The Copacabana

We had a wonderful white Christmas, in TEXAS! I have never seen so much snow come down in the Lone Star state before, it looked like a blizzard...or what I would imagine a blizzard would look like! It snowed off an on all day on Christmas Eve and the road got real icy once the sun went down. So, that nixed our traditional candlelight Christmas Eve church service. We were to eat dinner at my parents house that night, so I didn't have any food for us to eat at our house when we were stuck at home! All we really had was sandwich stuff. I made JT and I grilled cheese sandwiches, and Taylor had chicken nuggets (she had a grilled cheese at lunch) - not a traditional Christmas Eve meal, but it was good.

Christmas morning came and Taylor slept until 8:45 am! She has never slept that long before and was quite ironic seeing that the one day she is supposed to get up early and she sleeps in! I consider it as a Christmas present to us. When she woke, she was all smiles and wide eyed and bushy tailed. I took her into the living room to show her what Santa brought



And then her stocking with a straw sippy cup (this kid loves straws)


JT and I said that this will be the last Christmas where we can get away with not getting Taylor very many gifts and she would be perfectly happy.

And she was. Perfectly content to go back forth between JT and I to see what we unwrapped and playing with the paper


We headed over to my parents house to have Christmas with them and JT's parents who drove in that day. Opened a few more presents, ate a LOT of food, and had a great time

Taylor got a lego wagon that she really wanted to get in. SIlly girl


A family picture in front of the tree


And here we are last Christmas Day (I like to look back a year ago - if you couldn't tell). Taylor is so tiny you can barely see her.


And some snow pictures




I heard it's been 50 years, or more, since DFW had a white Christmas. Hopefully it won't be another 50 years because I loved it. Merry Christmas!

With both Taylor and JT's birthday in December before Christmas (within a week of each other) trying to find time to put up the Christmas tree is quite hard. I don't want to put up the tree before Taylor's birthday because I don't want Christmas to overshadow her day. Since her birthday is December 12th that really only give us about a week to get it up and enjoy it before Christmas Day.

On Tuesday evening, off we went to find the perfect Christmas tree!

It was pretty cold outside so we didn't linger too long.

After we picked one out, Taylor and I sat in the car while they tied it to the top. She was quite intrigued with all the buttons


Once we got home the tree had turned 90 degrees and was sideways! Thank goodness we don't live too far away from the Christmas tree lot because it would've fallen off. I didn't get a picture of it, sorry.

When we got home it was getting pretty late and Taylor hadn't eaten dinner yet, so we fed her and put her to bed. We were both too tired to decorate it that night. JT was going out of town the next day, so Taylor, my mom and I decorated it the next day.

Taylor liked the lights




Here we are last Christmas decorating the tree


And this year


Our Tree!


And our little Santa baby

I know I already posted about Taylor's birthday party, but I wanted to include her 12 month stats (her appt wasn't until after I posted about the party).

Height: 30 1/4 inches (85%)
Weight: 21 lbs 1 oz (60%)

The doctor said she is right on track and doing great!

12 Month pictures



My what a difference a year makes!







Man, I looked like I hadn't slept in 36 hours and went through 18 hours of labor.... oh wait... :)

Taylor at 1 month, 6 months and 12 months




The grow up fast!

On Monday JT graduated with his Masters in Geology! With a 4.0 I might add. Nerd.


As everyone knows graduations are usually lengthy and lots of sitting is involved. And everyone knows that Taylor does not just sit for longer than a couple minutes. When we got there and found a seat in the balcony (the lower level was full) they had an orchestra playing and lots of people finding their seat - so the little tornado just sat for a mere 10 minutes. Here's proof:


These signs were posted everywhere.

I chuckled and thought, I've got a really big noisemaker right here!

All Taylor wanted to do was run around once the orchestra stopped and the ceremony started. Thankfully, JT was in the beginning so we got to see him walk across the stage and yell for him. The majority of the hour long ceremony (it felt like MUCH longer) was spent out in the lobby where she wanted to sit on the tile floor right outside of the mens bathroom. I think she liked the little hallway the door was in. We went back inside a few times, where Taylor liked all the clapping and joined in.

On a more serious note, I am so proud of JT for working so incredibly hard (again, 4.0) to provide more for his family in the long run. His tremendous work ethic is amazing. So amazing that he would love to get his PhD, but financially we just can't swing it. Now comes the big job hunt. We are hoping for a job in Fort Worth, but it looks like he will be working in Dallas. The natural oil and gas company he works for part-time will probably offer him a full time position. In this day and age, any full time job with benefits is such a blessing. He has to finish up working for his professor at UTA until mid-January, which gives him just a smidge of time post graduation to look in Fort Worth for potential jobs. Any contacts or job leads are appreciated - hint, hint!

Our sweet Taylor is 1-year-old! We had a great birthday party with all her friends (except Eleanor couldn't make it), lots of fun and memories. JT actually made it to the party, but only because the Marine Corps sent him home sick! He kept his distance and stayed outside where he made a fire.

We had a polka dot party where the food, invitations, cake, decorations, and party dress were all polka dots!





The kids played and had a great time. Not one crying baby the whole time - guess they had fun!



All of the kiddos!
Clark, Hendrix, Taylor, Bryn, Ally and Will


We opened gifts





Clark was very interested in the gifts! They had to be Clark approved!




And ate cake...except Taylor didn't want to eat any cake. I guess there was too much going on and too many new toys to play with. She ate only a couple bites of frosting off my finger.



Everyone played a little more and it was time to go. Thanks to everyone for such a great party! It would have been no fun last weekend when she was so sick. It worked out perfectly; we got to have her party on her real birthday and JT was there too!

A few more pictures




A short video after the party to remember her on her 1st birthday. Nothing noteworthy happens, I just know I will want to remember her at this age and on her birthday



We are so blessed with such a happy little girl, it is rare when she isn't smiling or laughing. It's hard to believe that one year ago she was just this little, albeit an 8+ pound baby, thing that came into this world in room 12 on 12-12. Our lives have changed so much; our days are a lot brighter with her in it. She makes us smile and laugh with the silly things she does. She has changed so much in just 1 year, I can't imagine what she will be like next year - and I can't wait to find out.