Birthday Girl!

I still can't believe that my baby is already one. How does it possibly go that quickly? I still vividly remember being in the hospital and giving birth. I just can't believe that an entire year could go by. I'm starting to pull all of these twelve month articles of clothing, and I can remember when I got them thinking, "It will be a while before she can wear that." Now, she's so much bigger and into everything. It's just crazy!

The party in Milford went well. Gwen enjoyed when everyone was singing, but she did not like to put her hand in the cake. What a little clean baby! I actually had to force her hand to go in the cake, and then she was just mad that I would do such a thing. What a diva!

We also had a party in Newark with the other side of the family. I didn't think we could cram the entire family into our little house, but lo and behold, it worked. I guess you underestimate the fact that loved ones will gladly (I hope) cram themselves together to sit on your two couches just to celebrate a birthday. I wish that I had a big enough house that everyone could have their own comfy seat to sit on, but I guess that's a bit unrealistic for most people who invite 20 people to their house. So, despite the cramming, it was really nice. I'm just so glad that Gwen has family from both sides that just adore her. I will have to post the pictures as I receive them as I was super busy with the birthday girl. I just can't believe she's getting bigger! Sweet baby!!

Miss Hollywood!

Since Gwen loves to pull off my glasses and try to put them on, I thought it might be time for her to get her own pair. She loves them, and she doesn't try to rip them off. That's a big deal for her! She wears them when we go outside, in the store, etc. It seems to me that she might just think glasses are normal because so many people wear them, including her mom and dad. I just love that she loves them. They are her Hollywood glasses!

Her Own Little Corner in Her Own Little Room

I've been attempting to give Gwen her own space. She has been really enjoying playing all by herself. We have a table and chairs for her to play on, but the chairs are a bit daunting right now. However, the table has been a great for her to stand up and play on.She loves to sing....
and she also loves to "read." She often will pull a book off the shelf and turn all the pages. Once she's done "reading," she'll grab another one. This will often last for a long time. I'm so glad that she enjoys books. I just can't wait until she'll sit for one!
She's growing up!!!

Breaking Into the Bread

Gwen definitely loves her carbs :) If we're not watching her too carefully, she immediately goes for the bread. She loves to rip into the bag any way possible and start eating. I promise we feed her! This first picture is her new face if we catch her doing something that she shouldn't be doing. How could you be upset with that face :)
Anyway, we just let her keep going as she had destroyed everything in the bag. At least it wasn't junkfood....

We Went to the Zoo!

We decided to just bite the bullet and get a zoo pass. There are just too many good things at the zoo to not go. Gwen doesn't really understand what's going on. We tried really hard to get her to look at the animals, but she doesn't understand that we're pointing AT something. She just laughs and looks at our fingers. Then, she tries to make her own pointy finger. Oh well... at least she's getting fresh air, right?

We took a break to enjoy a strawberry snack, and Dave took the chance to tickle her. If you look closely in the first picture, you can kinda see her top teeth that just came in. So cute!

Her favorite part by far was the Aquarium. If you've never been, the Columbus Aquarium really rocks. Gwen was just delighted by all of the fish zipping past her face. I think she would have gladly enjoyed swimming in there with all of the fish.




Our last exhibit was the penguins. She must have felt some sort of connection with them. They are short, she's short. They waddle, she toddles. When the penguins would nod their heads, she would shake hers. I love how she observes the world around her!

Do You Think I Look Like My Daddy?

We were having camera fun one day. Gwen really loves the camera. She's such a ham! She definitely needs her own camera to play with! Maybe she'll get off of mine...



We took some fun pictures in this little hat that she got. She hates wearing it, so I had to work hard to get this picture!!!

Beautiful!!!

New Hardwood Floors

This is what the house looked like post tearing up the carpet. It was not too too bad, but it was rough in some places. We found a big spot on the wood that seemed to be stripped of the varnish. That was animal urine that soaked through the carpet and just stayed there for who knows how long. Gross.... Plus, one of the previous owner cut a giant hole for the vent and then covered it with a piece of plywood. Ummmm... what? So, Dave had to replace like five rows of hardwood. Not fun, but also not too bad. He did a really good job!Since Gwen couldn't be here for the renovation due to the sawdust, fumes, and not being able to walk on the floor, Dave sent us updates. This was the floor after being sanded down. Not too shabby.... there was sawdust e-v-e-r-y-w-h-e-r-e. I'm still finding it under all types of things. Totally worth it though!!!
And then, magically, it became this:

It makes a world of a difference! Dave is done stripping the floorboards, too! So, in not too long, I'll have a picture of the completed room on here. I just can't believe he's had this handyman spirit in there for this long. I want it to be summer vacation all the time!

Our Trip to Utica

Since Dave has been home all summer, we decided to take little day trips to different places just to have little family experiences. One of our first trips was to Utica. For those who don't know, Utica is the home to Velvet Ice Cream (which is heavenly). This is their website, and it has lists of events that go on all summer. We just decided to go for lunch, a tour, and ice cream. I would love to go back for the petting zoo. Maybe we can sneak that in before the summer comes to a close...

Gwen enjoyed the tour as much as a baby can enjoy the factory. She had fun putting her face against the glass where all the ice cream was being made. I think it was fun for her to see all the containers rolling all over the place, back and forth across the room.

However, I think the best part of the day for her was getting out of the stroller to push herself around. Lately, she does not want to sit in her stroller for anything. She just wants to get out and walk around. What a goof! It's so sweet to see her attempting to be more independent in her own ways.

Because she was such an exceptionally good girl, we all got ice cream. She's getting too big to just share ours because she wants to entire thing to herself. She will actually whine until you give it back to her. So, instead of fighting a baby for ice cream, she just gets her own. It's worth the extra dollar for a kiddo cone. Plus, you get these lovely pictures: