My Christmas cards will be late - so here:

Everyday I meet the mailman at my mailbox and he always has bad news for me - no Christmas cards yet! At this rate they might not make it to you in time for Christmas, so I made this picture to post here. Merry Christmas everyone! We hope your holidays are as special as you are to us!

Santa's Lap: I won't cry mom, but I also refuse to smile.

We went to visit Santa Clause (at my gym! lol) and we got special treatment as the first kid with Santa. The kids in the gym daycare didn't even know Santa was there yet! So we tested places to take pictures and tried to make Liberty smile but she refused. She just kept looking at us like "You're joking right? THIS is Santa?" I'm sorry if she felt letdown, but Cameron and I had a good time snapping a few pictures.

Thanks Grandma Jo for the adorable Christmas sweater dress!

8 Months Old - Paparazzi Shoot

Here is my JOLLY BABES at 8 months old. The latest scoop:

• Liberty crawls (for real) on carpet, tries to crawl on the tile but opts for her faster army crawl (accompanied by the funniest heavy breathing, you must see for yourself to appreciate)
• ADORES our cat Cheetah Girl and tries to communicate with her with dolphin-like squeals.
• Pulls up to stand. S-C-A-R-Y
• She claps. A lot.
• I'm keeping all pictures of her double chin
• She is about 22 pounds
• Yes she rocks skinny jeans
• 2 teeth
• Very ticklish
• Laughs AT you, not only WITH you.
• Has eaten every food we have tried on her.
• Is soooo peaceful on stroller rides
• Total daredevil in the swing
• Drinks from a sippy cup like a drunken pirate
• Finally paying attention to books
• Likes slapping our hands away from our covered faces when we say "where's mommy/daddy?" & being chased while crawling
• Attracted to Mickey Mouse and not CNN (sadly).
• If you ask "Where's Cheetah Girl?" or MEOW she'll look around for Cheetah.
• It is getting impossible to change her diaper on an elevated surface - wiggleworm.
• Sucks her thumb and cuddles before every nap/bedtime.
• oh so much more......she is our favorite thing in the world. Hence the 31 images below. Don't make fun.

Thanksgiving 2010

Our first Thanksgiving as a family of 3 was great! We headed up to Flagstaff and had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal at the Wyatt's. Only thing missing this year was Andy :( Friday I got to do some Black Friday shopping and had a lunch date with Cameron! Saturday we had another feast at the Wheeler's. Only thing missing this year was Patrick :( Liberty sampled some mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy and a mum-mum biscuit (see pictures/video). It was a relaxing getaway with bright sunny weather (still with a high of 45*) and a snow storm on our last day (high of 23*).

Clapping and Pulling Up

Liberty is 7.5 months old in these videos. Right before Thanksgiving Liberty started clapping! It was the perfect party trick to bring up to our families in Flagstaff:) Her other new trick however (pulling up) was NOT so good to travel with. Sleeping in the pack'n'play went horribly since all she wanted to do was get on her knees, pull up and bounce. Here are two videos showing off her new skills. Please excuse the mommy voice and bizarre outfit she's in. haha.

From 7 month old playtime

From 7 month old playtime

Crawling and Jumping

Here is a quick video of Liberty doing her Army crawl around the house. She now easily sits from crawling too which is really talented of her! Also, below is a video of her jumping in the jumperoo - and trying to have a conversation:)

From 6.5 months old (Scooting)

From 6.5 months old (Scooting)

HALLOWEEN!!! Statue of Liberty

We had a very fun Halloween! I made Liberty a "Statue of Liberty" costume and we took her trick or treating to about 3 neighbors homes who we knew would want to see her. She also had her first taste of candy (sour twizzler) which she throughly enjoyed.

I know I should post the "best of the best" pictures for this blog - but honestly it is just easier to share our entire albums and I'm too worn out to do much editing (and can't bring myself to delete even the not so good pictures of my little angel). So forgive the 30 pictures and enjoy our LADY LIBERTY!

Carving our Pumpkin

Halloween is my least favorite holiday - but this year things are looking up. For one, my child is amused by everything - including pumpkin goop and posing for pictures with her daddy:)

Visit with Ann McCarthy and Liberty's First Purse

I use to babysit Ann's 4 kids - going on vacation with them and also flying out to visit a couple times once they moved to Connecticut. Ann is one of those special life-long friends and I'd do anything for her children. So it was really nice to see her face again and have her meet MY baby. We met up while she happened to be in Phoenix and Stacey (another babysitter and friend of mine) and her newest addition Tobee (3 weeks older than Liberty) came too! It was great to catch up and Liberty was a social butterfly despite it being way past nap time - she fell asleep 30 seconds after we hugged Ann goodbye - before we made it to the car:) Ann got Liberty a gift - her 1st Purse, which she loves!

Pumpkin Photo Shoot with Helsels

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Pumpkin Patch with Helsels

We went to the Desert Botanical Garden's GREAT PUMPKIN PATCH FESTIVAL along with Liberty's Aunt Kelly, Uncle Doug and Cousin Charlie! We went in the Monarch butterfly exhibit (1,000+ butterflies!), rode the hay ride out to the pumpkin patch, picked our pumpkin and really enjoyed the day! A few funny things that happened: Cameron put the baby sunscreen on himself (don't recommend it), a random lady asked to take a picture of Liberty at the pumpkin patch and Charlie was more interested in the water bowls than the petting zoo animals.

Fun time had by all!