Making Memories Of Us

Good morning.  Yeah, yeah, I know...

It's really early.

Well grab another cup of coffee and add some pep to your step!


Here we are...the second week of February already.

I look back on all the memories in this post...ones from the very end of 2013 and last month...
and time stops.  And it's nice.

I didn't make any resolutions for the new year.  I never do.
There will be days for trying new things.  Days for taking steps towards goals.
And I'm sure, at least a few days that can bite me.

If I have one "wish" for 2014,
it's to keep on making memories.
 
To realize those extra special moments when they're happening and cherish the hell out of them...the ones that I know won't be around forever.  Those ones that make time slow down, but my heart race.



My brother sang this song at our wedding.  It's one of my favorites.

Making Memories Of Us - Keith Urban

Piper...day one to month 9

The three of us in 2013

 

I remember this day...December 26th.

Piper woke up in her red and green fleece jammies from Dee Dee.

She was in good spirits but congested.  The boogies were plentiful.

We took a trip to visit the doctor.

Pips got the prescription for lots of lovin'.

We came home and played with her new blocks, which now all have bite marks, thanks to ferocious Pippy.

I was really tired that night, and Steve saw Pretty Woman was on.  

He left it on.  He knows it's one of my favorites.

I don't remember getting this picture taken.  But I do remember the 9,433,783 times my friends and I have laughed at it.  When I posted it on Instagram, my friend, Kim, gave it the very appropriate and hilarious hashtag - #merryforehead

I mean, seriously, what is going on with my head?!  

Okay, I'm glad this photo follows...back to cute and non-terrifying babies.

The week (okay, weeks) after Christmas, our floor was a happy disaster of colorful toys and a baby who didn't know what to play with next.

Ah, look, Aunt Kim and Piper and their #merryforeheads

She loves to throw in her signature wave, even when she's snackin'!

A game of baseball with Daddy

Tormenting Twinkie - one of her favorite pastimes

I remember screeching when Steve came up to me with Piper, all wrapped up in a giant towel

after her bath.  She was so comfy and kept nuzzling her head into him.

Count Pippula...yogurt fangs

Dee Dee's Funhouse and Dee Dee's Kitchen 

were extra awesome that Sunday night.

My mom's Christmas cookies were a hit with Pips.

She chose my and Aunt Kelly's favorite...chocolate with white chocolate chips.

One more round of Piper Paper Party and some lunch 

My old Sesame Street ornaments from Dee Dee and a whole lot of sweets!

New Year's Eve, we woke up and started with a nice, big breakfast.

And lots of fabulous Pippy faces!

We took a trip to the grocery store to pick out some snacks for later that night.

Piper was very excited about what is now, her numero uno snack - lil' Crunchies

Garden Tomato and Mild Cheddar are her faves.

If you keep makin' that sweet face Pips, I may just have to give you the whole container!!

Aunt J, Uncle Ed, Aunt Jen and Uncle Sean were gonna be headin' over any minute.

DJ Pippy Pip practiced her songs while we waited.

Steve and I picked out this dress while we were Christmas shopping, when I was pregnant.  It felt pretty awesome to see Piper in it on New Year's Eve.

Her faces and waves...they don't need much practicin'!

"Wait, is that who I think it is?!  They're here!!"

Piper loves her Uncle Ed. 

I think Aunt J took this photo.  I'm in love with it!

lil' Crunchies weren't cuttin' it anymore.

There was spinach dip.  And Pips wanted in on it.

Note - Pips loves spinach dip.

"I ordered the lobster tail, caviar and shrimp cocktail an hour ago!!  Hurry it up!"

It was my favorite NYE ever, of course.

Pips hung out in her diaper, took Dolly P for a stroll

and then danced to Will.i.am before giving us early Happy New Year kisses.

After Pips went to bed, it was time for Aunt J's yummy cake pops,

a happy reunion of crazy photoshootin' with Uncle Ed (and the cake pops)

and games.

Happy 2014!  That's Piper sleeping on the tablet Aunt Jen's holding.

<3<3<3

We snuggled, played and hung out in our pajamas all morning, on the first of the new year.

Piper started truly crawling that week.  Daddy played "Chariots of Fire" on the xylophone while Pips headed down the hallway.

Deeds came over for dinner.  She brought gifts galore...not only was it New Year's Day, Piper turned nine months!

Trip to target with Mommy and Dee Dee

It's hard to pass up all their after-Christmas deals!

I remember it was a "light snow day"...we hung in all morning.  

Pips was full of pep...and then out of nowhere, she got a fever and started acting extremely tired.  I took her temperature and watched as the numbers kept climbing.  She had only had one fever before.

This time, it was 103.6.  I called Steve and the doctor immediately.  

This first time mama was all shook up.

I remember holding her so tightly in the doctor's office, she was on fire and such a lovebug.

Thankfully, it was "just" a bug.

And after lots of lovin', the next morning, (though she fought the fever on and off until the next day) she was back to her Pippy self.

#pippyvid

I remember ladies' night at Dee Dee's.  

              We shared pizza and lots of stories that caused hyena cackling.

She spotted Taco Bell.

I remember going to Kim's and meeting her gorgeous, daughter, Nellie.

She's so tiny and new. 

I love her.

Kim asked me to take some Nellie photos.

Who could resist this face?!

The love her big brother has for her brought tears to my eyes.

We celebrated Christmas the first weekend in January with Aunt Kelly, Uncle Kurt, the babes, Aunt J and Uncle Ed.  Seeing this munchkin, table of four made me smile.

Addison helped feed Pips.  Love the face, girlfriend!

Addison put on quite the entertaining show, as she danced and belted out "Part Of Your World"...Addison rocks!

I remember when it was time for presents!

Paper got torn and boxes got ripped open fast as lightening.  Gifts for Addison got open by Chloe.  Gifts for Piper got open by Daxon.  Gifts for Chloe almost got eaten by Piper.

It was magical.  

Daxon rocked this necklace!  Mr. D. pities the fool who isn't still  celebratin' Christmas in January.

We ended the night with dinner and

some cuddlin' and a movie.

I think we'll have to do Christmas in January more often!

Piper now giddily crawls into Dee Dee's Kitchen whenever she spots Dee Dee at the counter, hoping that Deeds is whippin' her up something tasty!

"Uh, yes, I'd like to order the Peach Puffs, banana and yogurt parfait...oh, yes, and the chocolate torte for dessert!"

These two...they're quite the pair!  I love getting texted pictures like this.

Snowed in and hangin' out

Diapies for Pipey

Strawberry teether awesome-ness

Aunt J left this incredible calendar at our door!

I cried and as we looked through "A Very Pippy Year"

There on Dee Dee's birthday, was a picture of Piper and Deeds...every birthday we celebrate had a photo of Pips with that special someone.

That Aunt J...she's somethin'!

She fought naps hardcore that week.

I would turn the monitor on and crack up at the fun Piper was having in her crib.  I came in to find her chub-a-licious tooties hanging out of the crib with her socks below them, on the floor.

Daddy had a dinner out.  

And we had a girls' night in.

Piper and Twinkie checked out the snow falling.

Watching her take in the snow was beyond precious.  She was mesmerized.

#pippyvid

We headed over to Aunt Kelly's.  That snow wasn't stoppin' us.
Aunt Kelly's lasagna was on the menu for lunch, and these babes gobbled it right up!

Dax was impressin' Pips!

We went to Aunt Lorrie and Uncle David's for dinner.

She sure got lots of lovin'!

She tried everything on the table.

And when her eyes met with the enormous plate of cookies, well...

#pippyvid

There's a naked baby on the dining room table!

#heartexploding

We visited Papa Bear...she makes him smile the biggest smile.  She blows him raspberries and shoots him her signature faces.  I'm so grateful for every time they get to see each other.

Leavin' a lil' somethin' for Uncle Nicholas at one of his gigs.

Bath time never gets old.

Either do lazy Sunday nights. 

Vampire Moofy wanted my ice cream

Story and snack time with Dee Dee <3

Peaceful, sleepy Nellie babe

At the library with Geeg for Music Dan

#pippyvid

Pickin' out some good reads

GiGi came over afterwards for our offical last Christmas celebration.

After chowin' down, Piper opened her presents.

There was a pretty stocking with her name embroidered on it, a crazy gingerbread man, an adorable, festive, hand -sewn bib...

GiGi gave Piper what may have been the contents of a small toy store.

Oh, Santa GiGi!! <3

 

Our sweet friend, Brittany, sent this soft and pretty scarf for Piper.  Her Nana made it and it means so much to us.  I smiled so big at the super cute pin that held it together.  It will keep Pips warm for years to come and always be special to us. <3

I bust out laughing whenever I see this picture.

She's like "Well!!!!  How do I look?!"

"Ohmygoodness, Daddy, I totally can't believe you just said that!!"

Her face.  Hysterical.

She loves my big jaw.

Hungry for foot

Mmmm.  Delicious!

Oh boy, do I remember this night.  I got tickets to see Michael Martin Murphey,

 for my mom and I for Christmas.  Michael Martin who?!

He's been around since before I was born...writes and sings Western "cowboy" songs.

He's my dad's favorite.  Oh, how we wished he could have joined us.

After getting lost a few handful of times (I was drivin') and landing in the creepy, dark, desolate parking lot of a place with a big, red light-up sign that said "Biggie's Breakfast"...we found our destination.  With just a little help from Steve.

We cheers-ed to not getting kidnapped and not getting chopped into little pieces for Biggie's Breakfast surprise and gobbled up our dinner.

All the mayhem was worth it.  We realized we had pretty great seats,

and MMM played for hours.  

They said no to pictures.  I said YES.

When they announced that Cowboy Triple M would be out to meet 'n greet after the concert, Deeds' and my eyes lit up!  

We somehow got second place in line.  I think it's because Dee Dee jumped the rope.  

MMM told us we looked like sisters rather than mother and daughter.  Dee Dee proposed and the wedding is next week.

  We're totally pinching his butt in this picture.

Kidding.  Not kidding.  Kidding.

Almost 70 looks good on him!

Michael, if you're reading, we love you.

I don't think we'll ever forget our ride home.  We were on a MMM high and well, after an hour of driving, I said to my mom, kinda snort-laughing - "I don't recognize any of this!"  It was past midnight.  It didn't take us long to realize we were far, far away from home...driving an hour in the completely wrong direction.  We passed a giant buck, a possum, a few dead animals and an elephant named Tony.

Again, I called Steve.  And after lots and lots of questions, he got us on the right track.

We got home an hour and half later.  I asked Deeds to come in for a game of Boggle, but sadly, she declined.

Her nine (and a half) month check up.  I'll include her stats in a future post.

She's growing great!!

She loves her CD player from Geeg.  She opens and closes it after I put a CD in.  She loves that it plays one of her favorites - The Itsy Bitsy Spider

Cousin Ashley came to visit.

We had pizza and gabbed all night.

Merpippys love pizza.

After a trip to Target one Friday night, we came home to a package on our doorstep.

It was a sweet, plush yellow coat with the most adorable hood and cute bear face on the front.  It was from one of Piper's boyfriends, Memphis, and his mama.  Memphis has the very same coat.

I cried and cried as I read the touching letter she included with the coat.

She's one strong and inspiring woman.

I commented how cute it would be to see Memphis and Pips together in their matching jackets.

And then his mama posted this picture on Instagram.

#heartexploding

Sushi date night in with Zesty

Aunt Kelly and I went to lunch and for pedicures.  She treated me for my birthday.  We love to celebrate our birthdays nice and late...always leaves us with another date to look forward to.

<3

Geeg and Deeds stopped in for a visit.

Visitin' Papa Bear

Did my daughter just call me a loser?!

Twinks didn't have a clue.

A trip to Ikea.

We found so many sweet treasures!

And storage bins!!  We so needed some storage bins for Pippy's toys.

She sits so still whenever I clip her nails.  She cracks me up, the way she stares and watches my every move.  Her nails grow like weeds.  Just the other day, she pinched Dee Dee's nose and gave her a nice scratch!

Strollin' Dolly and stoppin' to say hi to Twinkie

#pippyvid

Daddy was off!  Doughnuts for breakfast!

Steve laughs at my drawings of us.  I think they're the spitting image of us!

Another snow day...

She helped me organize her toys.

She loves standing in the tub!  Trouble!

Trouble!  The gate is up!

Daddy's home!

Morning lovins'

A new snack added to her favorites list.

Coco Pop Cakes (with hummus or guacamole)

We delivered a nice snowman brewski to Deeds after a snowy day.  

She deserved it after lots of shoveling!

Poncho Pippy

There were tons of posts on Facebook about "snow cream" and how awesome it was.  Everyone was doin' it.  We had to join.

Dee Dee took Piper outside (Hey!  Where's that baby's coat?!) and got a big bowl of the fluffy white stuff.  Piper loved it.  What doesn't Piper love when it comes to food.  Nothing so far.  Nothing!

Deeds made Piper her own lil' snowball.

#pippyvid

We met Kerry and Veronica at the mall.

We went straight to the play area.

Steer it, Pips!

And then, picked out some sorbet.  Piper chose the banana and mango.

MMM.  Mmmm. Mmmmmmm. was all we heard.

After doing a lil' shoppin', Piper and I headed to the elevator.  

Pips got called a he twice by the same woman.  

 Hello, lady!!!  Do you see the big flower headband, dress and floral girly coat?!

I was cracking up.  Pips flung a spoonful of mango sorbet at her.

Bearded Pips...on Daddy's shoulder

Oh, Uncle Jesse, you're so beautiful.  Even with a mullet.

Piper was so restless one night  Steve was ready for bed early and brought Piper in with him.

She slept with us all night.  And so well, too.  

I know I'm jinxing it, but she's been sleeping so much better lately.

More on that in a future post.

#heartexploding

She spotted Daddy's cheesy poofs.

So bad, but so good.

Crunchie head

Coffee run!

Double wavin' to Daddy

#pippyvid

A girls' night...We talked about newts, mice, maxi pads with wings...and we pretty much closed the place doing it.  It was a great night!

If I don't watch her like a hawk when she gets close to the kitty food, her hands are right in it.

The other day, she had a tiny pellet in her mouth.  I swooped it right out of her mouth and she locked down her chompers on my finger and cried. 

I bet if I let her, she'd eat a whole bowl of Purina!

These piggies...they could save the world.

Her feet look like tiny, inflated gloves.

I want to pop her toes off and put them in my cereal.

Playing, with a view of the snow.

Playing, making amazing faces.

The top-left photo makes me laugh so hard.  She smashes her hand in the computer on her music tables sometimes.  And then she either makes a face that says "Ouchhh!!!!" or cries.

It's hard not to crack up.  Because even though it must hurt her, she keeps on doing it.

I send random texts and emails to Aunt Jessica...little YCHTPs (You Can't Handle The Pippy)

This was probably the best so far.

She's nuts!

And so, so totally awesome.

She has a bunch of different giggles.

This may be my favorite.  She sounds like a happy, caffeinated chipmunk.

#pippyvid

Raspberries contest with Daddy.  I think Pips won.

#pippyvid

Lovins from Uncle Nicholas <3

Piper's first pigtails

Dee Dee's Kitchen never disappoints.

Visitin' Papa Bear

All her hard work was worth it.  She got a kiss from Twinks.

Cuddin' Nellie babe

Piper the swiper, couldn't stop stealin' Noah's Legos.

True story - we were at Aunt Kim's today, and when I came home, I went to feed Piper, and there was a teeny gray Lego in my bra!!!  Piper must have hid it for later.

Cowgirl ducky didn't stand a chance.

Mega side-eyein'!!

Fun with her friend, Dylan

and GiGi

at the library. <3

I wish I fit into these.  Deeds got these for Piper many months ago.  I'm so excited her piggies fit into them now.  They keep 'em nice 'n toasty!

I remember this happenin'...

No words needed for the next series of Piper/Twinkie photos...

"Hey!!   Come back here!!  I'm not through with you, Mr. Chibby!!!"

Fingerprints and slobber everywhere!

Steve and I celebrated our five year anniversary on the 28th.

Moonchie cooked us dinner and baked us a cake.

But she ate it all, so after she

went to bed, we made our first ever pizzas.

Great face there, Mister.

I gave Steve the most romantic card ever.  It was cat-tastic, lit up and played music and was almost ten bucks.  So worth it.  When he opened it, he busted out laughing uncontrollably.  He told me he had the same one in his hand for me the day before, but thought I'd get mad that it wasn't sentimental.
Um, what's more sentimental than two cats eating popcorn at a drive-in movie theater, watching Catsablanca??!!

They don't look pretty, but they tasted it.

4, I'd like 4 more bananas, please.

Just giggles
#pippyvid

I remember she fought her nap SO hard this day.
I was tired, but couldn't help but LOL at everything she was getting into in her crib.
Finally, a nice happy nappy took place.

Thoughtful, crazy Geeg stopped by with a great big treat later that night.

Pippy's Playhouse 

She has a ball with it!

Gettin' to see Dylan again!  Another treat!

An early Valentine <3

Tormentin' Twinks, yet again

#pippyvid

A sippy for Pippy

She got her first boo boo, after falling and brush burning her noggin on the carpet..

sweet face. <3

Look who Deeds found in her fridge!

Constant raspberries

And constant giggles with wacky Dee Dee

#pippyvid

 

If you made it to the end, you've just earned yourself a heart-shaped cake with red and pink sprinkles.

Happy Tuesday!

Mega Lovin',