we wish you a merry christmas

ho ho horrible

we took niya to the mall to meet santa for the first time. i honestly thought she would be fine. she really has no stranger anxiety at all. apparently santa is beyond stranger status

she HATED every second of santa

christmas jammies

i love them

give thanks

thanksgiving was fantastic as usual. 

it was our year to be with the quists, so we stayed in town. it was nice to get up, and be home for a good part of the day, just enjoying the holiday

my day started bright, and early, making  lots, and lots of these.

drews started bright, and early on the ski slopes

  

later the quist family all gathered at scott and lisas

niya was showered with attention....as usual

it was fun to be together as a family

especially since baby brother was on break from syracuse

lisa made the turkey, gravy, and the stuffing. soooo good. i really love her stuffing

amanda made an absurd amount of home made cranberry sauce.

yum

i made grams's rolls, and a home made apple pie. i love grams's rolls,

they so remind me of her

we ate, and ate, and sat around chit chatting

drew and jason love to chit chat

thanksgiving is definitely one of my favorite holidays.

even if i do eat myself sick

saylors family fun

we spent a few days in california with my family before thanksgiving

there's never a dull moment

funky town

i have to say niya's first birthday party was pretty freakin awesome. since its a couple days before halloween, naturally we had to have a costume party. what better than to do a disco theme. its no secret that i  kind of love costumes, and dressing up. this couldn't have been more fun!

me and drews costumes came from the thrift store

i made niyas jumpsuit out of a nasty polyester dress from the thrift store. its not easy to find disco costumes for babies. her shoes also came from the thrift store spruced up with a little spray paint. for the belt i hot glued mardi gras beads on some felt

voila!

 we had lots of friends and family show up.

i couldn't have been more impressed with the costume efforts

way to go people!!

that morning me and my mom spent hours making cup cakes. they turned out really cute and really pretty yummy

 i had been working on teaching niya how to blow so that she could blow out her first candle. she

learned how to blow but got nervous with the crowd watching her so she crumbled under pressure

she did, however, love eating the cake

she got so many cute presents! and she actually loved sitting there opening every single one

she especially loved the shopping cart that grandma lisa gave her

i worked really hard making all the party decor. the pictures don't really do it justice

the birthday banner i made out of 12 old records. on every record was a picture for every month of her life

i also glued every stinkin sequin on that disco ball

i thought all my hard work paid off. the party was a huge success 

it was so worth it

niya should have been born in the 70's. 

she looks pretty awesome with an afro

from zero, to one, in a flash

as usual im behind on my blogging blah blah blah

but...

the cutest baby in the world turned one last month! its not even funny how fast this year went. i think im in constant denial that niya is practically a toddler. she is changing so fast, and doing so much. i swear every day its a new trick!

one day after her birthday she started walking, she weighs 20 pounds , she now has 5 and a half teeth, her first word was eye (i know totally random) she also says mama, kitty, duck, fish and more. she knows that dogs say woo woo and im sure she says a hundred other words that only she, and other babies understand. she feeds herself. eats really well. LOVES sweets (just like her mama) drinks regular milk, goes up and down the stairs all by herself, dances to anything that has a beat, likes sesame street, jumps up and down on anything bouncy, tries to run away from me when im trying to take something from her, shakes her head no when she's doing something bad, opens all the cupboards and drawers and pulls EVERYTHING out, laughs when i laugh, smiles all the time, and is just such a happy baby....how could i not be such a happy mama

Happy Birthday Baby Girl

we love you more than words can express