Christmas Tree

Our tree

Cheyenne hanging her "Baby's 1st Christmas" ornament

Digging into the ornament boxes

We put our tree up today. We put the lights on and we let Cheyenne help us decorate it. She was more interested in playing with the ornament boxes and getting into wrapping and tissue paper. Then when the tree was done and I was trying to take her picture, of course she pulled the ornaments off. That's okay. I put some plastic ones at the bottom for that very purpose. The tree is beautiful.

David's Birthday Party

Cheyenne had so much fun!

Kristie and David (birthday boy-3 yrs)

Cheyenne and Alicia (Allie)

Cheyenne and daddy playing

By the end of the party, Cheyenne was exhausted. She had so much fun playing, she wore herself out!

This afternoon after we went Christmas Tree shopping, we went to David's birthday party at The Little Gym. David is the son of our good friends, Jason and Kristie. He turned 3 years old! When we walked in the door, Cheyenne knew exactly where we were. She got so excited, clapping and squealing. She had a good time playing at the party. Happy Birthday David!

Christmas Tree Shopping

This afternoon we went and picked out our Christmas tree. It was awfully cold outside so we bundled Cheyenne up in her new coat and the scarf that Grandma Katherine made her. It is so soft. Thanks Grandma! We got a beautiful 9 ft tree. It set up in front of the window in the dining room. Between getting dinner ready and Cheyenne's bath, etc we haven't had time yet to decorate. I'll put some pictures up when it's all done.

Thanksgiving

Yesterday we celebrated Cheyenne's 1st Thanksgiving. We went to the Joyner gathering at noon and to my Aunt Nancy's at 4. Cheyenne had a good time playing with Kaylan.
Cheyenne and Aunt KatieCheyenne loved playing with the dogs at Nancy and Mark's house.This year we have so much to be thankful for. The birth of our beautiful baby girl, buying our 1st home, William reconnecting with his father have 20+ years and the support of all our family and friends. Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Cheyenne is sick

Cheyenne woke up several times Monday night crying. I thought it was her teeth and gave her some tylenol and helped her get back to sleep. Tuesday morning when I went to get her she was laying in a big pile of snot. Sorry if TMI. Yuck. I watched her throughout the day and she wasn't getting better. Runny nose, cough, and only wanted to just lay around on me. I decided to take her to the doctor yesterday afternoon. They found that it was her throat. She has some kind of virus. They did a strep test. Negative. But her throat is red and she still has the runny nose. She's not contagious anymore and feeling better today. She slept good last night and is a little more upbeat now. Keep her in your thoughts.

A Day In The Life Of Cheyenne

I hope you all are enjoying reading about me and like the pictures that mommy and daddy put up. I am really growing up! I thought I would share with you what my day is like and what I've been up to lately. I am 10 months old and crawling around.

I wake up at 7am. If I don't wake up on my own, mommy wakes me up to start the day. We have morning cuddles in the rocking chair and then I get changed for the day. For breakfast I usually have oatmeal with fruit or maybe some yogurt and toast. I love feeding myself, especially things that make a mess like bananas. I like to smush them and put them in my hair!

After breakfast, mommy and me play. I play in my excersaucer some days and other days I play in the floor. Some days, if it's not really cold, we go for a walk. Mommy puts cheerios (my favorite) in my tray on my stoller and we walk around the neighborhood. I get to see birds and dogs and cats.
Here I am playing with one of my favorite toys! I am concentrating really hard!After I play for a little while, I take my morning nap. Mommy puts a clean diaper on me and we sit in the rocker and read a book. I get to hold my special blankie while mommy sings me a song. After my nap, I have lunch. My favorite lunch is tomato soup and crackers and applesauce.

On Mondays I have class at The Little Gym. It is so much fun! We play bells, do flips, practice walking and other fun stuff! I have several friends that I love to chase around the mat!

On Tuesdays and/or Thursdays mommy takes me swimming at the YMCA. I loved swimming this past summer and mommy says that it will stay fresh in my mind if I go during the winter. Plus, it gives mommy something to do with me so I don't drive her crazy couped up in the house. The water is really warm.

On Friday mornings I go to playgroup. My mom and the other mommy's in our neighborhood get together to chat and the babies and kids get to play! The snacks are good too. Last time we had cheese crackers and doughnuts. I had my 1st doughnut hole! We haven't had playgroup at my house yet. I can't wait until we do and I can share my toys with all my friends!

Sometimes we go and have lunch with daddy. We'll eat at his work or we'll pick him up and go somewhere. Sometimes we'll go to the park and I can swing after we eat lunch. That's my favorite. It's starting to get to cold to do that now though.

After we do our afternoon activity, I take my afternoon nap. All that playing can be exhausting! I wake up around 4:00. I'm not usually in a good mood after my 2nd nap. I'm a little whiney, mom says. It just takes me a little while to wake up. Then I'm good to go! Daddy gets home around 5:30 and we have dinner together. I eat whatever mommy and daddy are eating usually. Unless, it's something I can't have yet. I like to eat potatoes, green beans, peas, corn, any kind of fruit, cheese, and macaroni!

Here's me eating dinner!

After dinner, Daddy plays with me! We go into my playroom. Daddy is so much fun! He blows rasperries on my belly and tickles me.

At 7:15 I start my bath. I love my baths, but mommy isn't liking them too much right now. That's because all I want to do is stand in the bathtub! I slipped a couple of times and fell so mommy tells me that I have to sit in the tub or I'll get hurt. I know, but I just want to stand up! My favorite bath wash is the calming lavender. I love the way it smells and gets me all clean! My favorite bath toys are my turtles and my duck.

Here I am standing up.

And here is me after mommy made me sit down. I look pretty upset, don't I? Now you see why mommy doesn't like bath time right now? I promise I'll do better next time.

After bathtime I have my one and only bottle. Did I mention that? I am only using sippy cups during the day to drink my milk and water. I'm such a big girl! Here I am with daddy having some cuddles before bedtime.

I have 4 teeth now. I have to keep them clean, so mommy and daddy got me a toothbrush. I like to do it myself but mommy helps me out. She says we have to make sure they stay clean so the toothfairy will want my teeth and leave my a dollar when I lose them!

After I brush my teeth, it's bed time. Mommy takes me to my room and we read a few books. My favorite is "Pajama Time!" I curl up on mommy's lap with my blanket while she trys to sing me a song. ( I say try because mommy can't really sing that good. But I listen anyway.) Mommy lays me down with my blankie and I'm off to sleep by myself by 8:00. I sleep 11 hours now! I don't even need mommy and daddy at night anymore.

So that is what my day is like. I hope pretty soon I'll be walking and then mommy can chase me around! Her and daddy have put up gates to rooms I can't go into. But I can still run around the living room and the kitchen!

Friends Thanksgiving

Cheyenne (10 months) and Maggie (6 months)

Heather, Cheyenne and I

All of us 1st row-Kristie,Maggie, Jason, David, Katy, Mark, Allie, Heather, Tripp

2nd row-Autumn, William, Cheyenne and Ryan

Every year all the "friends" get together and do Thanksgiving. This year, Jason and Kristie hosted. We all had a great time! We had 4 kids this year. Allie, David, Maggie and Cheyenne...and Gavin is on the way! This is a tradition that we hope will continue each year. It got a little chaotic will all the little ones but it was fun.

1st Snow of the Season

This morning we woke to find that it had snowed last night! They were not even calling for it. It seems that that's when we get it though. William went in to work a little late this morning so he could see Cheyenne see her 1st snow. She didn't seem to really care about it. We put her coat over her pj's and put her hat on. I can't wait until she's old enough to go out and play in it. Look at the picture of the house. We still have our pumpkins on the porch! Crazy, huh?

Corn on the Cobb

Tonight, Cheyenne had her 1st corn on the cob! She didn't know what to do with it at 1st but she quickly caught on. She seemed to suck on it more than anything. When I tried to take it away (after 30 minutes) she was very upset. She wanted that corn! I guess we'll have to have it more often from now on!

Slide!

This evening we got this from a neighbor. Their kids had outgrown it and I had mentioned at our playgroup Friday morning that we would like to get something similar to this for Cheyenne. If was offered to us and we are so glad to have it! It's got a little swing on it and a slide just Chey's size! If was almost dark by the time we got it to the back yard, but we played for a couple of minutes.

Swimming

Since we've joined the YMCA, I've taken Cheyenne swimming 3 times. She really enjoys it! They have a little area that has water spouts that she loves to play in. I couldn't get a great picture because it's a little dark inside but here's one of her playing in the water.

The Little Gym

So today I took Cheyenne to The Little Gym in Greensboro for a trial class. They let you try it out before signing up. We had so much fun! There was about 10 mommy's and babies. All of them 10-11 months. Cheyenne had a great time crawling around chasing all the other babies. We did flips and walking on hands, playing with bells and exercises. I wish that we could sign up for the spring semester starting in January but it's just too expensive. I had no idea until after the class and I looked at the prices...whoa....crazy! Anyway, at least we got to go today. I want to find something similar to go to.

YMCA

Cheyenne and I went and joined the Y today. I started thinking and the indoor pool would be perfect for this winter! It will keep the pool fresh in her mind. She had a ball this summer! This will give us something to do a few days a week. I got a great deal since I'm a college student. We're looking forward to going swimming in wintertime!

Rainy day fun!

Since it's been rainy today and we couldn't really get outside...and Cheyenne was driving me crazy, I decided to try something a little different. I made some chocolate pudding (sugar free! didn't need her bouncing off the walls) and put her in our bathtub so I could easily clean her up and just let her go to town. She painted the bottom and sides of the tub and even managed to eat some of it. She loved it. This was a great activity to do with her. I'm sure we'll do it again the next time it rains! Could she be any cuter!?!

Playing on the deck

Cheyenne and I played out on the back deck for a little while this morning. We just had to get out of the house before it starts raining! Here's a few cute pics we took. Enjoy!

A playmate

At Heather's babyshower Saturday, Cheyenne had a playmate! Our friends Jason and Kristie have a 6 month old daughter, Maggie. Her and Cheyenne sat in the floor and played for a little while. Cheyenne kept wanting to grab at her. Maggie didn't really know what was going on. Anyway, here's a cute pic them together.

Cheyenne's Wish List

A few of you have asked what to get Cheyenne for Christmas and have asked if I've made her a wish list. My cousin Amanda has had great success with doing one for her son and recommended that I do one for Cheyenne, especially since her birthday is 1 month later, January 25. For those of you who are out of town...and in town for that matter, I have created a wish list at Target.com. Amanda if you find something similar on Amazon and can get free shipping by all means! Just let me know and I'll take if off the list. If you find the toy somewhere else cheaper, just let me know and I'll remove it from the list. Just go to Target.com and under Lists put in Cheyenne's name. I'll add some more when I get the chance, some cheaper things. Also, any Sandra Boynton books is great! She has a couple already but loves these being read to her! This list can be used for her birthday as well. Hope this helps everyone!

Cheyenne's 1st Halloween!

Cheyenne was a ladybug for Halloween. I've never seen anything so adorable! I really thought we were going to have a problem with her taking the headband off her head, but she didn't notice it. It stayed on all night. We took her to Stokesdale Christian Church where they held a "trunk or treat." I saw a lot of people I went to school with or hadn't seen in a long time. We also visited Grandma Katherine and her friend Rabun who is in town visiting. Cheyenne had a good time playing with the dogs! Last night we ended up and mom and dad's. We always have a bonfire in the driveway on Halloween and do hot dogs and smores. Emma was there too, all bundled up! On the way home we stopped at Tripp and Heather's so they could see Cheyenne in her costume. She was entertaining all day and was so tired by the time we got home. We had a great Halloween!