Special Delivery

The other day Jane received two boxes in the mail for her. Look at the excitement!

One was an early birthday gift from my cousin and another was some early Christmas stuff (to get in the spirit) from her Mimi and Pawpaw.

She was polite and read the card first.

It was a frame that my cousin and her daughter Ellie made! haha! Look at Mr. Hunt in the back.

I told her to hold it up, and she did!

She loved it, but I couldn't let her play with it too much because it is fragile.

Hannah was licking her ear.

Thank you Michelle and Ellie, we can't wait to put a picture form her birthday in it.

Next up, the Christmas box. She wasn't sure about the bubble things.

She got an outfit (jeans and a long sleeve shirt), some Christmas diapers (adorable), and Christmas Jammies (also adorable)

She loved everything! Thanks Mimi and Pawpaw! Now she is a pro at opening gifts and she's ready for her birthday and Christmas!

Love,
Jen

Trying to be Festive

This weekend was the first Christmas activity that I had planned for our family and it ended up being somewhat of a fail.

First of all, it is 30 degrees here....in TEXAS! Its warmer in South Carolina right now which is not usually the case. Not only is it 30, but its rainy, and its been like this the entire weekend which is why we had a holiday fail.

I haven't bought Jane any cold (frigid) weather clothes yet since its been 70 degrees still. She has some pants and long sleeve shirts and a few little light jackets and that's it. Also, I bought her some baby uggs but her feet are so fat that its hard to get her feet in the boot and then she can't walk in them, so socks it is for the cold weather. Light socks that is, she doesn't have any heavy thick socks.

So anyways, this past Saturday there was a tree lighting at the Domain which is a nice shopping center here in Austin. I mentioned it to Chris and knowing well that it was at 6pm (which is Jane's dinner time) we decided to go anyway. Mind you, it was about 30 degrees and misting all day. So I bundled Jane up as much as I could and we headed out.

It was pretty cold, I'm not going to lie. I started looking around at the other kids and they seemed a lot more bundled than Jane and then I started to feel like a bad mom. I'm sure nobody was looking at me wondering why she wasn't as bundled as their kids, but you know....its just the mom in me worrying.

Once we got to the tree it was about 5:45 so we had 15 minutes before the lighting of the tree (or so we thought).

I took Jane out of the stroller in order to wrap her up in the blanket that we brought. Both of our noses were bright red.

I know she was cold, but she sure didn't act like it. She wanted nothing to do with the hood on her head or the blanket wrapped around her so it was hard to keep her warm. She did love when her Daddy blew on her hands to keep them warm.

Once it was 6pm we were getting excited for the tree lighting when a choir group came out and started singing. We gave them the benefit of the doubt at first, but after more than 2 songs we were starting to wonder.

Jane was getting so antsy, we much have passed her back and forth 5 or 6 times. She was also hungry. We normally don't let her have her paci out of the car or crib, but I knew it would be a life saver for the hungry part.

Then once the choir left and another whole band was setting up, we had a family pow wow and decided we had to leave. The tree lighting wasn't at 6pm, that's just when the show started and we had no clue. If it weren't so cold and Jane's dinner time we would have definitely stuck it out. I love Christmas music and the atmosphere was great! So sadly, we left before the tree lighting and fireworks.

But, we did have fun still. It was fun to get out and do something as a family. I'm also more excited now for all the activities I have planned for the 25 days of Christmas.

I'm also glad we did this because I learn that I need to go buy Jane some warmer clothes. At least a big jacket, some gloves, some warmer shoes or socks, and a hat that will stay on. I don't want to cut any other holiday festivities short because we are too cold.

Although Mr. Hunt thinks that this 30 degree weather won't last long and he may be right. Looks like this weekend will be back in the 70s.

Talk to y'all later!
Jennifer

Busy Days

Our days have been getting busier and I'm enjoying it. I like to go out in the morning for something small (at least) so that Jane and I don't go crazy being inside all day.

This past Friday was such a fun day for us so I wanted to share. Jane was in a great mood all day too which is pretty much the usual for her anyway.

For the first time ever, we walked to our local library and attended story time. Ive wanted to go previous times, but they were always during Jane's nap time and we couldn't miss that. Now that she is only taking her one afternoon nap, it was perfect. Except the story time for her age group is still during her afternoon nap. So I took her to the toddler one instead. It was recommended for 18 months and older. I wasn't sure how it would go or if they would let us in, so I wasn't getting my hopes up.

Turns out they let us in, but she was definitely the youngest. She also didn't really pay attention, but MAN DID SHE HAVE FUN! and to me, that's all that matters. She was all over the place making friends, squealing, laughing, and dancing.

There she goes.....

coming back!

Here she is somewhat listening to the story.

Then she went off again. Look closely and you can see her rolling around on the ground.

Don't worry, there were other kids all over the place too, I wouldn't have let this happen if I didn't think it was appropriate.

Then she almost drank out of this guys drink. Almost.

She got a stamp for being good at the end!

I'm sure we will go back, but we might have to contain her a little more next time and I'm not sure she will like that. She had a blast going around everywhere. As we were getting ready to leave I heard the story time lady and another mother talking and I overheard the story time lady say "Oh yeah, I don't mind when the kids move around and play, as long as they aren't up here in my space." Oops! Oh well, if she really felt like that she should have said something, but next time I won't let her up there.

When we got home something happened that never has happened before. She sat STILL! I had to take a picture, it was a miracle. She must have really been tired.

Look at these crossed legs!

The sitting still thing lasted like 2 minutes, but it was still cute.

Then after her nap, we walked to the pet store. This turkey was outside and Jane gave him a kiss.

Then we spent some time looking at all the fish and birds before grabbing the dog food and going home.

Once we were home, Jane spent some time paying with the dog food. She was having a blast slapping the bag!

Then we met Mr. Hunt and some of his coworkers for dinner at our normal Friday spot, Freddies. Once again, Jane was great!

We had such a good Friday and a wonderful weekend as well. Hope y'all did too!

Love
Jen

11 Months Old

I'm not entirely sure at what age a child is considered a toddler, but Mr. Hunt and I discussed this last night and we would definitely call Jane a toddler over a baby at this point. She is officially a pro walker. Not just waddling around...she walks! She actually prefers to walk now over crawling too. She also has this crazy personality and people are always shocked when we tell them she is only 11 months old.

A lot has happened this month so lets get started shall we?

Actually let me start by saying this was by far the hardest month yet to take pictures of her in this rocking chair. Do I say that every month? With my next child I may have to pick a different location. Good thing I'm only planning on doing this for one more month. I may have to stop and explain some of these pictures...I understand.

At the very beginning of the month, Jane was able to stand on her own for long periods of time without holding onto anything. Then she worked up the courage to take a few steps before falling.

Not sure what this look at Teddy is about. haha!

Jane also went to her first pumpkin patch this month and she had a great time.

She says her second word (first is Dada) "woof woof" which is dog. But we have learned that woof woof pretty much means any animal. She LOVES dogs. Anytime we are on a walk and she even hears a dog, she will say woof woof. She did say Mama one time last month, but it was a fluke and she hasn't said it since :(

I couldn't keep her still on this chair y'all. But you can see the back of her hair is growing like crazy. When its wet, it goes down the back of her neck!

On October 30th Jane officially was walking. Not just talking a few steps.

Jane also knows how to throw a ball and loves to play catch with us....or just by herself.

Jane celebrated her first Halloween this month and dressed as a dinosaur. She liked her costume, but enjoy the kids more as they came up to the door for candy.

River was distracting her here.

Jane dropped a nap this month and is down to just one afternoon nap. I didn't think it would come this fast and thought we were definitely going to have two naps past her first birthday, but I just rolled with it and that's what she wants. Its definitely been a challenge, more so than when she dropped the third nap a few months ago, but we are both slowly getting used to the new schedule.

In order to keep her sitting still I asked her to give Teddy a kiss. She LOVES giving kisses and sometimes kisses people without being asked to. Sometimes its a little awkward when its strangers...but they think its cute...for now.

More kisses

Along with the dropping of the second nap, we also experienced daylight savings which wasn't as rough as I imagined it would be. Although it did happen at the same time as the dropped nap which was crazy.

Jane got to meet her last Uncle, Uncle McKay when we went to see him and Aunt Katie get married in Charlotte.

While in Charlotte Jane also learned to climb the stairs. We don't have stairs at our house so I was surprised at how quickly she picked it up. I'm kind of glad we don't have stairs right now.

Also while in Charlotte, we left Jane with a babysitter (who wasn't family or a close friend) for the first time and she did great. It was probably harder on me than her.

Jane started pointing this month and now points at everything, especially if she wants it.

At this point, she was done with the picture taking, but I was trying to get her to smile. Instead I got this blank stare.

Jane's four top teeth are coming in at the same time. The front two are out more than the two beside them, but they are all coming. This has made her very clingy the past few weeks. Sometimes I like it, sometimes I don't.

I worked so hard for this smile...hope you like it!

We went to our first StoryTime at the library this month and Jane had a blast. Jane is VERY social, I hope she stays that way. She doesn't ever cry when I leave her places like the nursery at church and she never once wondered where I was while we were at StoryTime. She also LOVES other kids. If there are kids on the TV, she will scream with excitement. Same as if we see other children a the grocery store or on a playground somewhere. Then she walks right up to kiss them. I hope she stays social and happy forever.

Blank stare again...

Jane knows what I'm saying a lot and I have started to notice some of the things she knows. She knows:

turn the page
come here
sit down
splash
shake
give me a kiss

and probably more that I'm forgetting.

Wanting the camera of course.

"seriously Mom?"

Jane knows the TV remote. She doesn't really know how to use it, but she knows that its supposed to be pointing at the TV and she does it all the time.

"HI GUYS"

Towards the end of the month Jane learned to go from sitting to standing without grabbing onto anything. You know, the squat to stand? So she pretty much gets up to walk from anywhere and walks everywhere. I still can't believe it if you haven't caught on.

This was the reaction I got when I tickled her feet. She was trying not to smile I think.

because she really wanted down.....

So she took her bow off to really let me know she was done with the photo shoot....

Jane found mine and her bellybutton this month and she thinks its the funniest thing. She pokes it and laughs all the time.

Here she is trying to put the bow back in.

She is getting so smart. Usually if she is trying to do something, we can show her how to do it and she copies us right away.

She likes to play with the clothes out of her hamper. She knows that the clothes somehow end up going over her head and she tries to put them on. It looks a little something like this next picture.

Lastly, Jane is learning how to get what she wants. I'm starting to get worried. She never used to cry or whine EVER. She was the perfect baby. NOW THOUGH...she has learned that if she wants something and she cries or worse, whines about it she gets it. I'm not sure how this happened, but I need to fix it quick before it gets out of control. 

For example: She loves to play with my phone. I used to be able to give it to her while it was locked and she would pretend to talk on it. Now if its locked and the screen is black she throws a fit and cries until I make the light come on and she sees stuff on the screen. This has made it so she has posted stuff on my Instagram and Facebook as well as texting random people....oops!

I guess I should just let her cry. I don't know about other mothers, but I can't stand whining. Its the worst! Worse than crying to me. Jane whines a lot more than she cries and sometimes I just lose it and give in. 

Over all Jane has really grown this month. She is her own little person and is so happy and funny! I tried to sit her on the scale, but of course she didn't really sit still. It said 23.8lbs though. 

She is already in 18 month clothing as well, but still fits most of the 12 month clothes we have. The 12 month pants are just a little short that's all. 

Little Bean,

In just one short month we will be celebrating your first birthday. Can you believe it? Mommy and Daddy can't. Although you do seem like a little girl already, just doing your own thing most of the time. You can also keep up with older kids so well which I usually would expect from younger siblings, but you just love other kids. We love you so much and want you to say happy, loving, funny, and crazy forever. 

Love,

Mom and Dad!