It's so FUN to be ONE!

A friend of mine warned me to plan ahead for the big ONE. I meant to follow her advice, but true to form, good intentions left me scrambling the week of.Thankfully my mom came to town, and my husband sort of has to do what I want right now because I'm teaching Sunday school for him. ;)

I'm so grateful for all of their help! And as for the one year old, she was of little help as she spent most of the week teething and desperate to be constantly held by moi...it's a good thing she's so cute.

And I forgot to mention our dear friends who say they just happened to be in the neighborhood 30 minutes before the party. Say what they may,  I'm convinced they just know us so well that they knew we would not be ready without their intervention:

For the party we decided on a FELICITY theme because she hasn't developed an affinity for much more than bugs, yogurt drops, iphones, butterflies, daddy's funny faces and mommy, and she certainly does not have a favorite cartoon character at this point. Plus, we like her a lot and knew we would enjoy planning a PaRtY to reflect our little delight.

The decorations were simple enough and inexpensive which is a bonus...

 Initials on the high chair and a felt party hat.

We thought of Felicity's favorite foods, but gave them a grown up twist. She does not eat baby quiches every morning, but eggies are certainly one of her favorites...We also printed a few pics of her eating her favorites to go along with the food...fruit, veggies, eggies, mac & cheese, Fliss mix, and drinks.

 Yum!

 And for the decorations we printed her ONE year pictures and made a collage and a wordle with all of her favorite things.  Dan also made butterflies outlined with lyrics from his song, FELICITY. I love these things because they are not only party decorations but items we will love putting in her room and continue to enjoy.

Thank you Nita and Adrian for arranging it so it all looked much more amazing than anything we would have dreamed up!

We also set out some of Felicity's favorite books...Elmo, Girl Bible, If you Give a Pig a Pancake, etc.

And my very favorite pinterest idea is the line of her little faces. I found a variety of Felicity expressions, cropped them so the picture showed only the face and had kinkos print them in black and white (less than $2 total). We cut out her faces and used scrapbook paper to make party hats. Then we labeled them with Felicity's various nicknames. I simply showed Dan a picture, and said, "What's the first name that comes to mind?" We had Whoozle, Fliss, Crumpy, Felicity, Wootie, Baby Clown, and Flo-Zo. So Fun!

For the favors we gave the kids Fliss Mix and the adults Izzes...

Of course the BEST part about the Felicity theme was Felicity in real time...

Can you tell we are so in love with our little girl. I didn't even tell her daddy to wear pink...

We're not the only ones who love this Whoozle...

We are overwhelmed at God's faithfulness to answer our prayers that Felicity would bring glimmers of happiness to those she meets. Thank you friends and family, near and far, for loving her so well. We are blessed.

Happy FIRST Birthday to YOU, Felicity Renee! We love you!

Epilogue:

Felicity: Really, two iphones? This is the BEST day of my life...

Mommy: Family hugs are the best. I just can't stop smothering these two...

Daddy: Whoozles and their mommy's are WORK. Finally, nap time...

Our Felicity: 12 Months

It's a good thing baby books only require monthly stats and pics for the first year because Felicity has had just about enough of these shinannigans...

Apparently life is far too interesting to sit around and pose for mommy's pictures:

...and now that she has mastered the art of scooting, I don't stand a chance...

...At least she chooses books...

...Not exactly the 12 month picture I was hoping for...

...Lucky for me she's still a light-weight. I was able to pick her up and get this one before she started scooting again:

I have to say I can't believe I've made it through 12 of these posts. Writing things down seems so permanent and scary that I decided early on that if anything was ever actually going into the baby book my mom talked me into buying, it would have to be blogged first. Otherwise the intimidation of ink and paper would prevent me from doing anything. Hopefully I can transfer this information in a timely manner...or at least before Felicity is out of the house. No promises...

And now for the final monthly update. Whew!

Well, she's ONE...and there are so many things to say about her...

Very little hair to speak of, not crawling or walking, pointing at everything, scooting from room to room, emphatically declaring "BAH!" at just about everything, emptying toy bins and bookshelves, exerting her will more and more every day, willing to give her heart to anyone with an iphone, 17 lbs, 5th percentile in height and weight, scrunchy funny faces, six teeth strong, lover of blueberries, mac & cheese, and bunny grahams, still not cuddling, LOVES reading If You Give a Pig a Party , If You Give a Pig a Pancake, That's not My Snowman, and Brainy Numbers, goes crazy over balloons and her ball, will not face forward in a shopping cart: MUST SEE EVERYTHING, loves playing in the church nursery, waves to everyone, mocking fliss (look out she's starting to repeat things!), makes friends wherever we go, weird but not too weird, funny, observant, cerebral...

She is so many things, but most of all she is a gift. She is a gift that in one year has helped us love deeper, pray harder, and realize new depths of our selfishness as well as new levels of God's grace. We are grateful for you baby girl, our Felicity, God's gift of happiness to us.

Our Felicity: 11 months

Wha-sat? Can you tell which polka-dot does not belong? ...

 This month our girl has taken her curious side to a whole new level. She now points at everything wanting to show mommy and daddy. She particularly loves pointing out flying birds, airplanes and the box elder bugs that have overtaken our house...yuk! One of two things accompanies this gesture:

1. hmm (high pitched like a little puppy)

2. Wha-sat?!

Daddy gets all of the credit for what we have determined is Fliss' first word (s): "wha-sat?!" He has been known to take her around the house or outside, point to things and say, "What's that" in a quick, whispered voice. After hearing "wha-sat" several times from this girl as she points, we've officially deemed it her first word(s).
Curiosity has finally met movement. Not in the form of crawling as one might expect but in scooting. Fliss uses her kicking legs to drag her little booty across the floor. She can cover some good territory...enough to give her her first of many battle wounds (the polka-dot mentioned above) from a tumble down the carpeted stairs. Time to put up the baby gate!
Though she's still a little petite thing, Felicity has really started to devour real food. She loves cheese and tortillas, dried cranberries, cantaloupe, scrambled eggs, and greek yogurt. She tore into some watermelon at mommy's thirtieth birthday party, ate apple farm apples like nobody's business and found the dinner rolls in our kitchen cart. I turned around to find her with bread in both fists and her mouth. Funny baby.
One last funny from this month is a new trick she does in the morning. Dan gets her up, changes her, and then brings her to our room. We try to keep her there for as long as possible, and though she refuses to snuggle, she certainly keeps us laughing. She has discovered that she can fling herself backwards and land in the safety of the big fluffy comforter. She laughs, and we each take one of her little hands to lift her up to do it again and again...of course we don't mind if it means a few more minutes under the covers!
It's hard to believe that in one month this five-toothed wonder of ours will be ONE! I just can't comprehend it...

You Win

Your chances of winning were 1 in 9. Not too shabby if you ask me :)

Here was my highly sophisticated process...

First, I cut nine pieces of paper equal in size, and put each person's name on one. 

Next, I put them in a bowl. 

Then, I mixed them up while closing my eyes, counting to thirty (my new favorite number of course), and taking a picture. 

And finally...I pulled out a name: 

You win James! I hope that this thirty dollars of coffee goes a long way as you and the wifey welcome baby boy in a month or so. I have a feeling you're going to need it ;) 

 Thanks to everyone who entered. I truly enjoyed reading your thankful things. Here's to looking for the beautiful things in life and being grateful...even though things get messy sometimes!

One-Hundred

Three and a half years ago I began this journey called blogging:

http://datieandkan.blogspot.com/2009/02/beginning-is-hardest-part.html

A few observations as I come to post 100:

• We now have three in our story instead of two. Love.
• Having a name makes me happy. We are no longer untitled but Messy, Beautiful, Grateful.
• I really need to get to finishing my family birthday tributes. Oops!
• I was totally right when I said I would be the primary contributor...the only contributor. Maybe I can convince Dan to write something by the time we get to post 200 :) 
• Blogging is great for someone who is scared of scrapbooking but wants to be a keeper of memories. 
• Though I am quite taken with her, I do hope to blog about something besides my daughter some day...

A few of my favorites: 

• I might have gotten in trouble with this one!
• Love
• Butt Paper
• My Students
• Serious Side
• Yule Tide Cheer
• Married Now!
• Friends
• Paradise
• More Yule Tide Glee
• Very Pregnant
• She's Here!

And finally in honor of Post 100, I would like to make someone's life in my little virtual blogger world a little more beautiful as well as give them another thing to be grateful for...I'll leave the messy business to you!
Just leave a comment with your name and something you are grateful for at the bottom. This weekend I'll draw one name, and the lucky winner will get a $30 gift card to Starbuck's...because I'm turning 30 this week (ahhh!)...and I thought it would be super fun to do a give away on my little blog :) May the odds be ever in your favor...

Our Felicity: 10 Months

Ten of our Favorite things about Felicity in her TENTH month:

1. She spins! Put her on her booty and round and round she goes...hilarious.
2. Felicity phone home: We always knew she was from another planet, but now it has been confirmed. She loves to point her finger in the air like E.T.
3. The child loves gnocchi. The only other thing I have seen her eat with such vigor is clementines and yogurt drops. 
4. Our "Hillbilly" baby has her two bottom teeth, one of her two front teeth and the tooth next to it (not the other front tooth). It looks quite hysterical, but it seems her second front tooth will be coming shortly.
5. Dan started referring to Fliss as the Baby Merganser. Apparently her small tuft of hair in the back resembles a merganser duck when it is a bit disheveled. 
6. She finally started making the "ma, ma, ma" sound :) though she hasn't directed toward me yet. 
7. Felicity has started making trail mix. Any given day you will find it in her high chair seat or on our kitchen floor. It includes things such as peas, avocado, cheddar cheese penguins, peaches, clementines, gnocchi...you get the idea. The broom is my new best friend.
8. When she goes down for a nap or bed, she takes her blankie, snuggles it to her face and rolls to her side. It is so precious. 
9.  Only mommy will do while she is teething, which happened to be most of this month. 
10.  Pop, pop, pop! Felicity has discovered the bigger bubbles in the tub and loves to pop them with her little index finger. She also noticed that she can see her reflection in the metal piece on the tub. She stares and stares pointing at the cute baby in the reflection. 

 A common occurrence this month...TeEthInG is so sad!

Our Felicity: 9 Months

For nine months we have not had to set an alarm clock. She always goes off in the six-o-clock hour. Every. Day. Without. Fail. We are grateful and tired.
Her gummy smile is gone, and her two bottom teeth have arrived. The first one came mid month without much havoc, just a few extra snuggles. The second one came in with a bang, keeping us up in the night while visiting KC.

Felicity's first fourth of July celebration included her first mid-west "hurricane" at the end of Interdependence Day. Luckily we were able to make a run for the church van and wait it out. We also spent the afternoon at the Fernandez's. No fireworks for this girl as she seems to be winding down around 7 p.m. these days, and since her internal wake time does not change EVER, we decided to sleep instead.

Curiosity is on the rise this month. I'm amazed at what this girl notices. If she hears a car outside or Daddy making a noise in the next room, she does this:

She has also begun pulling herself up in the stroller and car seat. When we walk around the lake she always grabs the tray of her stroller and leans forward to check out any dogs passing by. She'll even turn her head to follow them as they pass. The days of bringing her inside a place in her car seat are ending. We were never so amazed when we were out eating and she pulled herself up in the car seat to see what was going on at the table. I can't imagine what will ensue when this curiosity meets movement...for now she just continues to sit and observe EVERYTHING. We think she is a THINKER for sure ;)

This month Fliss started eating Cheerios and Clementines among other things, but these are her absolute favorites. Thanks to Miss Melissa she even started picking them up one by one to feed herself. It is super cute...especially when her little teeth make the Cheerio go CruNcH :)

 I simply cannot end this post without mentioning that this little lady has become a source of inspiration. This month her daddy wrote a beautiful, melancholy yet mysteriously joyful song for her. She and her cousin Lyla also inspired cousin Benji to go Latin Lover on us, showering the little girls with kisses! Felicity was not into it, but Lyla didn't seem to mind. And finally, she has inspired her parents to new levels of undignified expressions of LoVe. Dan likes to play on Felicity's level so he will often take her toys, put them in his mouth, shake his head back and forth, make noises like she does etc. It was quite hilarious when he happened to be doing this when a server came up to take our order. No shame, just love. In the middle of Caputo's one day I found myself spinning her round and round, singing along with Frank Sinatra as she giggled and giggled. I was so caught up in the sweetness that only later did I realize that other people were in the store. No self consciousness. Just Felicity.

Our Felicity: 8 months

Felicity's eighth month has been full of FuN. We are truly enjoying life with our little wonder.

One of the biggest changes this month was the introduction of solid foods. So far Felicity prefers carrots, nanners, yogurt drops and her FeEt! One of my favorite moments of the month happened while I was holding Fliss and eating an apple. She turned her little head and started gumming the apple! For a brief week or two she also started sucking on my cheek to tell me she was hungry. So sweet.

Daddy and Fliss have developed quite the relationship. He loves to build towers with her blocks, and she loves to knock them down. I am amazed at how quiet the two of them can be as they play in her nursery while having so much fun. Dan also loves holding Fliss upside down, letting her feel like a big girl with the sippy cup, and dressing her up in polk-dot pajamas so he can call her the BaBy CloWn. They also celebrated Dan's first Father's Day. Fliss gave him pictures of herself to put in his office. She refused to smile but followed through with some classic faces. Dan's best gift was a tower of his favorite candies. For now, he can eat them all, but I suspect he will be sharing in the near future. We also went to Daddy's favorite Chinese restaurant with our friend Syed. It was a special day honoring the best daddy a girl could ever dream of!


She still has no hair to speak of and no teeth. Kicking her feet while sitting up and lying down is Fliss' specialty. There's no evidence that she will crawl soon, but she FINALLY rolled from her back to stomach toward the end of the month. She only did it once, and of course she hated landing on her tummy. Somehow she discovered shaking her head "no", but she has no idea what it means. She thinks it's the greatest thing, and the look on her face is priceless as she does it. See picture directly to the right...

Also new to this month are the sounds da, da, da,  a few buh, buhs and whispered ta-tas. We have finally discovered that Felicity will take a bath if we go in with her. Dan even put on his trunks and joined her once! She also laughs hysterically when daddy holds her upside down and covers her with kisses and when mommy moves her in the air like a pendulum saying, "Tick-tock Whoozle, Tick-tock!"

Felicity had lots of fun with our kind friends the Stephens while Dan and I went out for our anniversary dinner. Of course we talked about her the majority of the time and even enjoyed the videos they sent us of our girl having fun watching their dog while we were away. Yes, we are those parents...so in love.
Grandma Kathy came for a quick visit on her way home from St. Louis to Kansas City...it's funny, we've never been on the way before ;) It was nice to have grandma's air conditioned car for a few days. Grandma was absolutely appalled at our air conditioning system for Fliss: throw an ice pack in the car seat with the girl. My mom even had a dream that Felicity's fingers were frost bit and fell off!

Finally, this month saw Fliss' first vacation. We traveled one hour to Woodstock, IL. So adventurous we are! Here are a few of the highlights:

• Felicity looking back at us from her carseat...just making sure we were still around.
• She actually slept the whole first night but had a very hard time the second night. Vacations are certainly redefined!
• First pool adventure :)
• She watched every single person who came in and out of the first restaurant we ate at...this observant little lady doesn't miss a thing!

This might be the last month of a gummy smile...

The drooling has begun...

And Surprise! The girl still despises tummy time...