Casa Alegre in October

Another beautiful and relaxing trip to Casa Alegre! It never gets old seeing THIS view!

THURSDAY

Ember was eager to get to the beach....

... but she had to eat a good breakfast first

But once we got down to the beach, she was a little scared of the loud, moving water! Daddy comforted her! But she eventually warmed up to it and crawled around all over with her butt in the air like a little stink bug!

Maci tried on Ember's hat - she was obviously thrilled

And Mima got to cuddle and warm Ember up after the post ocean shower! Mima is SO funny!

And Dustin and I finished the day off with a quad ride down to the estuary.

FRIDAY

Started the morning off by working on her walking skills

Spent the afternoon playing at the beach with Maci

And we got some cool silhouette pictures at sunset time

Dustin tried to get the telescope to work so we could look at the strange bright lights/stars we saw in the sky on previous nights! (He was REALLY excited! :)

SATURDAY

Waiting patiently for Uncle Ryan, Aunt Molly, and Cousin Kiley and Corbin to come!!

They came! Let the beach playing fun begin!

And Maci decided that she wanted to start digging wholes in between running in circles around everyone!

Then, Ember played with the kite box and kite tail to cool off some

SUNDAY

Dustin, Ryan, and Kiley went on a kayaking fishing adventure! Here the brothers are ready to go!

They got one!!

MONDAY

Playing in the ocean! Trying to stand on the boogie board. Then Kiley jumped on my back and Dustin tried to pick us both up while standing on the boogie board! We did accomplish it but the onlookers said it looked like we were trying to drown Dustin... oops!

Ember doing her two favorite things on the beach:

1) Trying to walk

2) Eating sand

Some sunset family pictures!

And a gorgeous sunset it was!

And the moon decided to peak out too! 

We LOVE this place and can't wait to spend Thanksgiving there next month!

Yum Yum Yum

I decided to get adventurous and make my very 1st real cheesecake - not a no-bake one out of a box. And instead of just trying a plain and simple one I decided to make a Pumpkin Pecan Cheesecake with Gingerbread Crust! It was actually fairly easy and it turned out SOOO good! (I only made a 6 in one). So, of course, I had to take some pictures! :)

11 Months Old

It has been another big month for our little girl! She has gotten better and better at standing on her own and now can stand for 10+ seconds easily! At the beginning of the month, we introduced her to finger foods and she LOVES taking control and getting to eat by herself like a big girl. She started off with things she has already eaten like banana pieces, pears, and puffs but we quickly started introducing her to new foods as well. Ember has now had turkey and chicken, dairy such as yogurt and string cheese, honeydew, wheat such as sprouted grain bread, English muffins, and tortillas, blueberries, and black beans. She still breastfeeds and eats pureed foods at each meal to make sure she gets enough food. She loves her meat (like her daddy) and her cheese (just like her mommy). She is getting better and better with the sippy cup but still plays with it more than drinks from it. Ember has officially said her first word - "uh oh" and continues to say it over and over again! She has also learned how to give a high five and make a fishy face this month. We got exciting news from the Brucks family that baby Brucks #2 will be a little girl and we are all so excited for another cousin to arrive! Ember's second tooth popped through - her bottom right one. It is fun to hear her put those little teeth to good use crunching her puffs at meal time. She learned how to spin around in a circle while sitting down, how to climb a FULL flight of stairs, and how to climb all the way up onto her diaper box. The biggest new thing this month was Ember taking her first steps! One night when we were hanging out and playing as a family, we looked over to watch her take four steps in a row. After that she learned how to stand up without pulling up on anything and got that skill down to an art but still only takes between 1-4 steps at a time. It is so fun to watch her concentrate so hard to wobbly pick up and move those little feet. I am sure it will click soon for her and she will be walking everywhere in no time. Ember did finally graduate out of Size 2 diapers and moved on to Size 3 Pamper's Cruisers diapers. Just further proof that she is growing up and getting bigger. I am still in awe that in 1 month, our little 6lb 8oz helpless newborn baby girl will be a walking, talking, laughing and smiling 1 year old!