Mommy's New Do!

My mommy has a new haircut....and my brother, Kristopher says she looks like Dora (The Explorer) but mommy says that's a compliment because we hold Dora up to very high standards in our house...JUST ASK ME!!

Merry Christmas to All!!

Happy Holidays Family and Friends!!

Wishing you all a very special Christmas and holiday season! Hope you enjoy these few photos of the kids opening presents. Piper had a great time sitting inside the gift boxes and playing with the ribbons! We love you all!!

Birthday Visitors!!

Grandpa and Grandma Bates flew in from Kennewick WA to celebrate Piper's 1st Birthday. Piper spent lots of quality time with her grandparents and really enjoyed "TV" time with Grandpa...as you can see. We went for a nice walk at the oceanfront and had just missed the Neptune Festival...each year people from all over come down to build enormous sandcastles.

Piper got a pony for her birthday...doesn't every girl need a pony??? She didn't like it much at first because it "Nah's" and wags it head and tail...in fact she was downright terrified of it...since then she has grown to love pony. It always amazes me how much kids like boxes. The last photo is Danyl pushing Piper around in the kitchen on a cereal box...she thought it was the best ever!!

Happy Birthday Piper!!...and Daddy!!

Piper celebrates her 1st birthday....and Daddy turns...31!!

My how the time has passed! We can't believe that she's already a year old....on to toddlerhood! She has grown so much, she's her own little person now. We celebrated her birthday at home with family and friends. Grandpa and Grandma Bates flew in for the big event. We grilled burgers and dogs, I made my typical potato salad, fruit salad and baked beans...a simple menu but it turned out to be a great lunch. A friend baked Piper's cake which was absolutely beautiful and full of detail...Piper even got her own "personal" cake to destroy! She LOVED digging right into that cake and smashing it up....what a blast she had!

Hope you love these pics as much as we do!!

LOTS OF LOVE!!!

New Pics...Finally!

A special message from my Mommy.....

We are sorry to have kept all of you waiting for so long to see new pictures of Piper. She amazes us everyday! She is crawling all over the place and is starting to pull herself up onto furniture or whatever she can grab for that matter, and cruise. Walking may not be too far off! We've been doing sign language with her since she was 6 months and at 9 months she has learned to sign "eat", "all finished" and her favorite, "more"! She does tend to use the "more" sign for a variety of wants and needs. Good thing we understand her! However, at times we are still trying to figure out what she wants which frustrates her to no end. She responds by screeching and doing the "more" sign harder and faster. Apparently Mommy and Daddy are still learning. We continue to add new signs each day and will keep you posted on her progress.

Here are the most recent photos of our little angel!

Piper has weaned herself from her bottle and formula. She will only drink from a straw and will not use a "sippy cup". She loves cow's milk and water...which is good since that's all we give her. Here she is drinking from a cup like the big girl she is!

She also loves to copy faces. Below you see her showing her latest face which we call the "fishy-face". Piper loves to play with Ikaika too. She waits for him to get a toy then crawls over and steals it right out of his mouth. He is very gentle with her and waits for her to put the toy down before he tries to recover it.

If you look close you can see she has 4 teeth now! Well actually, since this photo was taken she has 4 1/2 teeth now since more are coming in up top. She's laughing because Papa was dancing with her and twirling her around. The other photo is her first trip to the beach to watch her brothers skimboard. She was amazed by the texture of the sand!

Learning to Crawl!

I'm learning how to crawl! Mommy says I'm making progress every day. At first, I started out doing the "wounded soldier crawl" where I move through the house dragging my legs behind me. Now I can get on all fours and rock back and forth! My Daddy and I crawl all around which makes me very tired. I also like to piggy-back while Daddy crawls around...he really is a "wounded soldier"! Just the other day we crawled so much I fell asleep right on the floor!

I'm wearing the super cute outfit that my godmother Tarsila bought me. I'm wearing fit and flare Guess jeans with matching baby-T and camouflage jacket. I look so cute and trendy!

I'm really enjoying being able to get around on my own these days but....

like I said, I get very tired....so, bye for now! LOVE!!