Neighbors and Friends

Our family was invited next door for a barbecue dinner. They have a grandson that is 2 days younger than Zoe. The kids got to play and we got to enjoy the mild temperatures with some good food.

Day after Christmas BBQ

Jolene's family does a barbecue for the day after Christmas. Everybody gets together then and enjoys a good time with lots of food, treats and gifts. They also do a white elephant exchange that yields tons of excitement. As an adopted member of the family for the last 14 years or so, Zoe and I were invited to indulge in the day's festivities. Zoe loves her barbecue and now that she can sit at the table with the other kids, she loves it even more.

Ahh...Christmas!

Christmas has finally arrived and Zoe didn't know what to do with herself. I do have to say that I am not sure how "Christmasy" it felt here this year with the temperatures being at a balmy 80 degrees (hence the sundress) but Santa did arrive, on time as expected. Zoe had some trouble understanding the idea of unwrapping but after the first two gifts, she definitely got the idea.

The bear in this picture is wearing the dress that she wore last year for Christmas. My, oh my, has she grown!

Later in the day we went to Grandma and Granddaddy's house for a great Christmas dinner.

Merry Christmas!

Zoe at Work

I had to work all weekend and Zoe came by for a little while to keep me company. I let her answer some e-mails and the phones while I ate my lunch.

Zoe's First Birthday

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Could it really be? A year has already gone by? I feel like a missed a few months in there somewhere, but according to the calendar, it has indeed been a full year since our baby girl was born.

The first that Zoe did this morning is the first thing she has done every morning since she was born, she ate breakfast. She had a nice breakfast of a waffle and a cup of yogurt washed down with a sippy cup of milk. About 20 minutes later, she fell back asleep and I worked on her birthday cake.

About an hour later, I was waking her up to get her dressed for her one year doctor's appointment with Dr. Brafford. The nurses there love her and none of them wanted to be the one to have to give her the shot. They flipped a coin to see who would have to do it. She is now 29" long (tall) and weighs exactly 21 pounds. Her normal pediatrician, Dr. Sule, had her baby on December 16. He weighed in at 9 pounds 2 ounces (just one ounce, one day, and one year short of our Zoe).

Once we left the doctor's office, we headed over to Homes.com so that all of her favorite people could say Happy Birthday to her. Apparently, we crashed the annual Holiday Potluck, so Zoe was lucky enough to get a few snacks.

When we were all done there, we headed over to her daycare with her birthday cake to have her first ever birthday party with her classmates. Oh, how they loved the yellow cake with chocolate icing that I made!

Finally, Zoe and I made our way home for a nice relaxing nap. What a good day.

Zoe in Action

I keep hearing that you all want more shots of Zoe in action. So as a special gift to all of you, here she is in all her glory, please disregard my messy house, I have a full-time job and a toddler that loves to "help" by unfolding all of my folded laundry and unpacking the toy box everytime I get it all picked up.

Mondays at Home with Momma

I don't have to work on Mondays so Zoe and I have a day all to ourselves. We play games and watch a lot of Noggin. I think that Mondays are Zoe's favorite day of the week.

He Sees You When You're Sleeping!!!!

Santa is so SCARY!!!

Celebration of Lights Parade

We thought that Zoe would love to see the Celebration of Lights parade, so we went downtown to see all of the action. Zoe had a great time! All of the kids that were in front of us were running out and getting her candy, beads, and toys that were being thrown from the float. She also seemed to think that she was the parade because as we strolled her down the street she was sitting up and waving to everyone saying "Hi, Hi, Hi." It was too cute! Her favorite part of the parade was the fire truck when it came down the street with the lights and siren on.

After the parade was over, we went to see the Enchanted Forest and the Celebration Village and we found Grandma. She wanted to take pictures with Zoe and the Gingerbread Men but Zoe wasn't really digging them. We walked downtown a little more to one of the musical stages and Zoe and Grandma got to dance in the street.

Girls Night Out

Getting all dressed up with Grandma

Hanging with the girls.

After dinner conversation.

We had a girl's night out to celebrate some office birthdays. I got Zoe all dressed up in her little black dress and we went to Wendy's favorite Tallahassee restaurant, Osaka. Zoe is such a good eater! She loved everything they made and ate a lot (maybe I should start ordering her a kid's plate). It was a a great night out and Zoe loved all of the extra attention. Who knew that 11 month olds would love Japanese hibachi so much? She especially loved the hibachi chefs and their creative cooking styles.