My ladybug friend

Happy Halloween WALKING MACHINE!

Happy Halloween everyone! Since it is Monday morning, Audrey has preschool. Her classroom is not allowed to wear costumes because they are too young and taking them to the bathroom would be diffucult, etc. So, we did the next best thing and decked ourselves out in orange and black!

Oh, and did I mention that Vivi is officially walking now?? Yes!! On Halloween, she started walking completely on her own...two weeks after her first birthday! Yay! Audrey was helping me to encourage Vivi. :)

As you can tell, mommy was very excited!

Trick-or-Treating on Halloween

Ok, ok! Enough trick-or-treating you say! We went out three different times this year and Halloween night was the last. We first stopped by a few of our neighbors homes to say "Happy Halloween" and then we were off to Grammy's house where we were sure to get lots of sweets! She didn't disappoint either! We were supposed to go around her neighborhood with Austin (his neighborhood, too remember) but he had strep throat so he didn't get to go. :(

Thanks for the treats, Grammy!
MMMM! I love eating pixie stick sugar in a bowl with my finger.

Next and last, we went to Mark and Kari's. Their neighborhood was CRAZY and there were ghosts and goblins everywhere. Not to worry, Kari saved a stash for us! We visited for a while and had some of Uncle Mark's fire chili! Thanks guys!

Trunk or Treat?

On Sunday before Halloween, the church next to our house (also known as my pre-school) had Trunk or Treat that was open to the public. So, we put on our costumes again and walked down the street for some more treats! This time, we brought out my costume from last year...Dora!! This year I actually left the wig on!

Can't wait to see what this "trunk or treat" thing is.

Awesome!! People park in the parking lot of the church and decorate their trunks. Then, you walk right up to each trunk in a circle and get candy!! This trunk matched Vivi!

Horse Riding and Haymow Fun!

After church, we needed to take Jackie home so we decided to check out her horses while we were there.

Vivi sat on Topper!
I climbed up in the haymow and really liked it! This was the first time I tried that...something mommy and daddy did often when they were little.

I got to actually ride on Topper with Jackie. I have never riden a horse before either. I loved it and can't wait to go back and do it again!

Trick-or-Treating in NE Indiana

Wow, we really stretched out Halloween and trick-or-treating this year. We started early by hitting up all of the great grandparents', Grandma Cindy's and Pappaw's in northeast Indiana. I would say Wells County but it actually included three of them. We have never gone trick-or-treating back home with the girls so we thought it would be nice. Jackie even came with us! We were certainly overdue for visits anyway.

Our first stop was in Warren to see Great Grandma Betty. She had her door opened and was delighted when we showed up. Mommy made treats for all we visited...homemade apple dumplings using Betty's recipe.

Vivi was not so happy!
Playing with the "toys" in grandma's room

...much happier now.

We even stopped by cousin Mark's house in Liberty Center to say hi. It had been a couple years since we had seen him.

Great Grandma Cookie and Don's place in Bluffton was next. The little ladybug is not happy again! Sorry Great Grandma Cookie!

Our third stop was at Grandma Cindy's!! She had bags full of special treats for us. She even drew pictures on the bags.....mommy forgot to take pictures of them. :( The ladybug is much happier now.

Silly Mike was there too! We enjoyed some nice lunch before hitting the road again.

We were really tired on the way to Great Grandma Oswalt's. Jackie refused to take a nap! ha!

Still smiling with Grandma Oswalt in Montpelier. We really liked her house and playing in the play room upstairs. She still has all of the same toys mommy and all of her cousin's played with when they were little. Grandma made homemade caramel corn and had lots of great treats for us!! Pappaw had yummy m&m's.

A great part about this stop was that Pappaw was here and we didn't have to go to his house as well. Whew!

Great Grandma Susie and Wilbur's in Hartford City was the last stop on the list. Wilbur was actually in the hospital recovering from an infection and Grandma had just been home from the hospital following her bypass surgery only a couple weeks. She was very tired after visiting Wilbur in the hospital but was still great company. We were so glad we stopped here, as well.

Before heading home, we stopped at Pizza King in Hartford City for dinner. Yum! Jackie even came to our house and spent the night! Yay!

Using a spoon and a plate

It is time to start using utensils and dinnerware....Vivi started with a spoon and some mashed potatoes on a plate. She didn't do too bad but she would rather hold the spoon in one hand and pick up the food with her other! She will get the hang of it!

Big sister even tried to help!
As soon as she is done eating the plate gets thrown on the floor!

Vivi's 12-month stats

Weight: 22.3 lbs (67th percentile)

Length: 30.25 in (79th percentile)

Head: 46.3 cm (80th percentile)

Vivi is definitely starting to slim down now that she is on the move. She is no longer in the 90-something percentiles! :)

Saying good-bye to Buddy Cat :(

Our good ole Buddy cat is sitting on God's lap now. He feels much better in God's house. We said good-bye to our 16-year-old cat recently.

Rest in Peace...we will miss you.

Vivi's new funny face

Vivi's personality is really starting to come out. This is her favorite new funny face to make. It is hilarious! I love that you can see her teeth!

A surprise visit from a very special new family member....

Mommy's cousin, Diane had her first baby...Brayden was born the middle of September. He was a month old and Diane and Justin brought him to see cousin John in Indy. So, they made a special stop at our house and we got to meet the little cutie! So happy for you guys!

At one month old, he only weighed 8 lbs 3 oz.......I weighed 8 lb 2 oz when I was born! ;)
I just kept saying "awwwww"

Vivi's First Birthday Party

Vivi's first birthday party was so much fun...a special party for a very special little one-year-old! Thank you to all who made it and shared in celebrating our youngest. It meant so much!

The theme was ladybugs! Aunt Susan and Mommy made all of these ladybugs that were backgrounds for Vivi's month-by-month picture montage of year ONE!
Grammy made FOUR ladybug cakes...yes, that's right...FOUR! They were all SOOOO adorable and Vivi got her very own ladybug cake to eat/play in! ;) The birthday girl was very happy.

Great Grandma Cookie made the trip. Her 89th birthday is in just over a week. How special is it that she and Don, who's 93rd birthday is in under a week, drove here to celebrate with us! Wow!

Aunt Kari and Mike made my sister giggle

Scary face, Mike! I don't think she is scared of you though!

Grandma Cindy helped us get ready for the party. She is always so much help!! Thanks grandma!!

Daddy is showing me a picture of mommy when she was a little older than I am now...

Do you think we look alike?

Daddy and his Grandma...isn't she so pretty!

"Yum! Mike, is that whole ladybug for me?? Woohoo, let's eat it now!"

Great job on the cakes, Grammy! THANK YOU!Sue's grandkids, Charlotte and Liam came to celebrate with us. It was great having them and I really liked playing with Charlotte! She is 4 1/2 and Liam turns 2 in November. His birthday is just a few days before mine.

It's CAKE TIME!! I wanted to help!

She didn't know what to do and didn't get too crazy! I really enjoyed my piece...especially that delicious pink icing!

Well, I think she did ok! Don't forget to check out the video at the bottom of this post.

Jackie was here too, of course! Yay! She and Aunt Luann stopped on their way home from camping all weekend. They even had their horses with them in the trailer!! SO COOL!

Grammy and Gary were ready to take lots of good pictures!

Aunt Kari and Pappaw took pictures with mommy's camera and got this good one of themselves!

Our friends, Xavier and Hilary came from Cincinnati to see us!! Thanks guys! That was awesome! Xavier just turned one a few months ago.

Mike likes to hold baby dolls!! hehe...just kidding. Uncle Mark is just plain silly!

We had pizza, cheese sticks, and TONS of cake! It was delish! Aunt Luann will be glad mommy took this picture of her eating 'za! ;)

Great Grandpa and Great Grandma helping Vivi walk.

Austin was at the party too and we were so happy to see him!

Awwww....me and my family!

I got to help open presents.

Birthday girl!

Jackie and Luann made Vivi her very own memory board...like the one they made me. How special!

Vivi's new book from Xavier. She LOVES this book...especially making the rubber ducky squeek.

Aunt Susan and I put together Vivi's new purse from our neighbors, the Ahnerts.

Grandma got me some matchbox cars so I had something to open too. Vivi enjoyed eating them.

Another picture before they left...

Uncle Matt helped Austin and I build sand castles.

Mickey came with Pappaw. It was a beautiful day so we took advantage of it. The bounce house was out, too.

Here is a shorter video of Vivi and the cake...the first one was too large to post.