Girls in Dresses

Grammy bought Mars some cute dresses for her birthday - here is her in my favorite one.

Special Birthday 7.17.11

I am so lucky to get to share my birthday with my little love. She is the great joy in my life and is my Rae of sunshine every day.
On our birthday we decided to live it up and take advantage of all the free meals offered for birthday girls. We even got free meal for Mars because it was her birthday too!
Chuck surprised me with a bike for my birthday this year. I was totally surprised he bought it, but not surprised it was a bike because we looked at some earlier and I told him what I liked.
I always enjoyed cycling classes at the gym and have been planning on doing the ADA's Ride for a Cure, but then I found out I was pregnant this year and will have to wait until next year to ride.
Well now I have a bike and just needed to have the baby before starting training.

Mars #1 Birthday

Amara's first birthday was on a Sunday, so we celebrated the day before.
Some people are superstitious about this fact of celebrating before the actual day, but that is just nonsense.

Mars party was a tropical beach escape. Uncle Bubba loved us so much he sent a child's coconut bra and hula skirt for Mars for her birthday outfit. Isn't she the cutest hula girls you've ever seen!



We had a lot of friends join us in celebrating her #1 year and it was a lot of fun. Mars had a lot of presents to open with the help of Daddy. These are some of her new cuddly friends...

For the first birthday of our first child, we wanted the present from Mommy and Daddy to be special, so we bought her her very first car! No license required - hopefully she won't get as many tickets as Chuck.

After presents Mars tore into her birthday cake. This was the most sugar she had ever had and wasn't destroying it enough for Chuck so he stepped in to show her how it was done. I don't know that the chocolate every completely came out of that shirt.


HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY MARS BARS!

Baby Shower

Little Chuckie has been growing inside my belly and before he gets any bigger - he needed a baby shower.
We didn't have any boy clothes, so I was very excited to get clothes and hopefully more diapers that were desperately needed.

Chuck's mom and sister put on the shower and did an amazing job!
I was more than overwhelmed at how great everything was and how many people came.

THANKS Everyone!

Daddy's girl

Mars finally learned how to say Mommy, but I think she is still a Daddy's girl.

Don't they look related?

Amara Rae

We have always wanted Mars to enjoy books. Looks like she is enjoying looking at them even though she can't read yet.

Mars also enjoys playing with her toys including her little Ginger puppy.

Amara Hooks One

After we had Mars, Chuck had gone fishing with his uncle and nephew and I had to stay home with the baby. I told him he owed me a fishing trip.

We went fishing up on the Rim a few weeks ago. Chuck loves to fish and I have only gone one other time that I actually caught something, but it was too little to keep.

We had some success at Tonto Creek, but nothing to brag about.

The next day we went on the Res and stopped at Nana's hole and Hawley Lake. We caught nothing at the lake and Mars and I were so cold and tired of waiting for Chuck to try to catch something.

We drove a little farther north and found a great little hole with several fish in it.

Mars was getting tired and needed a diaper change, so I decided to throw the line back in one last time before heading to the car. We sat down for a few seconds and had a good bite, then Mars holding onto the pole and Mom reeling it in - we caught the biggest fish of our trip!

Mars first fish! It was great fun and after a diaper change and food in her little belly, Mars was just as happy as Mommy was.

Chuck and I both caught our limit that day and we drove home with 15 fish (12 Apaches, 3 Rainbow Trout). We had a fish fry and ate all the fresh fish as fish tacos. Mmmm!

Easter Fun 2011

This year our HOA held an Easter egg hunt this year and we took Mars to go hunting for eggs. She is too little to do it by herself, so Chuck took her.

When the Easter Bunny said go, only the little ones were supposed to start, but all the kids ran for it. It was a single stampede of kids and Chuck had to grab Amara and run with her to the far end of the field to even find any eggs.

We found two and Mars liked them, but we ended up giving them to a little girl who didn't have any. Hopefully they'll plan it better next year.

We took pictures with the Easter Bunny and Mars was intrigued by his white fur. I think she is trying to eat it. :-)

Sunday morning we had our own Easter egg hunt and opened Easter baskets. Mars got a Barbie and a baby lawnmower. She is considering the best way to break the package open.

She did a good job finding a few eggs on her own, then Chuck got to find the rest of the eggs.

Easter Dresses - Mars and Mommy just happen to match. Even our shoes matched!

Can you tell she is Daddy's Girl? She loves to spend the whole day saying, "Da-da-da-da-da..."

Happy Easter!

Bathing Beauty

Grandma says Mars looks like a bathing beauty when she crawls and turns halfway around.

Conference weekend looked promising for a little dip in the kiddie pool, so we took Mars out for her first swim. She always has loved baths and is a little fish lately, but the water was much cooler than her bath. It also happened to get a little windy that day as well. She wasn't a huge fan of the idea at first, but after we added some warmer water she really started enjoying herself.

She does look adorable in her suit though!

And Her First Word Is...

At 7 1/2 months Mars surprised us and said her first word:

Da-Da

I was sad it wasn't Ma-ma, but it is cute to hear her each morning "da-da-da-da-da".

I guess we all know she is definately daddy's girl and has Chuck wrapped around her finger.

BIG Sister!

I guess life has a way of being unpredictable and not always as we plan it. About two months ago, Chuck and I found out there was a little bun in the oven. Amara will be a big sister! The most surprising part occured at the first ultrasound. This little one is due on August 20th and Mars will be one year on July 17th. Well, that was not planned...at least having them that close. This past week we had another ultrasounds and discovered something was growing between his legs - a BOY! I have thought all along it was a boy, everything with this child is totally different. We are very excited for this little one to join our family and raise two little munchkins together. Life is unpredictable, but holds great and wonderful surprises.

Teething Again...Ahhhh!

At eight months Mars got her two front teeth. One popped in on a Tuesday and the other on a Thursday two days later.

She looks so cute with her new toothy smile - two bottom teeth showing and the two top barely braking through the surface.

Just right now, I noticed that she had two more teeth coming in. One to the right of her two front teeth broke through and the one to the left of her two front teeth is about to come! That explains a lot, she has been cuddly, moody and not sleeping through the night well. Mars is a loving kid, but now that she can crawl and push herself up on furniture she doesn't hold still to be held and loved on for very long. Well, this is how it will go until all her baby teeth come in. Then we get to do this again when her permanent teeth come in. At least by then she will be able to communicate verbally how she is feeling.

Movin' More

At seven and a half months Amara started crawling. Now she can pull herself up on chairs, the sofa, and anything she dares to try.

It is hard to keep her out of things that are not "baby-safe". I supposed that is why people often "baby-proof" thier house. Although I don't think that is every totally possible. Anything can be something new and curious.

Mars like paper. She like to try to eat the Sunday paper when I clip coupons. She likes to play on cardboard boxes and get on top of anything she can.

Right now as I am typing she is diligently trying to grab at the keys and type her own message for you.

Bottle & Baby

At seven and a half months old, Amara is now well capable of holding her own bottle. This is a great advantage while driving because now we can simply hand her the bottle and she can drink and be happy. No more twising our arms akwardly to get the food into her mouth.

Sit! Stay! Roll over!

2.24.11 Mars sat up for the first time on her own! Now if she can only stay sitting up and not fall over.
She is getting better at moving around. Although she can't crawl yet, she does know how to scoot backwards and use her feet to push her forward to reach a toy.
Her new favorite toy is a toothbrush. The dentist will love her!

Family Update for 2011

Well, you can see most of my life revolves around a certain little girl whose nickname is one of our planets.
Mars.

Aside from her daily adventures Chuck and I are off to a new year with great plans for the next 12 months.

Here are our plans for 2011:

• Be in a better place financially than we previously have been.
• Paint the kitchen - not the mustard color sample that covers a few feet of the wall.
• Finish the Bug
• Expand our family
• Re-potty train Ginger
• Be better gardeners
• Figure out how the sprinkler system works
• Spend more time together
• Be good parents
• Make wise choices
• Get some furniture for our house - once the Christmas tree goes down the front room will be barren
• Build our food storage
• Eat less and move more
• Be better people

That's it for now. Time for some shut-eye and beauty sleep!

Growing Pains

Chuck and I are learning a lot being parents. We have had some growing pains along the way.

1. It is no fun having to take multiple turns putting a teething child to bed.
2. Bedtime at 11:30 pm is not advisable for a 6 month old
3. Christmas lights can be your salvation
4. Who knew food could be so entertaining?
5. Two front teeth are much cuter on a baby!
6. Being bald never looked so good!
7. Bath time is always the best time of day
8. Ten seconds to make a bottle can be too long for a little tummy
9. Being a parent is learning something new about yourself and your child every day
10. Who knew baby food was a dogs favorite treat (to lick off a little face)?
11. "Daddy" time is more for Mommy than Daddy
12. A baby fills a place in your heart you never knew was empty - Author Unknown

Playtime!

Mars loves her toys! She got a lot for Christmas and she is having a "pail full of fun"!

Solids!

Now that Mars is 6 months old we have introduced her to solid foods.
She loves rice and oatmeal cereals. Most vegetables she loves.

This was her first taste of carrots. Although it may not be obvious, she really did like the carrots.

The past few weeks we added pureed meats to her menu.

Carrots all over her face or not, she is still our sweet pea and my daily happiness.

Mars First Christmas

I know Christmas came and went by so fast and now it is February, but I must share some of the greatest moments we had.
This was the first year Mars saw the Christmas lights at the Mesa Temple.

Mommy had to help Mars open her presents of course, but she loved sitting under the tree staring at the lights.

Mars had a lot more presents to open than Chuck or I. Santa brought her a high chair with a toy tray that snaps on. Mommy and Daddy got her some clothes, books, softies, dishes and other little things I can't remember right now. Doesn't she look cute in her blue candy land Christmas PJ's?

Merry Christmas little reader!