Two, ladies and gents

She's still a dainty little thing. She's hovered around 20 lbs since she was nine months old. She's getting taller though, and sometimes I don't know who it is I'm staring at when I see her long, toddler-sized body sprawled out in her crib. Every now and again, we get little glimpses of that "two" 'tude. And we've seen a few mini tantrums. But for the most part, she really is an easy-going, happy girl.

Scout's language has really taken off over the past month or so. Still working on putting words together, but it's just so fun to hear her mimic words. Some are crystal clear and some sound nothing like the word she intended, but she's improving every day. My favorite is when she says words "inside out", like "Pooker" for Cooper, "rossi" for sorry, etc.

She's always been very generous with"Please", "Thank You", and "I yoouu" (I love you).

Happy birthday baby girl

Dear Scout, 

You've added "Dadda" to your vernacular. You still get giddy when Mom or Dad enter the room. You're still very generous with your kisses, and you've started making kissy sounds/fishy faces when we're at a distance. Whenever you hear the word "yay" or hear anyone clap (including people on TV), you immediately get excited and join in the applause. You've started nodding your head yes and shaking no. "No" is adorable because you sometimes throw in a cute little finger wag, but "Yes" is our favorite because it requires more effort and you can't nod without raising and lowering your eyebrows at the same time. You're not a snuggler, but sometimes when I'm holding you and a stranger approaches, you get sheepish and nuzzle your face into my neck which I secretly love. You're not quite walking on your own yet, but you get around pretty well with support. It's impressive to watch you walk around furniture because you're always on your tippiest of tippy toes. Every second I turn my back, you're racing up the stairs. You've started to get a little sass, and you're more clingy. Very recently, you tend to get a little fussy if you're not in my arms. You're not licking as much anymore, but you still put everything in your mouth. We can't put you down in the grass without finding a leaf, a twig, or a handful of grass in your mouth within seconds. When you hear upbeat music, you get a big smile and start to bounce on your bum. Your dad sneaks into your room almost every night and snaps a cell picture of you while you're sleeping because he doesn't get to see nearly enough of you during the day and you're just so sweet and peaceful.

We just adore you and every single thing about you. My heart hurts a little that you're no longer my little baby and suddenly a toddler, but it's also so fun to see your little personality develop. 

We just can't wait to see where your those sweet baby toes go.

Scout was very dainty and controlled with her "Cake Smash". Part of me wanted her to dive in face first and part of me was relieved that she wasn't really interested. (By the way, that big chunk that's missing from the cake? That was Dad.)

My first two-layer cake! :) Not perfect, but I was still pretty proud of myself

Taking a moment of reverent silence for the twelve months passed.

Ladies Lunch

Soon to be tradition. My sister & sister-in-law both have birthdays early in the year so we'll see if we can make this an annual tradition - Ladies lunch out. So far, we've done Olive Garden both times - mostly because our husbands never let us eat there, but maybe next year we'll mix it up and eat somewhere equally girly. Sometimes you just need that quality girl time.

Missing: sis-in-law Robbie. The poor thing is stuck in Hawaii for the next few months. :)
Scout was with us too (to my right), but she got cut out of the picture. :(

The birthday girls!
(this photo and the one below are from our 2011 lunch...apparently, we dropped the ball in 2012))

Mom, me, Robbie (sis-in-law), Tiffany (sis-in-law), Amanda (sister) & Sheri (sis-in-law)

She's here!

Scout was born Oct 27, 2012 at 8:06 a.m. The C-Section was initially scheduled for November 5, but Brooke was having difficulty breathing on Friday night so she and her mom decided it was time to go to the hospital. They soon discovered that Brooke had Pre-eclampsia so her doctor decided to move forward with an emergency C-section. (Brooke was just short of 38 weeks.)

Scout was absolutely beautiful from the moment she entered the world, and everyone fell in love with her immediately! She was a tiny little thing, just 6 pounds and 18 inches long. She was born in relatively good health, but she was anemic and on oxygen. Fortunately, her health improved quickly, and now she's healthy and doing amazing!

She has sweet little fingers and toes and ...

big, beautiful eyes

Eric, Cassandra, Scout & Brooke

Birthday Boating

My brother Ty, and his now 1 y/o daughter Ella decided they wanted to celebrate their birthdays together with family on the lake. And we didn't complain.

 Ella's first time tubing! This was a day before her first birthday! She was a real champ. Didn't cry once! 

Brother Ty. He's the pro.

My first time wake SURFING. You can tell I look a little unnatural, but I had so much fun.

Brother Jason

Sweet Ella with a sunny mohawk

What do you think? Is Mom enjoying herself?

-- Outakes Below :) --

Spoiled

I definitely was spoiled this year for my 30th. Eric was sweet and left me 30(!) very thoughtful notes leading up to my birthday.

Day 27

Then, he surprised me with a Nikon DSLR camera which I've been lusting after for a while now. I knew we couldn't afford the D90 ($1000+), but he looked long and hard to find me this reasonable used D70 on EBay (for only a little more than we spent on our point-and-shoot)

Nikon D70

Here are a few photos that I've taken so far. (Keep in mind, I'm pretty clueless about DSLRs at this point so, hopefully, I'll get better)

Nephew Cooper & sis-in-law Sheri @ Braden's football game

Love that sky.

Jason posing at Tucano's Brazilian Grill. He and Eric kidnapped me for a birthday lunch and suprised me with the camera. (This is the very first shot taken.)

And thanks to all of the friends and family who sent cards and notes! Thanks to all of you, turning 30 was much less painful than anticipated.

Easter Surprise

Family traditions are a funny thing, but we don't always realize how funny they are until someone new comes along and challenges them. The Honn tradition for Easter dinner is "Eggs Ala Goldenrod" (which some refer to as "poop on a shingle" or a new one I heard yesterday from our lovely pseudo relative Becky, "wet fart"). Regardless of it's mean names, the Honns have grown rather fond of this strange little dish. Unfortunately, we can't say the same for some of the in-laws (Ahem, Eric).

Eggs Ala Goldenrod

Instead of my typical bunny cake, I decide to make these little Easter/Spring Cupcakes.

Now comes the "surprise" part. After dinner, Sheri (sis-in-law) decided she wanted to try on my niece's fancy prom dress (see photo of Cami wearing the dress below)...

...so the 3 of us went upstairs so she could model it for us. And for some reason, they kept insisting that I try it on as well. Thank goodness I said no! When we all came out of the room, with Sheri all dressed up & nowhere to go, the rest of the family was waiting for us downstairs...with a huge mound of birthday gifts in the middle of the room (numbered 1-30). Evidently, the whole prom dress thing was a decoy so they could set up the surprise. Plus they wanted to see if they could really embarrass me by making ME try on the dress and then open all of my presents as a birthday prom princess. Even without the dress, I was still a little embarrassed, but I definitely felt the love.

Here's all of the loot (mixed in with some of Eric's Easter treats). There were 30 gifts in honor of my 30th year...and some of them actually came in 30s (30 sticks of gum, 30 pens, 30 easter eggs, 30 squares of toilet paper, etc.)

I loved this. On the back, it reads: By the way, this took me THIRTY minutes to make. From my clever 11 y/o niece Faith.

And, finally, my lovely succulents from my mama.