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We can't believe Bity is one! The year has simply flown by. We absolutely adore this little one. In particular, we love:

• How she scrunches up her little nose and has a crooked cheesy grin when she smiles 
• That she adores stuffed animals and Olaf
• How she gets attached to strange little plastic toys that she must carry around in one hand. If you try and pry it from her cute little fingers, she acts like major harm has been done
• That she likes to get in on all the action, especially when the big kids are playing chase with dad 
• That she is a puddle of tears every morning when Andrew heads out to work and nothing but smiles when he returns
• That she has been saying "mama" for a little over a month and is working on "dada
• That she has 8 teeth
• And when putting her down for a nap or bed, if she spies her bottle in her room she won't sit on her own or crawl, but just lay flat in a pile of tears until that bottle is in her mouth (I'm a little nervous about weaning her from that beloved bottle)  

We have always had a reason to feel and be grateful, but Bitsy was truly a great big ray of sunshine after a profound amount of compounded loss and grief. For me, her arrival provided a beautiful transition from a great deal of personal sorrow to joy. I always imagine the angels kissed her goodbye and sent her straight down to me. So, happy birthday to our dear Bitsy!

She was pretty good at opening presents

You can't tell here, but she loves her new lambie

Skyping with papa and grandma Duffin

 

She really does love Olaf

Bitsy was too interested in the giant cake placed before her to hold still

An example of her carrying a little toy in her left hand (in this case Olaf). Don't try and take it away. 

She ate the whole thing no problem

Happy 1st birthday Bitsy!

dear santa

Dear Santa,

I really like dogs and am hoping to get my hands on one. I don't think mom and dad are on the same page as me on this one though, so you're my only hope.

From a cute baby,

Bitsy

Dear Santa,

I'm sure you are aware, I've been a pretty good little boy this year. It has been a big year for me adjusting to a new baby sister. I think I've done a pretty good job adapting. Can you make it so she'll like to wrestle? If not, I'd love a garbage truck.

From a nice boy,

Tank

Dear Santa,

I have a question for you, how does Ed the elf make it to the North Pole and back to our house every night? I am really stuck on this one. However, I'm sure he has reported to you all my good deeds. I keep everyone in line around here and its a tough job, but I think I do it pretty well. So, I'd like some dress up smurf stuff. My mom and dad seem pretty worried you won't pull through on this one, but I know you can.

From a nice girl,

Little Bug

Merry Christmas!

christmas lights

For a couple of years now, Andrew and I have wanted to go to Leavenworth during the Christmas season to see all the lights. This year, we rather suddenly decided to make that happen. It is the perfect little Christmas town and did not disappoint! The kids were super excited to stay in a hotel (they now want to live in one), had a great time looking at all the shops, playing in the snow, listening to live Christmas carols and meeting Saint Nicholas. We had a lot of fun and are thinking we should make this an annual tradition. Except, next year we'll know to bring warmer clothes and sleds for the kids.

Bitsy was a tired trouper.

mini snowmen

We made and melted indoor mini snowmen! It was a perfect activity for a rainy afternoon. 

Sadly, this is the only shot I have of Tank's snowman. However, you can tell from it, he had a lot of a creative intuition going on. 

Bug's snowman family.

Melting the snowmen! Basically, it is a baking soda dough and then you 'melt' them with vinegar. So fun!

cahoots

The big kids and I came in from the backyard to discover that Bitsy had found a bag of halloween candy and was helping herself. I guess she has learned rather quickly in life what the good stuff is. Tank quickly joined the party and helped her more effectively get the wrappers off, of course helping himself to some goodies too. 

6

Little Bug turned six! We love having her in our family. She is such a good helper around the house, loves school and learning, and thinks a great deal of things are "so magical!" It is fun having such an excited and smart little girl around. Happy birthday Bug!

fall

Every year the kids have a lot of fun playing in the fall leaves in our backyard. Usually, the leaves provide hours and hours of entertainment while it is still warm enough for the kids to play outside. However, the cold weather came pretty quick this year and we lost most of our leaves within a week! Sadly for the kids, they didn't get more than an afternoon of fun before the leaves were all raked up.

This year they started burying each other in the leaves. 

Bitsy watched intently from afar. Next year little one...

pumpkin patch

I love fall! And part of that fun are the pumpkin patches. We have some really fun ones around here. Our kids totally lucked out this year because we ended up going to two of them.

halloween

Oh, we love Halloween around here! It may have a lot to do with my major candy addiction (sometimes I feel like hoarding the candy instead of giving it to trick or treaters), but mostly it is just fun having the kids brainstorm what they want to be and dress up for a night. It is a pretty fun kid holiday. This year we had an Elsa, a bulldozer and a little girl playing dress up. Happy Halloween!