1 year old and counting

We have a toddler! This is the parenting phase known as Intensive Speed and Reflex Boot Camp. I don't think they make cameras that turn on and expose their lenses to light fast enough to catch the moments while our daughter is doing cute things and before she notices the camera is within her grasp, so here are a few pictures before she turned 1. She is certainly a baby of interesting enthusiasms.

She likes to climb stairs - this one's pretty normal for a baby

And be put into boxes - less normal.

She likes to crawl around the garden eating dirt and holding tools. Also fairly? normal for a baby. She gave me the funniest glare when I asked her to look at me for the picture. "You're bothering me, WHY?"

Taking the road less traveled by. And getting stuck (she didn't love that part).

She finally turned over the full water bowl.
Congratulations, baby soaking in water and dog slobber.

Easter!
We let her find and open plastic eggs with veggies straws and chocolate covered marshmallows.
I think she got the point of the Easter Egg Hunt. And yes, the ears were her Easter gift to me. Bwahaha.

Ok, I have managed to have a few taken of her after her birthday - here are some from her family party. We love having our cousins so close by, and we loved even more that Elena and Aaron happened to be in town to celebrate with us.

Luckily for all of us who wanted to eat cake this millennium, her cousins were there to help her open her gifts.
I loved that they helped her feel excited about the opening.

Logan was so sweet, he even taught her how to use this one.
Teo loves to photo-bomb. Another reason we have only a few photos taken by me these days.

Did I mention we were celebrating JD's birthday, my birthday,
and our anniversary in addition to Korrali's 1 year birthday?
Happy Birthdiversary Days!

Mmm, chocolate cake overload. 

I love the crazy, awesome, never dull, screaming, giggling, loving, wonderful family we have! I'm so grateful for the 7 years JD and I have been married, the 5 years we've been blessed with an exuberant Teo and the 13 months we've been blessed with our fun Lilu.

Korrali's laugh will brighten your day.

For those of you who are not on Facebook, please enjoy this therapeutic session of Korrali's laughter.  

Ok that went by fast

Where did the time go? Well, so far this year, it has gone in California and Colorado. And Minnesota.

We went to go find the sunshine, since Chicago seemed to have forgotten what it was. We aimed for Arizona and landed instead in the Bay Area and loved every minute with Grandparents. Please excuse the lack of editing on the pictures, I don't know how to do it on a Mac.

Lilu loved sucking on the animal tail in the toy box, and she loved playing with Popi. We call Grandma Henderson Popi (Poh-pi) because it's short for PoPo (Grandmother in Chinese). I loved letting Lilu roam all over the house - it belongs to a wonderful elderly woman and thus has no stairs and lots of carpeting.

My Dad and Step-Mom live just down the hill from the Oakland Temple. I love the fog in the Bay Area! My Step-Mom speaks mostly Spanish, but she gave a talk in English at their Stake Conference (which was at the Inter-Stake Center on Temple grounds).

She thought she was going to die of fright, but she did a great job.

We came up together during the week to the Visitor's Center at the Temple.

Lilu loved the fountain. Who doesn't?

She was pretty proud of herself for standing up. She barely needs to hold on, but she thought the little puddles on the wall were neat. Late winter is the best time in the Bay Area - everything is warming up but it's still so lush and green!

Grandpa Henderson helped her to fly, and she and he both loved it. (She sticks her fist to her mouth when she's having a screaming good time.)

We had a few minutes to play at the airport while we waited to see if we would get on the flight (We flew stand-by).

We also went to Colorado; we surprised Grandma Quillen on her birthday. We were lucky enough to catch a flight on a Saturday (whaaaat? very challenging in the stand-by world. I suppose it WAS the 6 am commuter, so not that many people chose to fly at that time.)

This face is her new silly face. It's accompanied by snorting.

Grandma Quillen loved our surprise. We snuck into her room before she woke up and stood there while she realized who was there to see her =) Lilu wasn't sure a screaming-surprised-happy bed was her beloved Grandma Quillen at first, but she soon warmed up.

Daddy came too! How did we get so lucky? Oh, and it was so nice to see the sun. 

I drove down to Colorado Springs to see my friend - we've been friends since Sunbeams and it's so fun to also be having babies at the same time. Her little girl is almost three months old.

Lilu loved Riah, the family dog. Riah liked to be patted by Lilu too.

This could be the start of a beautiful friendship.

Of course she loved Grandpa and his beard. And the fact that he held her upside down.

Her first piano lesson. 

Also new are four front teeth - two tops and two bottoms - coming in since our trip to Colorado.

And her love of climbing on stuff. And her love of socks - she will carry them around and sing to them. She loves playing with Teo - particularly keep away.. where she offers him the toy and then jerks it away. (You guessed it, JD taught her that one). 

Ten months

Here are a few things I want to record about Korrali at this age..

Height: 27.5 in

Weight: 16 lb 11 oz

Hair: Fuzzy and just over an inch long

She loves to crawl at top speed while laughing or giggling all around the apartment. 

She still doesn't sleep all of the way through the night, but we still love her.

She loves to play in the bath - to crawl, stand, and chew on the bath toys.

She still has no teeth.

She likes to eat whatever Mommy is eating - and sometimes will utterly refuse if Mommy makes her something different.

Her ability to discover things is immense. Her face gets very serious and studious as she learns a new behavior or how something new works, then she'll try to imitate it. When left to her own devices, she pulls down all the objects off of a shelf, table, or other surface looking for new items. When she gets into something she knows she isn't usually allowed to touch, she waits and looks at me to see if I will stop her.

She is learning how to walk - and puts her feet down first instead of her knees when placed on the floor. Her confidence is growing and growing, and she holds on to us to walk, but doesn't depend on us to hold her up or steady.

She doesn't stay still - even in her sleep she rolls around and moves.

She likes to chat up strangers, and seems to believe the whole world is her playground.

She hates getting into her car seat, but it won't be long before she has a different one anyway.

We love this munchkin!

January

I found this post today! Oops forgot to post it in January, it looks like there were meant to be more pictures.. but I don't remember which ones they were. Enjoy!

In honor of January - a month so named because it looks back at the previous year and forward to a new one - I want to take a moment to reflect and resolve.

Last year we
endured
~ Separation from each other and from good friends as we moved across several states from North Dakota

to Illinois

~Eight months of utter exhaustion as we waited for our daughter to learn how to sleep and nap

mourned
~ The loss of a support network, a hospital and OB, and a familiar setting a month and a half before having a baby

~ The loss of a beloved grandfather and role model, an uncle, and other extended family members

rejoiced
~ to hold our brand new little girl
~ in finding a new support network, friends, family, a better hospital and OB, and finally discover a beautiful new home
~ to see family from all across the country
~ in the knowledge that we do not die forever, and that we will see our loved ones again

laughed out loud
~ at the antics of our healthy, growing daughter
~ when plans went utterly awry (though sometimes we screamed too)
~ at a silly video involving a fox
~ often, and at truly funny things

We loved 2013!
This year, we 
hope
~ our daughter continues to grow and mature as she has so far
~ Lianna's transition into working from home will go smoothly
~ to see more of our family, as their families grow too

know
~ we will have great adventures
~ we will weather the challenges
~ our Father in Heaven is in control and that he loves us

resolve
~ to keep our bodies, spirits and minds healthy
~ to record our good times and struggles to strengthen our family
~ to grow our love and strength all year long

Happy 2014!

Anecdotal Evidence

Here's a charming story supporting my hypothesis that what is on the ground outside is not food.

So my daughter crawled by, stopped and looked at me with an expectant look on her face. The look that usually means "You usually clean me when I get like this". I glanced, then looked more closely. My first thought was "How did you get hold of an Oreo cookie - wait do we have Oreos??"
That's when I realized she had actually eaten a clod of mud off one of our shoes and her mouth was full of dirt; leaking dirt. She smacked her gums together over and over, moving her tongue like she was trying to get rid of the tiny grains. Her expression said "this is not delicious."
I bet it's not.

And this is why we put the shoes away and don't let her near them.

Christmas!

We had a busy busy Christmas here! It was so fun, and included 6 and a half airport runs, some unexpected (though thoroughly enjoyed) overnight guests, a night away from home with cousins and grandparents and several late nights followed by early early mornings.

We received wonderful gifts - Korrali got some new blocks in her stocking, a jingling sock purse, a beautiful velveteen rabbit and matching book, balls, bath toys, perfect books and some light up toys

J and I got a dvd player (though we've been using it for a month), some gorgeous!! pots and pans, an amazing popcorn maker, some cute home decorations, souvenirs from Australia, chocolates, a cookbook and some clothes.
Teo got some new toys too (which are all demolished already)
But the best gifts we got were all the time we spent with family - Quillens, Eldredges and Henderson. I loved spending some one-on-one time with both my Moms, visiting with cousins through the generosity of our Eldredge family who let us stay the night so we could be on the scene for their Christmas morning!
Watching Korrali play light sabers with her cousin Eli, and watching her play with Uncle Jesse.

And watching her get reacquainted with her grandparents

The best part of all, though, was remembering the season celebrates the birth of my Savior, the Savior of the world. Thanks to him and our loving Heavenly Father I have a beautiful family now, am connected to my ancestors and have hope in posterity for the future forever. What better gift is there than that?