Mismatched Clothes and Miss America Wave

It's been quite cool in Jacksonville lately, and Sydney was dressed eclectically for a walk.

Sydney waves like Miss America (please ignore the Mommy and Daddy voices).

Happy 1st Birthday, Sydney Jo!

Happy 1st birthday to our sweet baby girl! Chet and I can't believe it's already been a year since we welcomed her into this world. She brings us so much joy every day, and I can't believe God entrusted us with raising her...but I'm glad He did!

I posted this second picture because it's the most recent one I've taken of her. But I want to mention that she's holding one of two of her baby dolls. She LOVES dolls. She cuddles them and talks to them and gives them her pacifier. She also says "ba bae"...which sometimes sounds like "ba ba" and sometimes actually sounds like "baby"! It's adorable!

Late Post: Trip to TX

I can't believe it's been a month since we visited Texas! I need to hurry and post these pictures before Sydney's first birthday outshines all of the other posts...

Chet, Sydney, and I flew to TX December 30th, and we had a blast! We celebrated Christmas, P-ma was in town, and we took a day trip to Lufkin to visit my dad's side of the family. Chet and I were also able to see a couple of movies while Didi and P-ma babysat Sydney, and we went to Cavender's Boot City, where we bought Sydney an outfit to wear at her birthday party and Chet's first pair of cowboy boots! (Unfortunately I didn't take a single picture while we were in Lufkin, and I didn't get as many pictures overall as I would have liked!)

Grant (looking a little strange) and Ashley

P-ma

Sydney and Uncle Grant

Didi and Sydney (I have no idea what they were so excited about)

Papa John and Sydney

TX Bath

Sydney and Didi

Ashley, Sydney, and Didi

Chet

Have I mentioned I'm thrilled that my wonderful, handsome husband is home? If not, I am! Here are a couple of pictures. The first was (obviously) taken while he was in Djibouti. The second is the sign he found hanging outside his office when he went back to work last week. Nice, huh?

Unpacking

When we returned from our trip from TX at the first of the year, we were all corralled in Chet's and my room unpacking. Sydney helped. Here's how:

Then she found her brush and started "brushing" her hair. This was completely unprompted. Then she brushed Daddy's hair (that was a little bit prompted):

Chet's New Truck!

Monday Chet and I were off work, so we bought a truck! Don't worry, we didn't buy it out of the blue. Chet has been wanting a truck for a long time, and has been doing lots of research. He saw this particular truck the other day while he was out running errands, and it was still on his mind a few days later. It is a 2005 F-150 King Ranch. We decided to look at it Saturday, thought/prayed about it Sunday (the dealership was closed Sunday), and bought it Monday! We love it, and it's a good replacement for his '96 Explorer (which was in great condition, but something Chet was ready to trade in). The new truck is on the left, the Explorer is on the right (perhaps I'll post better pictures later...).

11-Month Pictures

Wow, I am really glad there's only one more monthly picture to take! Chet and I had a hard time getting Sydney to sit still this time. Actually, she did alright, but there is a certain way I want each monthly picture to look (as close as possible to the previous monthly pictures), so sometimes I have to take 50 pictures or so in order to capture that. Here are her 10- and 11-month pictures, and some of the "issues" I encountered this month... (And in case you're asking yourself, "How many teeth does that girl have?", the answer is TEN!)

10 Months

11 Months

the usual

kind of crazy hair after daddy replaced the bow

attempting to leap off the couch

singing

dancing a jig

holding the lion too high

getting mad at the lion

staring off into space

tired of taking pictures

Talking?

While in Texas (we visited TX December 30th until January 3rd...more on that later) Sydney seemed to babble "Da Da" and "Ma Ma" more than usual. When we arrived home on the 3rd we started asking her "Can you say 'Da Da/Ma Ma'?"...and she started repeating us on command! Chet and I have so much fun with this game...Sydney might be getting tired of it...

Christmas (and Christmas Eve), In Pictures

Christmas Eve (just before church)

Sydney and Mommy

Squirmy Sydney

Christmas Morning

Family Photo

Opening her gift from Papa John. What could it be?

A walker!

Getting Acquainted

She knew exactly what to do!

Unwrapping

Nesting Blocks

Helping Daddy put together her wagon.

Good thing this wheel has yet to be used.

We took the wagon to the park down the street (she's still in her pajamas!).

Sydney resting with her new doll from Grammy after opening presents in Orlando (December 27th).