Let it be said that our blood runs BLUE for USU Aggies!! The one and only! We're starting our little one early - so she'll know there's only one school for her! She has an Aggie bib. She's holding up a finger saying "Aggies are Number One!". Then she wore her USU onesie on Game Day last Saturday. I know the Aggies lost (only by 8 points), but at least they were defeated with dignity (unlike another university in Utah that was defeated 54-28 - how humiliating!)

So in honor of the fall, football season, and our Alma Mater - Here is our Fight Song!

Show me a Scotsman,
Who doesn't love the thistle.
Show me an English man,
Who doesn't love the rose.
Show me a true blooded
Aggie from Utah,
Who doesn't love the spot . . .
Where the sagebrush grows!

Last Saturday, Morgan's parents took Baby Girl (and us) to the zoo! It's been something that they've been wanting to do all summer, and we finally were able to do it! It was beautiful weather. Baby Girl LOVED it! She kept pointing at all the animals. We even saw the brand new baby elephant. Baby Girl liked the Mama Elephant more (I think because it was easier for her to see). Baby Girl loved the giraffes too! And we even saw a baby giraffe too. She liked the black bears too. We kept watching and waiting to see if the bear would end up going swimming, but he just drank from the water instead of went swimming in it.

We went out to dinner after the zoo. It was fun to spend time with family! And our little girl got spoiled! I guess that's what happens when she's a first grandbaby.

I'm pretty sure I have the smartest baby ever. No offense to other babies - I'm sure they are smart too, but mine is pretty darn smart! She understands so much, it's incredible. It surprises me how much she understands. She understands when I say: take a bath, eat lunch/dinner, change your bum, go for a walk, read scriptures, say a prayer, where's Elmo?, wave bye-bye, find Daddy, where's your doll? ... It's amazing. She communicates a lot through pointing and gesturing and grunting. It's still a guessing game, because she sometimes wants things that I don't understand - then she gets frustrated. She doesn't have the words yet, but she does have some signs down. She wouldn't do 'more' for the video - but she definitely knows that one. Also 'food', 'all done', and 'milk'. She can also fold her arms. She knows how to hold up one finger when you ask her how old she is - but she wouldn't do it for me for the video. It surprises me how much she understands and is learning every day! What a sweet heart.

We went to the doctor for Baby Girl's 12 month check up - and immunizations. The shots never get easier. I made Morgan come to the appointment with me. The check up went well. She's doing fantastic. She weighed in at 21 lbs 14 oz. which is in the 50-75 percentile. She's 30 1/2 inches long (the 75-90%). and her head measures 46.8 cm (which is in the 90%). So, she's as healthy as can be. She HATED when the doctor examined her. She just squirmed and screamed as he tried to listen to her heart, and check her ears and mouth and tummy. She did not like it at all. She cried long after the doctor left. We finally got her settled down, then the nurse came in to give her the shots. We had to hold her down and she just cried and cried. As soon as we got her dressed, she seemed fine. She recovered from the shots sooner than she did from the doctor exam.That's how it always is. She even got a little sucker for being such a brave girl. When did my baby become a toddler?

Apparently, our Baby Girl had a lot of important business to take care of on the phone today. She climbed up on top of our love sac, where she has a nice view of the outside world. Then she would grab our phone and hold it up to her ear. She loves to do this! With our home phone, our cell phones, her toy cell phone, our remote controls! We tell her "Say Hello!", and she holds it up to her ear. Then she hands us the phone, like its for us. We talk for a second and hand it back to her - and she just smiles that we are playing along with her game! 

Honestly, how did she get so smart! I love watching her play now. It's so imaginative. I just wonder what she's thinking as she's playing! What a silly girl! 

To celebrate Baby Girl's first birthday, we had a birthday party! We had it on Saturday afternoon with some close family members. I'm pretty sure that Baby Girl didn't really care that much about the party. She didn't really know what was going on, but I was excited! I think we had a party mostly for my benefit than for hers! We sent out invitations. We put up decorations (just balloons - but Baby Girl loved the balloons). And it was so much fun! We had a full house, and it was wonderful to have family come and celebrate with our baby!

Baby Girl got so many fantastic gifts! I think she enjoyed opening her presents. The first one that she opened was a Glockenspiel from Morgan's Aunt Christine and cousin Jasey. She loved to play it. When we tried to set it aside so she could open another present, she got upset. As we opened more gifts, she got more excited and less upset to set the fun new toys to the side because she knew she would see another new one soon! She's a very spoiled one year old. To see pictures of the some of the presents that she got click the follwing links 1 2 3 4.

After presents, we went outside to hit a pinata. Yes, a pinata! Baby Girl was the only child at the party, yet I made several adults gather around and try to hit a ladybug shaped pinata. Then I expected them to gather treats off the ground after it was broken. And they did it! Thanks for humoring me! I actually made the pinata a couple of months ago at a church Enrichment meeting. It was fun to learn how to make a pinata. And we had to use it sometime - why not Baby Girl's birthday party!

After the pinata, we came inside for cake! I made a ladybug cake to match my ladybug pinata! It turned out super cute! I was rather proud of it! We all sang 'Happy Birthday' to our little one year old, and she did not know what to think. She just looked around at us, very confused, and a little scared. It was cute! I sliced up the cake and let Baby Girl dive into a slice. She was pretty delicate about it. She kept eating little tiny pieces. Frosting ended up all over her hands and face. She didn't eat very much of the cake though. She was just done with the whole party by this point. I was surprised, I thought she would have LOVED the cake! But it's probably for the best that she didn't eat too much of it.

She was happy to wave 'bye-bye' to her guests, blowing kisses to those that were leaving. Thanks to those that came! It was a wonderful party!

On Friday, September 11, our Baby Girl turned ONE! I can't believe how big she is! She is so smart! If you ask her how old she is, she can hold up one finger! She waves 'bye-bye' to everyone: cars as they drive by, people in the grocery store, random things that she sees on our walks, and (of course) Morgan when he leaves for work every morning. She's learned a few more signs. In addition to asking for 'more', she can also do the sign for 'food', 'all done', and 'milk'. She loves to give kisses and to blow kisses! I can't kiss Morgan without Baby Girl wanting to give both of us a kiss too! She even gives her dolls and stuffed animals kisses too. She can crawl at an incredible speed (especially if she is trying to get away from me!).She pulls herself to standing on everything she can. She's learned to stand in her crib - (which is my least favorite). For a week after she learned that, she wouldn't lay down and go to sleep. She would stand up and just cry and cry. She's getting better now though. She's starting to walk more along our furniture too. She loves to walk while holding our fingers. She can point to her doll's eyes, mouth and ears (when asked to do so). She understands when I tell her to: read her books, comb her hair, and get her blanket! She's absolutely adorable and we love her so much! We couldn't imagine our lives without her! 

For her birthday, we got Baby Girl a couple of books and a walker/toy stroller. She loves to walk by pushing her stroller! All day long, she just cruised back and forth our living room, pushing her toy doll! And for her birthday dinner, I fixed her favorite dinner: Instant Macaroni and Cheese! She loves that stuff! She just shoved her mouth full of it! I think she had a very wonderful 1st birthday!

Baby Girl is growing up. It's like she's a little girl, instead of a baby. Where did the last year go? She is understanding so much! She is 'talking' non-stop. She tries to copy the words that I saw to her. She copies us in everything! We're going to have to start being careful! This morning, I was playing with Baby Girl on the floor in our living room. She grabbed the remote control and pointed it towards the tv. The tv still remained off, but I think she was trying to turn it on. Then she handed me the remote and wanted me to turn on the tv. She started getting mad that the tv wasn't on. It's bad news when my baby knows that the remote can control the television, and she gets upset when its not on. Main Message: We probably watch too much tv.

One of the most precious things that she does when she copies us, is when she folds her arms when we say a prayer. At first, it was just folding her hands, but now she folds her arms. Its usually for about 2 seconds, but still - when she sees that we have our arms folded, she folds her arms too. Morgan and I have started saying our prayers with one eye open - watching Baby Girl, because she always ends up folding her arms once or twice through out the prayer. We got a picture of it today - it wasn't during a prayer, but she folded her arms so we could take a picture of her! Absolutely adorable.

I've been saying "Maybe she's teething" about our Baby Girl for the last 7 months. She has always drooled a lot. She always puts things in her mouth. And occasionally she is just fussy (for no apparent reason). Week after week, month after month, no teeth would appear. I've always been kind of grateful she was toothless because I was nursing her. About a week and a half ago, Baby Girl finally had her first tooth break through. I think it took its sweet time trying to break through the surface. As her little baby tooth is growing, the tooth right next to that is trying to break through too. Her gums are swollen and she's been pretty fussy for the last week or so. My poor baby. Here is a pretty goofy picture of our little girl, but if you click on the picture to make it bigger, you can see her little tooth pretty well.