Gwendolyn's Baptism in Sioux City

We baptized Gwen on the 28th of Dec. in Sioux City, IA. This is extra special to us because it was in the church I grew up in and she wore MY baptism dress from 27 years ago! Yes, it fit and had not fallen apart yet! Everyone in my family was there and a good amount of Jason's family trekked through the ice storm to make it to Sioux City for Gwenie as well. We had cake and coffee after church and then made our way to my parents house for lunch and presents for little Bean.

The ruffles on her butt are just too cute!



So happy it fit and looked good enough to wear...very special time for me and I hope maybe her daughter can wear it 27 yrs from now...wouldn't THAT be amazing!






Both sides of the family!



Sioux City side :)



Des Moines folk who made it through the ice!



Gwen's fist time trying cake icing! Needless to say, she loved it!





This one was a favorite of mine. Gwen with her grandma's...wow, she is floating there in between them, isn't she? hehe.



My dad ended up getting Gwen a fishing pole for his gift to her on her baptism. Adorable. It arrived about 2 days after we got home. It is in the closet right now and Gwen is sleeping at my feet so I will have to get up, get it out and take a pic of it later. I will post it then, but it was such a great gift because I used to go fishing with him when I was little. I am sure Gwen will get to as well :)

Here are the rest of the pics in the form of a slideshow, enjoy!

A few things about Gwen

Gwen's personality is changing more and more each day. As she gets older and more comfortable with people her personality is coming out. I just have to write these few things down because they are so quirky!

- To help herself fall asleep she likes to tickle/rub the backside of her pacifier with her one little finger
- Her favorite blankets are the ones that are knitted and have holes...why? Because she like to put her fingers through them. If she can't get her fingers through them, she doesn't really want that blanket!
- She is scooting around a lot now, starting to get that crawling forward rather than backward is going to get her farther...but when she is exhausted with crawling and scooting, she lays of her side and reaches back with her right hand and grabs the knee of her clothes and pulls up on them as if she is posing! Jason said it is like an old timey pin up pose!
- At daycare she sits in the tall swing that lets you sit straight up and she makes is swing faster than if it were on!
- When sitting in her bouncer she sits up and then falls back to get the bouncer bouncing...then continues to make it bounce fast by throwing her arms up and down with each bounce.
- She likes to pull the spoon to her mouth by herself.
- She is totally left handed...we swear. Almost anything she does with her hands she uses her left hand. We try and work both hands, but I swear she is left handed.

SPOON!

So we discovered that Gwen does NOT like to wait for her food. If she is not getting her next bite instantly, she grabs the spoon and shoves it in her mouth! Not quite SHOVES, but uses her dainty hands to pull the spoon into her mouth. It is just so cute!

Christmas Sioux City Style

We spent Christmas Eve in Des Moines and ended up driving late that night to Sioux City for Christmas Day. We arrived at my parents house at about 3 am Xmas morning. It was a better choice to drive at night than in the AM because Gwen slept straight through it. If it would have been in the morning, I think it would have been a lot harder to get going for all of us.



Santa found Gwen in Iowa! We were wondering how he would know where to put her gifts, but he knew...he knows everything about little boys and girls! That morning we opened Santa's gifts for Gwen.



Grandpa, look at this toy...it pops up when you push the buttons!




Grandma I love how this Polar Bear rocks back and forth, it's what I do!



The rest of the day was filled with laughs, hugs, good food, tearing presents open and something that no one really knew about Gwen...crying! Yes, she was having a bit of Mommy separation anxiety the whole time we were back in Iowa. We think it was because I had stopped breast feeding and she was not getting her mommy one on one time every day in the same way as before. She is much better now, but during Christmas, I don't think everyone was ready for it! They kept saying, "we don't see this on your blog!" HA! Really though, she is not a baby who cries much! Anyways, she was fine if you were. The people who picked her up and let her cry it out for a bit were the ones she seemed to be OK with after a bit. Towards the end of the 4 days in Sioux City she was really good with my parents which was a nice break for us! Jason and I even got to go on a date! We went to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Very good movie, long, but good.

There were 101 pics from the 4 days in SC. I put them all in this slideshow.



Here are a few of my favorites if you don't have time for the slide show!






Uncle Tom and my cousin Riley taught me how to make the "Indian chant" noise with my mouth. They would do it and then I would make noise and either my mom or one of them would use their hand or finger to make my noises sound like the Indian Chant. I LOVED IT!




Gwen's Xmas shirt said, "Who needs Santa when I have Grandma" SO TRUE about BOTH grandmas!








We ended up having to ship 2 big boxes back full of toys, clothes and fun gifts Gwen got which Aunt JJ helped ship back to us with some free shipping, hooray!

Also, my mom got us some "Baby's First Christmas" ornaments for our tree. They were from the Snowbabies Collection. These are something I collect. (google snowbabies if you don't know what they are) Actually, I really only "collect" cameras, clocks, wire art and snowbabies. I am pretty easy going when it comes to any of those items. Any other type of "collections" are not really for me. Anyways, my mom always buys me a Snowbabie for big occasions. Graduation, grad school, birth of Gwen, etc. Each one usually means something pretty significant and now we have some for Gwen! YAY!

Babies Galore!

I love going back and seeing all of our friends' kids, new and a little bit older. :) We miss them and wish we could be closer to them all. When Gwen meets the kids it is just so cute it makes me cry! She is so explorative with others and really really loves kids. Much more than older people, must be because they are on her level :) I had a ton of pics, but I picked a few of our favorites and posted them. I honestly think that Gwen being in daycare has helped her social skills with other kids out tremendously. Not so much with older people, but even that is 100% better now than when we went back for Xmas. Even daycare commented about how she was a lot more social now with the adult teachers the first week she got back to daycare. SO, hopefully by the next time we are back in Iowa Gwen will be great with both!

There are quite a few babies we could not and did not get to see during this short trip home and we feel bad about it, but the ones we did get to see really lit up our lives. It is so much fun to have friends around that are going through the same stuff as you, etc.

Ok, some babies....

Max Anderson...seriously, he is his fathers twin!




Already "copin' a feel" GEESH Max, we are going to have to watch you... :)





Julie, her mom Jan, her daughter Jaycie and her son Nathan came over to play one night in Sioux City. Nathan is playing superhero pool with Jason during this picture so he is not pictured!



Evan gave me a present, and then took it away, and then gave it back, and then took it away...hehe, he is learning to share right now and in the end, he came over and gave the gift to Gwen and myself for good and we all clapped :) He is going to be a big brother, too! Another baby for Gwenie to befriend!



Just had to get one more of those baby blues :)

The rest of the Des Moines Christmas

Well, we had 132 pictures of the Christmas in Des Moines so I picked some good ones for you to all enjoy! I will try and comment on most, but really they are all just her hanging out with the family and tearing presents apart! This first one is of course adorable with her bow in her "hair" as she was opening an amazing quilt from Jason's Aunt Beth that she made for Gwen. It has Raggedy Ann and Andy on it and is sooooo cute.


Uncle Gene! Wow, you have some hairy arms! I hope you like the stinkless farter undies mommy and daddy got you for a gag gift!


Great Grandpa Les!! You are a funny guy, I miss you!


Great Grandma Donna always makes me smile :)



My Uncle Shane. He is Brennan's daddy...see she is so cute!



I think the cold made my family extra goofy!



The kids and a few parents who only had to be in there to hold the kids! HA!




Look, I am eating food in the SAME highchair as DADDY did...just not as fat, HAHAHAHAH!


Uncle Tom and my cousin Stefanie...they were making funny noises at me :)


My FIRST bite of a sugar cookie....I LOVED IT!



My cousins Tyler and Alex...Alex still calls me Baby Bean and mommy and daddy love it!


Auntie Laurie and Auntie Amy cuddling with me...I can't wait for Amy's wedding in October!


Opening my presents at Grandma and Grandpa Carters house...I LOVED it and was spoiled beyond belief, hehe.



Grandpa Gene leading the photo shoot!





My daddy and me...he picked out this dress for me. Actually mommy says he "HAD to have it" the instant he saw it. It was a great choice dad, you are pretty cool!


Grandma Debbie, I love you!