Smash Cake Time!

How is it even possible?
Well it obviously is... But I have to say that I may me bias but she's kind of the cutest girl I've ever seen!

We did her smash cake a couple weeks ago! I absolutely love these pictures! Nothing better than watching your child get a sugar high! Charli loved the cake and she got to finish it throughout the rest of the week. She definitely has a sweet tooth (gums) since she doesn't have teeth yet! :)

  

Happy Birthday Baby Girl Charli! 

Love you to the moon and back!!! 

One Year Old!

One year old & wiser too! Happy Birthday Char bug!

I can't believe that I'm waking up today thinking about what was happening a year ago to my body. The very fact that our bodies can deliver children is utterly amazing! 

But this year is going to be awesome because I get to be with this fun ball of sass!

I can't wait for more birthdays and parties for Ms. Charli!

Obviously we have had a blast this last month! I have loved these monthly posts on Charli. I hope that I will continue to do them.

Dressing Up is funner than I think its ever been. On Sunday mornings Kelly will always call me into her room to pick what she's going to wear. Thats a good husband who doesn't even try to dress her! 

Our very first sucker from Halloween was delicious!

Nap Time & Bed Time. Lately we tend to wake up in the middle of the night. A couple times I got to sit and rock her back to sleep and just enjoy my cuddles. Very rarely will she fall asleep when I am holding her so I loved being able to enjoy my baby in the middle of the night. In fact we just fell asleep in the door jumper again!

Kisses & Chocolate Faces!!!

We sleep with our bum in the air & up on our knees. This is a recent thing. I find it very funny.

 We like to sit up in our crib and yell. We love bath time and we love shopping with mom!

 We have to hold everything in the cart!

Clothes: We are still in the 12-18 month range but some 9 month stuff we still wear. Love the onesie extenders!
Diaper Size: Size 4's! She wears the same size of diapers as her 3 year old cousins do.
Food: We eat and eat and then we're bored we eat some more... Yes, I'm describing Charli & not myself ;) We don't have as many bottles anymore!
Words: "Hi There" "Mom" "Dad" "Oh" "Mala" (Nala) ... We love gibbering. I love trying to get her to talk. She doesn't perform on command but its fun to see her get a vocabulary.
Silly Faces: I feel like she is the most animated baby! You can get a smile, a squishy grin to smacking lips all in about 10 seconds.
Songs: We love music! It is such a calming factor and I think it always will be!
Books: We can read books all day and everyday! Night time is always hard because we have to read Dada by Jimmy Fallon, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Oh, The Places You'll Go!
Sleeping & Naps: We are great in this department there have been a few days she has to go down for a 2nd nap because she is super cranky!
Teeth: The bottom two are coming in. I noticed this weekend that the top left is coming in now!

We still love sucking our thumb. It zones us out. We aren't always a fan of sitting in church but after spending an hour in nursery this week! We didn't do as bad! Yay!

We love laughing! Asking where dad is! Wiggling and screaming! Playing the Piano at Grandma Malone's house. We also love rolling away when getting our bum changed! We love to clap and blow kisses! Sometimes if your lucky she will actually kiss you!

We don't always love playing with toys because we would rather steal the TV remote and pull out all the DVD's. We definitely will be baby proofing soon! We are on the go with crawling now. We love to pull up on our knees and trying to figure out how to stand.

This past weekend Nala was playing and turned around and bonked heads with Charli. It left quite the goose egg on Charli and its been a little bruised since. It won't be the first occurrence with those two girls. Last night Nala was trying to sleep close to Charli  &  Charli didn't like that she was sleeping. She would yell Mala and then slap her. Nala would lick her hand and then try and go back to sleep and Charli would just keep doing it. Eventually Nala got sick of it and went upstairs to sleep.


We are a happy go lucky kid & we hope she stays that way!

All in all I love this little girl! 

 Love you bug!

First Year Of Motherhood!

Isn't it absolutely crazy that I am here sitting down to write about an overview of the first year of motherhood! Let me just say you think you have a ton of different emotions when your pregnant but right now I am feeling all the things. Sadness, happiness, sick to my stomach, butterflies and joy. 

The last year has been a whirlwind. You don't really realize it day to day! But man has it been an enjoyable year. I remember last year dreaming about what 2015 would have in store for us. It definitely didn't disappoint thats for sure. 

  It feels like just yesterday we were announcing that we would be expecting. It felt like I was just throwing up on our way to dinner to tell Grandma Smith we were pregnant. It felt like just yesterday that I felt her kick me and do flips. It felt like just yesterday we were having our first ultrasound. It felt like just yesterday that I was bringing home an adorable little girl that I had no clue how I was going to raise her and what type of mom I would be.  In fact it feels like just yesterday I was that 22 year old girl holding her daughter for the first time. I remember I was thinking did this really just happen? Is she really mine? But at that same moment I felt love. I felt the love not only from Kelly, my mom and wonderful mother in law and all the other family that came. But I felt the honest true love of my daughter and my Heavenly Father. For a second I felt bad that this wonderful spirit had just left heaven but, then I felt grateful that I was the one who got to have her not just for this lifetime but for ETERNITY!

I definitely can't sit here and say that it was the easiest year. We had the sleepless nights, the crying that sometimes felt like it never stopped (not just Charli crying, me too!), there was laughter and excitement. I honestly can say I had the best time learning how to become a mother. I had plenty of phone calls to my mom, questions for my sisters, crying to Kelly out of frustration. But we somehow made it through. 

I don't know what the next year will bring but I can honestly say that I am in love with being a mom. Some may say that I don't work. And to that you are correct I don't have a job that I have to drive to every day. I actually have the best job in the world! I have a little girl that needs me every second of every day. I have a little girl who makes me work at becoming a better role model. It may not pay in dollar bills but it pays in kisses, boogers and giggles and to me thats the best type of paycheck!

 I remember a quote from this past General Conference at Women's Session.

"There are two important days in a woman's life - the day she is born

 and the day she finds out why!"

-Elaine Cannon-

I'm pretty sure that the day I found why I was important took place when there was times when Charli didn't want anyone else but me. When I got to rock her to sleep, spend hours and days holding her, every morning getting to pick out an outfit for her to wear, laying her down for naps, feeding her, playing with her, dancing & singing with her. That was the day I found out why I was important. I am sure there may be a few more things I will be able to add to that list. But man am I grateful that that I got to be this little girls momma!

I am so grateful that Heavenly Father trusted me to become a mother. I am grateful that He was there to help me through the sometimes bumpy, rough road. He was able to show me what I was truly capable of becoming. I am grateful that I get to do it with one of the coolest dads I know. I am grateful that Charli will be raised by a dad who is extremely hardworking, dorky, handsome and that she will be able to see the love we have for each other. 

How blessed are we?! Extremely!

We Wish You A Very Happy 1st Birthday Ms. Charli!

Please Never Grow Up.