Christmas 2012

Rose's Great Grandpa S. dresses up as St. Nicholas for his church, so of course Rose and Cousin Gavin had to pay him a visit.

Rose did much better with St. Nicholas than she did with Santa Claus, which is why she's with us in this picture.

It took Rose a little while to get the hang of opening presents, but once she did...

she absolutely loved it!

And of course she still loves reading with Daddy, especially when Elmo is involved.

The Wards, Berners, and Katricaks came over for Christmas dinner.  Here's Rose showing her new toys to Gavin.

Then it was time to eat.  Both little ones got to sit at the big kids table, but were a little impatient.  Gavin tried to start eating his chair.

After dinner, more presents!

Like aunt...

...like niece.

A birdfeeder!

Rose's First Birthday

Finally catching up....  We celebrated Rose's first birthday party the last weekend in October (her actual birthday was November 2).

The Katricaks have a birthday tradition where four things are laid out, then the baby picks one to determine what they'll be in life.  There's a silver dollar for wealth, a bible for religious life, a hammer for hard workers, and a shot glass for heavy drinkers.

Rose faked towards the bible...

and went for the shot glass.  We think this means she's going to be a hard-drinking nun.

Friend Ella was amused by the whole tradition.

Then it was time for cupcakes!  Rose wasn't quite sure how to attack her cupcake, so she ended up feeding some to Daddy.

Ally and Izzy showed Rose how it's done.

Sorry Cousin Gavin, you're still too little for cupcakes.

Present time!

The ribbon, of course, was Rose's favorite toy to play with.

After opening presents, Uncle Ken helped Rose model the Halloween costume Mamaw made for her.

Our little one is on the move!