Officially Turning One!

A few days after her big party, Lorelei had her REAL birthday! It was as action and sugar packed as if she had another party. :)

Jeanette meets up with ladies for coffee during the week and they have a tradition of buying their grandchildren ice cream for their birthdays...this is before lunch, so of course that makes it even more exciting! Lorelei enjoyed a treat from Grandma, with all of her friends doting on her like crazy.

Then we had to take a few shots in the backyard for the special occasion.



In the afternoon we had Lorelei's first show-and-tell experience. We went to Hannah's classroom and her classmates even sang "Happy Birthday" to Lorelei! Then they handed out treats (made by Grandma again, Puppy Chow) and then lined up to come and say "hi" to Miss Lorelei. She was very at home in the classroom and enjoyed seeing all the big kids. She even wore overalls that used to be Hannah's! We enjoyed being able to see Hannah's room. Then we went and played on the school playground. We learned Lorelei does very well on the "big kid" swings!



And if that wasnt enough! We had a pizza picnic while getting family photos taken! (Will try to get those on here when we can order them) What a day!

The Big Birthday Bash

We were thrilled to be able to have a big family birthday party for Lorelei! These were the kind of parties Brad always had growing up. Lots of family and cousins around to celebrate with him. The cousins surrounding the birthday girl/boy for them to eat the cake is also a fun tradition. It was great to be able to have Lorelei enjoy that (even though she won't remember, we have pictures!) Jeanette (AKA Grandma Stahl) along with helpers, Hannah and Karter, baked cupcakes for a cupcake tree, as well as Lorelei's own personal cake. Yum! They turned out so cute and tasted good as well! As you can see Lorelei had no problem delving into the cake and demolishing it. :) She also was very excited about her new presents, which are in the mail to us now!

Brad's extended family had not even had a chance to see Lorelei until her first birthday. We were so glad that they were there to celebrate with us!

Thank you for the party Grandma and Grandpa Stahl!

The Farm

Lorelei loved the farm! Her highlights would definitely be the dog, Oreo, and many cats available to play. She would go to the door and scream to go outside almost every chance she got! The poor animals were very patient as she pulled on their ears, faces...you name it. She particularly liked to pull the cats tails! That's what they are there for right? :)



Lorelei also got to ride the four wheeler (not her favorite experience, but we had to try) and many fun toys, including her own pint-sized John Deere tractor.

She also loved being able to swing on the swing set in the backyard. All three cousins were able to swing together, and Hannah and Karter also took turns pushing.



Lorelei watching Grandpa driving the tractor.

For a girl who loves being outside she had a blast being able to explore all over!

Dont worry more to come soon!

Nebraska Here We Come!

We were so excited to finally make a trip to Nebraska! Lorelei did very well on the airplane on the way there. The DVD player did help, although didn't entertain her the entire time. She did get one quick cat nap on the airplane. Then, after a happy greeting from Grandma and Grandpa Stahl at the airport, we made a quick food/Target run and then headed home. Unfortunately Lorelei did NOT want to go to sleep with all of this excitement, so stayed awake the entire 3 hr drive! This proved for a very long drive home and an even worse first night at the farm. I compared it to her first night home from the hospital as she cried and cried and then after sleeping some, cried some more. We could not figure out what to do, so fed her somewhat of a midnight snack and that seemed to help a bit. We had a few more rought nights this trip, so have decided that Lorelei definitely takes time to adjust to new surroundings. Another big part of the problem was she caught a cold on the airplane! The stuffy nose was also a big contributer to her lack of sleep. Being able to write this after the trip, she is currently sleeping off much of the sleep deprivation of the trip, so hopefully will be back to normal in no time! :) Much more happy and exciting entries coming up next!

Happy Birthday Lorelei!

We can't believe Lorelei is already 1! Put together a little video of a few favorite pictures through her first year. So many changes! Happy Birthday little girl. :)

Quick Visit to the Beach

We had to pick up a quick souvenir for our trip so headed to the beach as soon as Brad got home. He enjoyed calling up his mom so she could view the web cam that was showing us as we were at one of the monuments along the boardwalk! (There were posters that said "call your friends and have them watch you right now!") He looked pretty amusing waving up at the sky. ;) We decided we better take a little walk and get our toes out in the ocean while we were there. Even though we tried to keep Lorelei from getting wet she did get her shorts soaked, but of course it didn't bother her. Now we are excited to get packed up and head to the beautiful weather and family in Nebraska! Not sure how often I'll blog while we are gone but will have one for Lorelei's birthday for sure. :)

Children's Museum

We took a trip to the children's museum on Monday. Needed to get out of the house and found out they are closing to remodel and moving to a smaller place. Wanted to get there before they did that. There was even a discount because some of the exhibits were already being torn down. It was a great price for two hours of entertainment. :) I have to say it isn't geared for younger children as much as the one I have been to in Lincoln, but is still good enough to keep Lorelei exploring and entertained. One of our favorites was the music section which had a huge guitar, some pipes you could play with flip flop bottoms, a huge drum, and a recording studio. There was also a toddler section so that was a great fit for Lorelei. Oh and we cant forget the gigantic computer...knew we had to get a picture of this for Brad!



That afternoon Mirinda came over for a visit. She hadnt seen Lorelei in quite a while so was amazed at how much she had grown! This is Lorelei saying hi to the baby in her belly! :)



Later that evening Lorelei started doing this interesting new trick. We aren't sure exactly where she picked this up. I assure you her mother does not walk around the house doing the chicken dance all day... My only guess is that they do show it on one of her Elmo DVDs...but she hadn't even watched it recently!