Lydia is ONE today and I can hardly believe it! She still seems so little to me and of course, she IS still little, but she’s also climbing on everything, smiling and laughing at things she finds funny, opening every cabinet and drawer, yelling when she is mad about something, almost walking and just developing all these little habits and personality traits that constantly remind me she’s not a little baby anymore 🥺

We had such a fun and busy weekend, celebrating Lydia on Sunday with a Winter ONEderland-themed party and then lots of holiday fun on Friday and Saturday so now I am either running on fumes or celebratory adrenaline, who can tell which 😅 but it did feel good to finally feel like we were living our best December lives!

Joey has been doing 12 days of books for the kids and I! I opened my Friday book and got really excited about a collection of short stories 👏🏻 Got the kids to Grandma’s then got some work done before heading out for a holiday mani that I desperately needed. Later on, Joey brought the kids home (they came bearing the cutest crafts 😍) and we ate a quick dinner, picked up hot chocolate, and drove around to look at Christmas lights. Truly one of my favorite traditions and I think we saw some good ones! Lyds fell asleep before we hit our last house, so only Joey and Dempsey got out to walk around but when they got back to the car, Dempsey said I should go look too. He can be so thoughtful like that 🤍 And it really was a cool house!

It was a busy Saturday. First up… pancakes! I made Lydia’s into a mini waffle since she’s shown more interest in a crispier texture and I think she actually ate some! Afterward, I took Dempsey to Target to pick out a birthday present for his sister — two books and one for himself, of course — and then he set up his “computer” for “work” and kept telling me not to bother him 😂 Headed back home to swap places with Joey, who took Dempsey to his swim lesson and then we all met up at Edgewater Public Market for our Santa visit! Thought there was a chance Lydi might cry but she just her stoic face on instead. Dempsey told Santa he wants an octopus stuffy and his own phone for Christmas and it’s starting to feel like Joey and I should have waited until Christmas Eve to buy presents since Dempsey keeps coming up with new stuff every time he’s asked what he wants 🤪 Had lunch then went home so Dempsey could protest his nap until we eventually gave up. It was a long evening, guys! We did have a good diner and watched some of A Christmas Story before much bedtime antics but eventually they were both in bed and asleep.

Sunday was party day for our Lydi! We had things organized and packed as best we could and then my parents came over to hang with the kids, so we could decorate the space and I definitely wished we’d had more time/had put things together more ahead of time but I think we had it mostly set up before people started arriving. We had such a good time! Special thanks to my mom for making ALL the red velvet cupcakes and to Lori and Chad for helping set up. Lori did such a good job on the dessert table 🤍 Wasn’t sure how Lydi would do with the cake considering her rejection of all sweets, but turns out all babies love frosting. Dempsey was more than ready to help light the candle, blow out the candle and eat the frosting 😂

My parents took the kids back home and put our party girl down for her nap — no luck with the other one though — and once she was back up, we started opening presents, took a quick break for dinner then finished opening the rest. She got lots of cute clothes, books and just a handful of toys, which was perfect! I think Dempsey thinks all those toys are for him though 🤔 I really cannot believe our daughter is a year old already. This morning, we had her open presents from Joey, Dempsey and I, plus my mom is over on Mondays and got to see her open Bitty Baby in person! We have evening plans over at the Stanley Marketplace, so it should be a fun fun day. Happy Birthday, my Lydi girl, we love you so much! 🤍🤍🤍