Lorelei's Great Grandma Searcy (GG-ma) came out from Kansas City for Kyle's graduation from the police academy in late September. Lorelei only took a little bit to warm back up to GG-ma after not seeing her for three months. The two of them became buddies and Lorelei loved reading with her! Hope to see her again soon!
Photos from GG-ma's visit:
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| Great Grandma Searcy's late september visit 07 |
We are so excited! Lorelei's Uncle Kyle (Dana's brother) is now an official member of Lodi's Police Department! After over 3 years as a "cadet" with the department, countless hours of volunteering, hundreds of hours of ride-alongs and an intensive 9-month police academy, he was sworn in to the department this past Tuesday morning by the city judge, mayor and Chief of Police. Great job Kyle! We are so proud of you!
Here are a few photos:
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| Uncle Kyle being sworn in |
Well, Lorelei is now "1"! Wow! It is hard to believe that a year has gone by. We are having so much fun! I took some cute photos of her out on our lawn on her Birthday and you can see them below. On her Birthday night we headed over to Grandma and Grandpa Barrow's house to see Great Grandma Barrow (Granny) and Great Grandpa Barrow (Poppy) who just moved into town from Mesa, Az. She had her first taste of ice cream and loved it. She also left her birthday hat on her head! She really LOVED the attention of the singing and cameras! A week later, we celebrated a co-first-birthday-party with her cousin Ethan who was born 12 days after her. Ethan's parents, Amanda and Robert Elrod (Matt's sister and Brother-in-law) hosted it at their home in their beautiful new back yard. Even though Lorelei was getting over a week of being sick and had a bad rash, I think she enjoyed her party. She even had her first taste of cheese-cake! (Grandma Baker decorated them!) We were lucky to have so many family members present from near and far and Lorelei's Godparents, Christina and Mando Moreno and their boys helped us celebrate as well! What a wonderful time!
Here are some photos from Lorele's Birthday:
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| Lorelei's first birthday |
What a fun time this is! Lorelei is talking more and more each day and has taken her first steps. She still LOVES the dogs and is a huge book lover like her Daddy. She loves playing with her piano and especially the big one at Grandma and Grandpa Barrow's house where Grandpa lets her walk on the keys and play it with her feet! She is a real cuddle bug and is very attached to a certain pink blankie. She is getting more and more hair but it seems to be coming in mostly in the back! Lorelei sleeps SO WELL! Usually from 8pm to 7:30am! WOW. She naps like a champ too. We really cannot complain. Eating is always a bit of a challenge because she never wants to slow down to eat! She loves refried beans, chicken noodle soup, peas, yogurt, cheerios, and popsicles to name a few favorites. She quite liberal with her kisses and loves to point out people's toes. What a sweet baby we have!
Here are a few photos from this month:
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| Lorelei 11 months |
On August 19th, Christina Moreno threw a baby shower for her sister (and my good friend) Tricia. I hosted it at my house! We all had a blast! Tricia is due on October 15th and is keeping the sex of her baby a surprise! She made out with some great baby-supplies and is so excited! Estrogen was truly dripping from the walls at this gathering and Matt was happy to get out of the house and take Lorelei for the day! The running joke was that there must have been a dress-code since over half of the ladies in attendance were wearing black and white print...including Chrissy, me and Trish! We are so excited to meet baby Robertson!
See photos here:
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| Trish shower |
Over the weekend of August 10th-12th the three of us made our way up to Reno, Nevada for "Hot August Nights" (a fun car show with parades and festivities). We went with our good friends Brandon and Laurie Harbin and their adorable little 4 month old baby boy, Brenden. We all stayed at "The Nugget" casino in Sparks, NV and shared a hotel room! Our room was busting at the seems: 4 adults, 2 babies, 2 pack 'n plays, 2 strollers, baby food, bottles, baby bath tubs, coolers full of refreshments and a partridge in a pear tree! What a great weekend. The babies did wonderfully together and Lorelei LOVED the loud cars. She waved at all of the drivers in the parade! She also took her first steps while we were there. So much fun and we're going again next year!
See photos from our weekend here:
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| Reno |
On the evening of August 6th (Grandpa Barrow's Birthday), Matt, Lorelei and I as well as Kyle and Aimee surprised my Dad out at the Lake as he and my Mom were getting ready for a kayaking excursion. He had been blindfolded on the way and had no idea of the plans for the evening. He just assumed they were renting kayaks, but my Mom had something better in mind. As we all watched them get into their kayaks my Mom asked him if he liked the one he was in and then told him "you better like these because they are yours!" Just at that moment, the guide shoved his kayak off into the water and he was left speechless! So fun. We took advantage of the beautiful sunset and captured some fun photos of us with Lorelei. Happy 54th Birthday Grandpa Barrow!
View the photos here:
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| Lola at Lodi Lake for Gpas bday |
The Baker side of the family spent a great day at Eileen and John Hofstadt's home in Brentwood, CA (no, not in southern CA...in the delta region) on Saturday August 4th. Eileen is an old friend of Loretta's (Matt's Mom). We had a blast in thier beautiful backyard and the babies LOVED the pool which had a wading area and hot tub that was cool enough for them to enjoy! It was a wonderful time of great company and fabulous food: ribs, corn on the cob, watermelon and hand cranked ice cream to name a few! Oh yeah, Lorelei learned to clap in the car on the way there!
Here are some photos from the day:
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| Bakers at the Hofstadt home, Aug 4 |
Matt and I escaped up to North Shore Tahoe over our second anniversary weekend...just the two of us! Lorelei stayed with Grandpa and Grandma Baker and did wonderfully. Meanwhile, Mommy and Daddy enjoyed some freedom that included sleeping in, uninterrupted dinners and a few drinks too! We had a blast visiting our favorite "haunts" in Kings Beach and we had some fun on the beach too. We even took a "tunnel" tour under Cal Neva casino. It was a wonderful weekend. We missed Lorelei but it was nice to have some time together...just the two of us.
Here are some photos:
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| Tahoe anniversar |
Well, Lorelei is now 11 months old! It is so hard to believe. A lot has happened in the last month...she has learned to say more words and her vocabulary now includes: mama, daddy, ball, dog, baxter, bay(Bailey), hi, uh-oh, yeah and she imitates "ouch" when we say it. She also can answer the question "what does a ____ say?" with either "woof" or "meow" appropriately! She has imitated my "vroom" sound when I roll a matchbox car! She has quite a bit of receptive language now too. When asked if she wants to "row her boat" she sits in front of us and outsretches her hands ready to row! She also brings us books when we ask her to! She can point out our nose when asked and responds with "yeah" when told no! Oh my. What fun she is! And she is SO close to walking. She often stands alone while holding a toy and cruises the furniture so fast! She did a 360 degree pirouette unsupported in front of Daddy the other day. She loves to play chase games and craws at warp-speed when you say "I'm gonna get you!". Lorelei also loves to pretend to feed Mommy during her meals. She is still a wonderful sleeper (12 hours at night and two 2 hour naps during the day! She is about 17.5 lbs and growing fast! She now has 8 teeth (4 top, 4 bottom) and likes to grind them which drives us nuts! Swimming is a favorite pass-time as is time spent in the evenings on a blanket on the lawn with Mommy and Daddy. The dogs are still her number one form of entertainment. Lorelei also had her first sleep-over weekend at Grandma and Grandpa Bakers for Mommy and Daddy's anniversay weekend in Tahoe. It was a success all around! All in all, Lorelei is a total HAM and a very happy, busy baby and we are tired but never tired of her! Love to you all!
View photos from this past month here:
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| Lorelei 11 months old |
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| Lola 10 months |