August 2011

My dear sweet Lydia Rose,

You are totally Daddy's little girl. I love you so much that I can't believe it. You truly are my little precious baby girl.

Here are a few recent events for you. First week of August, you were in Fort Myers, Florida (more specifically Captiva Island) on a family vacation. You were there a whole week with Mommy and your Mimi. The rest of the family made it a long weekend (Daddy, Uncle John, Aunt Annie, Uncle Paulie, and Aunt Collie). Elaine couldn't make the trip because of her summer job. You absolutely loved the sand. Although, you didn't like how it was very sticky sand and it wouldn't come off of your little hands, legs, and feet. It was way too cute. We took so many pictures so you will be able to relive the trip.

Mid August was your Aunt Cristy and Uncle Colan's wedding. As I mentioned before, you were the little flower girl. You were absolutely adorable. Luckily, you didn't have to walk down the aisle. It was in the middle of a field in Wright City (At Cedar Lake Winery). The grass was a little wet and long. Also, it was rather hilly. So, daddy just held you up front the whole time. After Uncle Kevin did the ceremony, he sang a song to your Aunt and Uncle with music. You loved it. You started dancing in daddy's arms and throwing your little arms around everywhere. Every body kept commenting about how darn cute you were. I couldn't agree more.

It's getting closer and closer to you becoming a big sister. We actually bought your big white dresser yesterday in anticipation of you having to move to your bedroom in probably the next 6 months or so. Mommy is due in about 10 weeks or so. You have started to carry around your "I'm going to be a big sister" book and trying to hand it to us all of the time. That is way too precious. We both know that you are going to be a great big sister.

Lastly, daddy marvels everyday at the things you are doing. You seem so smart to us. Even though you aren't talking much yet, you are understanding and absorbing nearly everything at this point. We are really excited to see you start talking more. I can't wait to be able to talk with you. I love holding you, reading to you, and just being your daddy. I am so lucky to have such a wonderful daughter.

I love you,

Daddy

> 1 Yr OLD!!!

My dear sweet Lydia,

It's been awhile since I've written to you (maybe a couple months or so). In that time, you have continued your development at a staggering pace. You are walking so well. You started walking about a week or two after your first birthday. You are just so curious about everything, learning about anything you can get your hands on or put in your mouth. It is hilarious. But, it's also much more difficult now to keep up with you and make sure you are keeping safe.

The other thing that is hilarious is your appetite. Everyone comments on it. You basically have the appetite of a 10yr old and no one can believe how much you can eat in one sitting. You really like bagels and any bread product (just like your mom) and all kinds of fruits. However, when we take you out you'll eat just about any human food that you can get your hands on.

As far as recent events, of course we had a huge birthday party for you. It was a bumble bee theme party and it went off without a hitch. Only somewhat issue was that it was incredibly hot (nearly 100 degrees). You had all kinds of friends and family attend. My guess is somewhere in the neighborhood of 50-60 people. You were the absolute star of the show.

We have a couple of exciting upcoming events, our trip to Florida as well as Aunt Cristy and Uncle Colan's wedding. The trip to Florida is the first week of August 2011 in South Florida near Naples. We are going with Mimi, Uncle John, Aunt Ann, Uncle Paul, Aunt Elaine, Aunt Colleen and possibly a few others. We are all excited for this trip. The big wedding day is also fast approaching. You are going to be the best flower girl! We have been working on your walking in anticipation of the big day. It will be August 13. I'm certain there will be many pictures saved that you can look at when you are older. The wedding will be in Wright City, MO and it should be a weekend full of events and activities.

BTW....today is a big daddy day. Mommy is at work working a Saturday 12hr shift at the hospital. Right now, you are sitting next to me in your high chair pounding away the food!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!

Love,
Daddy

Our Beautiful Bee Boo Baby! You are one year old now! Wow! How time flies. You are just the most wonderful baby ever! You are so very happy and smiley all the time. You had a fabulous birthday party with all the people who love you here to celebrate. We had a BeeBeeQ and a Beehive cake and Bee cookies. We also had a bumble bee pinata, craft table, and we had to have little swimming pools because it was 90+ degrees outside. You really enjoyed everyone and you took your first steps on your birthday while you were opening your gifts. You are not walking too much yet. You will just take little steps back and forth from people to the soft for example. But, you do not like to be held as much. You LOVE to be on the floor holding onto everything walking around everywhere. You love to hold your Daddy and my fingers and walk around outside or in the house.

You have a play kitchen and bumble bee car that you love to play with! You are obsesssed with Shaw Park pool. You get scrunchie when we have to leave the pool. There are many kids at the pool and you love to play with them and just enjoy swimming with mommy, daddy, and mimi in the pool. You like to eat the grilled cheese there also! You love the farm and the lake. We can already tell that you are going to love being active and the outdoors.

We went to Michigan with Grammy T and Popsie, Aunt Cristy and Colan, Uncle Kevin and Lacey. We had a wonderful time. You liked the lake but it was too cold to go in. For some reason you didn't like the sand on your feet or hands but you liked the sand toys you were playing with:)

You are our doll baby and we love you more than anything. We can't wait for you to meet your new brother or sister Nov, 3 2011. We love this new baby so much too. You will be great buddies!

My perfect Lydia

Hi Beautiful,

We are getting so very close to your big day.....your 1st birthday. It is going to be a bumble bee theme party (if you hadn't heard already). The theme is for your nickname BEE - boo! It's going to be such a great time and there will be a ton of kid friendly activities.

You aren't officially walking just yet, but I think you are very close. I saw you take your first two small steps today. Mommy didn't see it so she was a touch sad. I am predicting that you will be walking by your first bday in two weeks. Either way, you will be so gosh darn cute (as always) when you are doing your little walk.

A new thing that you have been doing (which is so super cute) is feeding yourself your bottle and using your little baby spoon to feed yourself your yogurt. It gets all over your face, but the mess is well worth it. Of course, mommy has been taking pictures and sharing them with everyone so that we have things documented.

In travel news, we all just got back from a three day trip to Chicago. It was for daddy's work, but we made a little get away out of it. Mommy and Daddy went to the Oprah show final taping on Tuesday night at the United Center. You were watched by Katie & Eric Kozlowski and their baby Anna. You are 9 months younger than her. You two acted like best friends. You were giving her big hugs and kisses and Katie was texting the pictures to us so we could see them. You just love to love on everyone. It is absolutely adorable.

I love you with all my heart my little sweet darling,
Your daddy.

My Sweet Baby Girl!

There is so much to say right now about how adorable and smart and incredibly sweet you are. You are 11 months old now and acting like a little lady. You love to wave to everyone, you give tons of kisses and hugs on demand, and you are trying to walk everyday. You are so fast when you crawl that the other day you crawled faster than uncle john's dogs!

You are so very beautiful, on the inside and out. Everyone we know and just random people we see say how gorgeous you are and how sweet natured you are. When you give us kisses you just open your mouth and touch our checks. When you give us hugs you wrap your arms around our necks, lay your head down on our shoulders, and pat our backs. You have such a big loving heart already. You even give your dolls hugs and kisses.

We can't wait for you to meet our new baby in November. We love him/her so very much already and we know you two will be best friends.

Right now your favorite foods are blueberries, mandarine oranges, raisen english muffins, pretzels, vanilla waffers, cheddar goldfish snacks, and yogurt. You do not like vegetables or meat very much. You are a great eater.

Most every morning you come in bed with Daddy and me but you don't like to lay for long. You get bored and just want to play. You love to look at your books and push your doll stroller and walker.

We love you more and more each day. Love always and forever, Mommy

April 2011

Hi dear sweet Lydia....it's your daddy! Since I wrote last, so much is going on. We went on a family trip to St. Thomas the last week of March 2011. You were absolutely great on the trip. You loved the beach. At first, you were confused by the sand. Eventually, you were putting it in your mouth, which wasn't good. Almost everyday on the beach, you took your nap on daddy in a chair under our tan canopy (in the shade). You got no sun on your beautiful skin as mommy did such a good job of putting suntan lotion (75 proof) every couple of hours. On the trip, we spent a full day on a catamarine boat and you were so good on that boat. A perfect baby. You are so well traveled. On the trip was the following: Lydia, mommy, daddy, mimi, Uncle John, Aunt Ann, Uncle Paul, Aunt Elaine, Aunt Collie, and Collie's boyfriend Mark. We had so much fun, we stayed in a big house that overlooked the beautiful water that had 5 bedrooms. Aunt Elaine took over 900 pictures of the trip and posted them to her facebook account. Everyone commented on how super cute you are. Now that the weather is turning warmer in STL, we are so excited about what the summer will offer. Your birthday is right around the corner so mommy is planning that. We love to take walks with you, go to the park, and play in the yard. Aunt Cristy and Uncle Colan are set to marry in August 2011. You will be the cutest flower girl ever. So, what's new with you. You are starting to communicate really well. You give kisses to people (especially daddy) on command. It's adorable. I say, give daddy a kiss, and you open your mouth wide open and lean into my cheek. You clap your hands, play pattycake and peek-a-beeboo, do the so big with your arms held high overhead, and are starting to get into everything (drawers, cabinets, closets, etc.). You are absolutely darling. You have this real determined personality already where you don't give up on a task until you fully figure it out. That's why I think you will be walking before your 1st birthday. You crawl really fast now and can stand really well as long as you are holding on to something. And, even that is getting better by the day. I love you so much. I knew I'd love being a daddy, but you make being a daddy the best. Mommy and daddy love you so much forever. You're going to be the best big sister ever! Til next time my sweet daughter, Your daddy

It's getting warmer outside...........

And you are getting closer and closer to walking. It is the cutest thing in the whole wide world. You can pick yourself up on something and stand, but walking is still a bit away. Besides, you don't really know how to fall down to your tooshie once you are standing on something. We got new gates installed for you because you are moving all over the place. We put a gate just to the right of our front door and one at the top of the stairs.

Other big news right now is that YOU ARE GOING TO BE A BIG SISTER!!!! Mommy is about 6 weeks pregnant as I write this. The projected date of arrival for your first brother or sister is around 11/10/11 (wouldn't that be funny if the birthdate was 11/11/11). It could be. We haven't told any of the family yet, but we are going to be telling all of them over the next week or so. We got a really cute shirt for you to wear that says "Lydia's going to be a big sister" and this is how we are going to announce it to everyone. They will see you wearing the shirt and get really excited. It's going to be absolutely adorable.

Other than that, you are daddy's total sweetheart. I love you so much that I just can't stand it sometimes. I often wonder how I will ever be able to discipline you in the future when your behavior warrants it, because I melt when I'm around you. You are such a perfect little baby girl and I couldn't imagine my life without you in it. I know that you will be such a wonderful big sister to however many children that God blesses us with (hopefully a bunch!).

I love you always and forever,
Your daddy!