Erin is 1 year old!

Wow, it is unbelievable how fast this year has gone by. Looking back at this journey, I would have never been able to predict how amazing parenthood would be. It has given me such tremendous joy to watch our baby grow and develop. I can not even imagine how it will feel to watch Erin graduate from high school. Anyway, Erin is definitely a "toddler" now. She is walking really well and defintely able to get into pretty much everything that isn't locked up! She is babbling a lot and will say mama, dada, bye-bye and we think she is trying to say "Carl" (her kitty). It is so cute to hear her babble in what seems to be her own language. She loves to share and also loves to throw her food off her high chair. Erin likes to mimic what we do and she even trys to comb her own hair and use tissues to blow her nose. She gives kisses and will be seen kissing her stuffed animals or pictures of dogs and cats. She is sleeping pretty well most nights and will normally go to bed around 7pm and wake around 6am. Erin is still a big girl, but she definitely seems to be losing some "baby fat" with all her activity. She has her 1 year check-up on Friday, so we will update with her new stats then. She celebrated her first birthday with her immediate family today and had a great time being able to touch her very own cake. Here a few pictures:

Erin looking was looking around showing off her messy face!

Erin was very curious about all these brightly colored boxes and bags in the living room. She is still a little too young to open them herself, but she really loves all her new toys and clothes.

Aunt Christine made these adorable cupcakes for everyone to eat. She even bought Erin candles that spell out her name.

Erin absolutely adores balloons. It was so cute to watch her walk around holding them.

Erin with her stuffed "Rushford" dolly. When she is sleeping she will rub her face into him. It is so precious.

Family Picture Day

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow....

We got our first snow out here in the country. There were lake-effect snow warnings, but we really only had about 1-2 inches (most of which came down after Nicole was already at work). It was absolutely breathtaking and fortunately Jay got outside during Erin's nap and took some pictures. I think these pictures speak for themselves.

Our trails weren't too snowy yet, as the trees caught all the snow.

Hats!

Erin loves to go through the storage cube that has all our winter hats, gloves and scarves.

Here she is in her new winter hat.

Here she is sporting one of daddy's baseball hats (that he has never worn).

Here she is wearning daddy's favorite winter hat. The funny thing is that his hat still fits Jay and he's been known to wear it in public!

Here she is in the free beer hat that daddy got from his friend. (note....she will not be wearing beer paraphernalia anytime soon)

As you can see, Erin is ready to take on the cold, winter weather that will be here soon!