Little Captured Moments...

Siena WOWS us every day! Recently it seems like she acquires a new skill constantly. It really is a period of growth for her developmentally and physically! She talks to us, although the words don't come out in a way we would normally understand it. We figured out a while ago that "Buh" means our kitty, Misty. This week Siena seems to be saying "good"...which comes out as "Gud". When looking at one of her many books the other day, she was able to identify the kitty and the mouse when asked, by pointing to them. She isn't into scribbling with crayons yet, but she loves to put stickers onto the paper and try to taste them. "Cruising" the furniture was a huge accomplishment this week, as was learning how to climb the steps earlier this month. She is VERY fast at climbing them now, and is trying to learn how to go down...much trickier!

Siena LOVES Misty, and Misty usually loves Siena (although she has her moments). Here Siena is using her new found CRUISING ability to make her way down the couch to where Misty is resting. (They say parents get a lot of exercise when toddlers start walking...I think Misty will get the most! Watch out!) :)

December 11, 2007

Siena fed herself some yogurt for the first time today. Mommy loaded the spoon, but she did the rest!!!

Siena and Mommy had fun playing with cornmeal. Siena had a blast throwing handfuls of it over her shoulder and giving Mommy something to do (sweep the floor again...ha, ha). Lots of fun!

Christmas Tree & Snow! December 8-9, 2007

The Christmas Tree Hunt...Siena's first. We finally found the perfect Grand Fir!

We had some snow falling at our house...Siena was intrigued by the snowflakes, although we weren't able to capture "that" on camera. ;)

We enjoyed having Siena's company this year when decorating the tree. She enjoyed the ornaments!

Other special photos from this week...

Siena and Mommy hosted playgroup at our house this week. Siena's friends enjoyed playing with all of her new toys. Sharing is so much fun!

We had a fun playdate/visit with our friends from across the street.

Celebrating Grandpa Braley's 60th birthday (a little early).

Siena's Birthday Week - The Big One!

Our sweet baby turned one year old on December 5, 2007!

What an amazing journey the past year has been for our family.

Siena has been the biggest blessing to us, and Michael and I both agree, that

life is so much better, fuller than it ever was before because of her.

Thank you for entering our lives, Siena!

We celebrate you!!!

Opening gifts that we saved for her actual birthday.

This cupcake is much more manageable than that big cake was, Mom! Yum!

Siena loves her new baby doll, and greeted her with a big kiss.

We only had Siena open a few gifts at her Saturday party, and so we had her open a few more while Grandma and Grandpa were still around the next day.

Opening one of the gifts from Grandma and Grandpa.

Siena's 1st Birthday party was held on Saturday, December 1st (a few days early from her actual December 5th birthday). She had a great time!

Here she is going for one of her gifts. (The bows and wrapping paper was the best part of the gifts for her!) ;) She received some really fun and useful presents.

Mommy & Daddy with Siena.

Yum! This cake is good!
(Siena was actually more reserved with the cake than we were expecting, although she did give us a few grins...our camera was just too slow to catch them!)

Siena with her friends, Lana & Celina.

Siena with Marianne & Celina.

Siena with her babysitter, Vickie.

Siena with her godfather, Steve.

Siena with Chris, Missy, Keaton, & Kylie.

Siena with Grandma & Grandpa Braley.

Thanksgiving Weekend

We hosted Thanksgiving at our home. Siena's godparents (Jackie & Steve), Jackie's sister, Kim, and a friend of Steve's, Lori, spent the holiday with us. It was such an enjoyable day!

We went on a couple of excursions this weekend. On Friday we drove up to Government Camp on Mt. Hood to let Siena experience the snow. Then on Saturday we went to Zoo Lights at the Oregon Zoo. They were fun trips to take all together!

First Haircut - November 10, 2007

Mommy trimmed Siena's hair to give her some bangs. (Her hair kept falling in her eyes and she had been looking a little untamed.) ;) It was tricky! Siena did okay, but really didn't like the process much. There were a few tears by the end after trying to even out the quick snips that were done. She wanted out of that chair!

Our 11 Month Old

Siena at 2 months old (above), compared to her at 11 months (below).

We can hardly believe it... Siena is already 11 months old (as of November 5th). This picture shows how long she is in comparison to an earlier picture. Wow! (And it sure is difficult to get her to stay still long enough to snap a photo at this stage! So different than in earlier months.) Siena wants to crawl all over the place, and now pull herself up on furniture and whatever she can get her hands on. She's even beginning to "cruise" a little bit. Very exciting! ;)

Early November Happenings

SIENA HAS MAIL!!! Siena's Grandma and Grandpa Kelsey live in Michigan and have started to send her cards regularly. How exciting! (Thank you!)

Siena's Grandma Braley came to stay the week with us, so that I could be available to do some substitute teaching for the week. On one of the four days that I didn't work we went to the Oregon Zoo. Siena enjoyed showing her Grandma some of her favorite exhibits. ;) We all had a wonderful week together! (Thank you, Grandma!!! We appreciate you!)

Siena received a beautifully handcrafted poncho from our neighbor, Sandra. Isn't she adorable?! :) I've also included a photo of her crawling. She's quite efficient at it now that she's been crawling for about a month. This week she has started to pull herself up to standing A LOT. It's just a matter of time before she starts cruising around furniture, etc.

Siena's First Halloween!

Siena had a full first Halloween. Siena and I started off the afternoon by watching my former school's Halloween parade. Then early this evening we took her trick-or-treating to a few of our neighbors' houses. (Michael and I have to agree that Halloween has never been this fun, but then again, Siena makes almost everything fun!)

Getting ready to go trick-or-treating...


Siena's first house to trick-or-treat.

Siena was an adorable pumpkin. Mommy decided to dress up as a cat...Siena's favorite animal! (Just ask Misty, our cat!) ;)

With our good friends/neighbors.

The Days Leading Up To Halloween

Siena's second time eating country vegetable chicken soup. (First soup, first times eating chicken.) Yum! Yum!

Fun with the leaves from our walk at Summerlake Park (Oct. 26th).

Jackie and Steve came over for dinner and pumpkin carving. It was a lot of fun, and Siena enjoyed teething on jack-o-lantern lids.

The babes were all dressed up in their Halloween Costumes for playgroup. So cute!

Siena is eating her first cracker all by herself!