What a Year!!!

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Christmas Day

Sydney and her grandmother "Gigi" (Lauren's Mom)

Sydney and her Aunt Sherri (we're hoping she got her curly red hair :) )

Sydney is pulling to stand on EVERYTHING these days :)

Hopefully she will like this house. On Christmas morning, all she wanted to play with were the little balls that drop down the side.

Good morning Sydney! LOOK! Santa came!

What a blessing this Christmas was! We were able to get up and spend Christmas (early- thanks to Syd) morning together as a family. We let Sydney explore all the toys Santa brought while we opened some presents. Mommy is VERY spoiled and got exactly what she wanted: an IPhone! Then we got ready and got to spend time with my Aunt Sherri and my 2 cousins Tyler and Britton, open lots of presents, and eat our fabulous Christmas brunch. Thank you to all of our friends and family for spending the holidays with us and helping us follow family traditions and start some new ones!

Christmas Eve

Part of the Elrod craziness :)
Sydney trying to help her cousin Nick with his truck

Sydney and her great-grandmother "Nanny" (we're hoping she got her beautiful blue eyes)

Sydney trying to help her cousin Drake play his gameboy advanced

I didn't think she would understand to tear the paper off, but she got the hang of it pretty quickly!

These are a fancy appetizer that our cousin Lauren made- olives, carrots and cream cheese into penguins :).

We had a great Christmas week, starting with dinner with my dad and step mom in Lonoke on Saturday, but I forgot my camera and I'll have to harass Dad to email the pictures he captured. Christmas Eve we spent the day in Heber Springs with all of Brent's Mom's side of the family. Sydney had a great day, so much so that she would not nap because I think she was afraid she would miss something! I know one thing, Nanny can COOK and we had a feast of food. Then we drove home, got Sydney in her Christmas PJs, and ate another great meal at my mom's house. We finally got Princess tucked into her own bed and we let Santa work his magic in the den.

Merry Christmas 2007

We are wishing you all a very happy and healthy holiday season, complete with time to spend with all your loved ones and to reflect on the best Christmas present ever- Jesus.

Moments I want to remember!

2 nights ago my mom and I were running to Best Buy and as I was walking out the door I heard Brent and Sydney in the den. I snuck back in to grab a picture of this precious moment.
Since today was the first day of my Christmas break, Sydney and I had a big day of fun: eat, play, shop, repeat. She literally fell asleep at the dinner table after her bottle and all I could do was get PJs on her and tuck her in bed- at 5:30!!! We'll see what time she wakes up in the morning!

Santa Baby!

Santa and Mrs. Klaus (AKA Jackie and Vicki Lackie) have started a tradition of going around to several houses and playing Santa. Unfortunately, they arrived right around bedtime and Sydney was NOT in the mood for a photo shoot. She calmed down after I found a pacifier and sat down with her, and then we got the brilliant idea to pose with the grandparents too.

I love how the adults are just pretending like Sydney isn't screaming her head off in this one.

This afternoon Aunt Erin came over the play and take us to Target.
And this is Sydney's pretty dress from Ms. Glenda!

One of the biggest blessings I am thankful for this holiday season is having a healthy, happy and well-adjusted child (most of the time- please see pictures with Santa:) ). Anyway, I am SO HAPPY with Sydney's infant center and her teachers at school. Her "Ms. Glenda" mentioned one day that she saw a dress that would be so pretty on Sydney and the next day I walked in and she handed me a present. She BOUGHT Sydney a dress! Isn't that SO thoughtful!?!? She modeled her pretty dress for our Christmas service at church today, but was more interested in playing than sitting still for a photo session after church.

Jonas' Awesome B-Day Party

The Birthday Twins
The Birthday Boy during one of the games
Our March babies: Reese, Jackson and Sydney
Or: Jackson and his Girls

Well, the LAST thing I would want to do is rain on the Lozada's blog party details, so I will just include a few pictures of Jonas' really fun birthday party. It was a Gymboree, and Sydney and I (and the rest of the crowd) had a great time. I'm thinking that a March party there for Sydney will be just the ticket...

Before I was a mom

Before I was a Mom I never learned the words to a lullaby.

I never thought about immunizations.

Before I was a Mom - I had never been puked on.

Pooped on.

Drooled on.

Chewed on.

Peed on.

I had complete control of my mind and my thoughts.

I slept all night.

I never looked into teary eyes and cried.

I never got gloriously happy over a simple little grin.

I never sat up for hours watching a baby sleep.

I never felt my heart break into a million pieces when I couldn't stop the hurt.

I never knew that something so small could affect my life so much.

I never knew that I could love someone so much.

I never knew I would love being a Mom.

Before I was a Mom - I didn't know the feeling of having my heart outside my body.

I didn't know that bond between a mother and her child.

I didn't know that something so small could make me feel so important and happy.

I had never known the warmth, The joy, The love, The heartache, The wonderment or the satisfaction of being a Mom.

I didn't know I was capable of feeling so much before I was a Mom.

This is a really cool Harley Davidson hat that my dad and Doris got for Sydney when they went to Sturgis last spring. We went on a little wagon ride and she got to sport it.
And since she wasn't feeling good, I let her play with one of the toys Santa has hidden in the guest bedroom. It is the Fisher Price Sing-Along-Stage. As you can tell, she LOVES it and started laughing, clapping, banging on the mirror and musical pieces and kissing herself in the mirror. Oh Lord, a Drama Queen already.
One of her favorite games is to wave at and try to kiss that cute baby that shows up in the mirror where ever we go.

Waving "Hi" to Mommy before dinner

Sydney has another ear infection! Yikes! I am trying to stay calm and not stress over her language development (because ear infections are a major red flag for articulation and language delays people). Good thing her Mommy is a "Red Headed Speechie" :) Anyway, even though I know she must not feel very good she was still fun to hang with all day.

"Myrtle" at Breakfast with Santa

Sydney meet Santa- Santa meet Sydney.

Sydney with her friends Karoline, Dayle, Mika and Aunt Erin

These 2 pictures best capture "Myrtle"

I don't think Sydney is ready to babysit just yet. I do think she thought Karoline was just a prop for her close up.

We had a great time at Breakfast with Santa, benefiting Children's Hospital. One of Sydney's, uh, personalities? is who her Daddy and I call "Myrtle". She sucks in her lips and looks like a little old lady with no teeth and tries to smile. She did it a lot over Thanksgiving but for some reason she kept making that face this morning. She sat really still in Santa's lap and just looked at him for the longest time. Dayle and I had the great idea of having Sydney "hold" Karoline for a cute picture. I guess we forgot that Sydney is just 8 months old and not quite ready to hold a real baby. Thanks Erin for all the hard work the foundation put into making it a great event for the kids! And yummy pancakes for the Mommies :).