Lexi's 2nd Birthday Party!

Well, Lexi is not quite 2 yet (not until the 22nd) but we did have her first birthday party for her friends. Last year we just celebrated with family, so we decided to let her have some fun at a party with kids her own age (and some a little older). She was super excited when mommy busted out the Cookie Monster cake and also when she saw the Dora balloon we got for her. Chloe and her mom (from next door), Veronica and Alexander with their mom and dad (mommy's friends from college), & Adam and Alexis with their mom (from mommy's work) all came to celebrate with us! A few people couldn't make it, but we still had a great time. Banky was on his best behavior. We all ate pizza, hot dogs and mac-n-cheese and then dug in to the cake. Lexi ate her whole piece, and then asked for another! She got lots of cool gifts, too. A HUGE coloring book with a purse and another coloring book from Chloe, a Disney Princess book with a little movie projector from Adam and Alexis, a neat Sesame Street computer program from Roni and Xander, and a Count von Count doll from mommy and daddy. We played in the basement and had lots of fun, but missed those who couldn't come. I am sure there will be more pictures and stories in a few weeks after we celebrate with family, but until then check out the Kodak site to enjoy more pictures from this party.

Big-Girl Bed Success!

November 1st was Lexi's first night in her Big-Girl Bed (and her nice purple bedroom). I was fully expecting her to end up back in the crib after a half hour or so but to my amazement, she stayed in her new bed ALL NIGHT LONG! Granted, she wasn't alone - Elmo, yellow teddy and Grover were there with her all night - but she did make it through until 7:30 am (which would have been 8:30 had the time not changed)! Mommy made sure to have her Elmo blanket and her bink and diadey and also to turn on her night light. She didn't even have her radio playing like she normally does in her crib. Banky was a little concerned at first and only stopped barking when he discovered it was Lexi in the bed and not some stranger. He also thought he had to jump up on her bed to make sure she was ok. Matt and I turned the baby monitor on extra loud all night, just in case she woke up and needed us, but not a peep was heard all night long! After a successful night, we decided to try Sunday's afternoon nap. The nap was also successful - YAY! We may have just made the transition to her new bedroom in just one day... we will see what the next couple nights bring. If only potty training were this easy!

Butterfly!

Another Halloween has come and gone and Lexi was the most beautiful butterfly I have ever seen! Of course I am not partial because she is my child, but just look at her! The padding in the costume made her little butt plump out and it was just sooo cute. She wasn't all about trick-or-treating this year, so we just hung out in the drive-way and passed out candy to all the ghouls and goblins that came around our house. It was actually a nice evening and we handed out a lot of candy (and even a few doggie treats to the poochies next door). I am sure by next year she will want to tottle down the street and see how much candy she can collect, but for this year I am glad she was satisfied to just pass out candy to others.

Lexi's 1st Jack-O-Lantern!

It is that time of year again. Last year, with Lexi not yet one, we decided to skip the pumpkin carving and wait until she could appreciate it more. Well, this year she was definitely into it! Mommy went to Wal-Mart and got a nice-sized pumpkin. Then daddy went to work first by cutting off the top and scooping out the insides, then by drawing and cutting out a wonderful face on our friend the pumpkin. Lexi loved putting her hands in the goopy pumpkin guts and was SO excited when daddy was done with the face. We couldn't put Mr. Pumpkin outside right away, he had to stay in on the kitchen counter for at least the first night (mommy snuck him out first thing in the morning). We did manage to get a few cute poses of Lexi with her Pumpkin friend. She even had to give him a big kiss! Enjoy!

Who Would Have Thought??

Who would have thought that Shelby and I have the same brain waves going on?? Shelby and Jeff are good friends of mine and Matt, Lexi and I went over to their house last night for a cook-out. As I walked in the door and saw what Ava (their little girl) was wearing, I laughed out loud! She was in the identical outfit that I had put on Lexi!! Needless to say we all then had a laugh. After enjoying a great meal, we migrated down to their basement where the two girls colored and enjoyed a snack of teddy grahams. We always have a great time when we get together with Jeff, Shelby and Ava. Hopefully we can do it again soon!

What a Difference a Year Makes!

So, I was clicking through pictures of the last year of our lives and ran across these pictures of Lexi (with Grandma Chris) a year ago at the Smithville Smithies Football game. OH MY GOODNESS!!! Look at the difference in our little girl! She is growing up so fast right before our eyes. I know I just posted the blog about the football game, but I had to put these two pictures up side-by-side just so everyone could see just how much she is changing. By the way, she is wearing the SAME shirt in both pictures. The hat unfortunately no longer fits her growing head, but that is ok. She probably wouldn't leave it on now anyway. Probably by next year, the shirt (and hat) will be passed down to the next little Smithie we have joining the family.

Go Smithies!

Lexi attended her second ever Smithville Smithies football game on friday night. She amazingly could still fit into the shirt G.G. Eileen made for her last year. We went to the game with Grandma Chris, Great Uncle Mike, and Aunt Julie. The Smithies unfortunately didn't pull off the win, but we still had a good time (and our first bag of M&M's). It was Homecoming, so we even got to see a parade! The highlight of the night was after the game when PawPaw Chuck came off the field with the team and took Lexi in his arms. She immediately screamed for PawPaw and wanted to play (even though it was 10PM!) We probably won't make it to another game this year, but there is always next year.