be left alone. That NEVER happens as a mom! So I'll be grateful for that. 

And this sunset that happened one of our last nights.

Maybe better luck next time Boise, maybe next time.

Simple Service- Service Gingerbread

Monthly post for Little Hands Can!

Before the internet or pinterest, my mother came up with a clever way to teach my sister and me about service. One evening she presented us with this gingerbread man she had made herself:

 

 And in his little backpack there was a poem about serving others. (That my mom and I could not seem to remember) but it had to do with serving as a surprise for others. We were instructed to do kind things for one another and after we had done our good deed to leave the gingerbread man there so whoever the recipient was would know that they had been sneakily served. If you found you had been served then it was your turn next to give to someone else in the family. Pretty much it was a game of service tag with a gingerbread man.

Lately we've been focusing on serving in different ways in our community, which has been wonderful, but I wanted to bring the focus into our home because what does it matter if you're serving others out in the world, but neglecting and ignoring those who are closest to you?

So we made our own gingerbread man. We are left crafty than my mom so we cut it out of cardboard and let the girls each decorate a side.

 

 And I made up my own little poem: (I did the best I could...)

Helping others is so much fun,
Sometimes I'm sneaky, help, then run!

Secret serving, I do all that I can,
But you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man!

And then the games began!

The help with dishes, beds, and laundry has been nice:

Sometimes I leave an extra fun after-school snack:

Or the best is getting a kind note:

It is simple and easy and makes a happy little merry-go-round of service in our family. The better we take care of each other, the more we can help change the world.