Black Friday

Today instead of battling our way through retail stores not sure what we want or need we helped our friends decorate our church. It was a beautiful afternoon so we headed out to put together Christmas trees and garland. Stella had a blast and Jenna did such a great job entertaining her while we worked.
Stella was showing Jenna her baby. It was so fun for me to watch them play together. Jenna was Tom and I's flower girl almost 5 years ago---it's crazy that she was playing with MY daughter. Time flies!
Here's Tom at work --- testing the lights.

So now that I helped at the church I can't put my own decorations off any longer. We're breaking them out tomorrow and Tom is putting lights on our house. I'm very excited. I love this time of year---so many memories, traditions, and time with friends and family...doesn't get any better!

Turkey Day

Now that I'm posting pictures from Thanksgiving I realize I did not take enough pictures. We had an AMAZING meal. I think I'm still full, but I'm sad I didn't get a picture of the spread or of the entire family. I guess it's a little harder now the Stella is mobile and always on the go...but here are a few for a great day at Grammie and Papas.
This is the horse Tom rode when he was little and Papa put it back together and repainted the bottom so Stella could enjoy it...and boy did she. At first she was a bit hesitant but throughout the day she jumped right back on and loved it. Thanks Papa.

"I can do it on my own mama!"
Below this is Stella as she was finishing up eating and by the look on her face you can tell she's a bit frustrated...she wanted MORE turkey!
And when Stella wasn't eating or riding the horse..she was chasing Oakie! He is so great with her, but he needed a break.

I have so much to be thankful for I don't know where to begin. But like everyday I share with Stella I'm in awe of her...I couldn't be more thankful for the little miss independent and all she teaches me each day. To see the world through her little eyes is such a wonder. I love you Stella and thanks for being you...I'm so honored to be your mommy!

14 Months!

Is my BABY really already 14 months? CRAZY!!!
Of course I took pictures of her today but my camera is not loading right so I'll do with and show you her 1 year old pictures instead...which I've been meaning to do anyway. These are just a few...I will post more soon. Thank you Adam Harbottle for these amazing pics...check out his website. He is very talented and we plan on using him again SOON!




OOOOO...I love this little girl so much I'm bursting at the seams. Thank you Lord for blessing us with such this sweet pea!
Well, life at the Yazwinski household has been crazy lately...ALL because of Miss Stella.
She is on the go and doesn't want to stop at all.

What Stella's been up to..

She is still sleeping 11-13 hours at night and goes down like a champ, but nap time is questionable. We usually take her on a walk or arrange errands in the car so she will fall asleep and we can transport her to the crib...then she takes a 1-3 hour nap.

Stella is eating GREAT. She loves food and doesn't refuse anything. She has this new thing that if it's getting close to a meal time and she's hungry she goes and stands by her high chair. If she wants a snack she stands by the pantry where I keep the cheerios.

She loves to read books and have us read them to her...I mean LOVES it! She is also a HUGE fan of Little People. And just over the last couple days she has become attached to one of her baby dolls. Yesterday she was carrying it around and patting it on the back and saying shhhh...that's what I do with her if she's sick...too cute.

She is VERY attached to her bunny...so much so that we purchased a backup. Bunny goes everywhere with her.

And this girl is a talker...some of her words include:
bunny (of course), mama, dadda, papa, gaga (for grandma just recently), kitty, ball, baby (more like bahba), dog (she says cog), duck, balloon, fish (more just ish), uh oh, all done (she says that at the end of every book and when she means thank you:)), big bird, cockadoodledo, bear, bye bye, hi, bug, belly---I know there are more but can't think of them.

I mentioned she says big bird, well, just this week she started watching Sesame Street and loves it and at first I thought Elmo was her favorite...I WAS WRONG. That was until Big Bird played a major role in a more recent episode...she just kept looking at him then me then him, etc in awe and saying Big Bird.

Happy 14th Months Stella...Mommy & Daddy Love you!

Pretty Lights

This picture says it all...Mommy and Daddy are trying to enjoy the annual trip to the lighting of the Christmas lights on the Fayetteville square and Miss Thang was NOT into it. This year we decided against taking the stroller because it's crazy crowded, but someone did not want to be held or hold hands. You can imagine how easy that was with hundreds of people around.
Tom and Stella are watching the parade go by...sorry I didn't even get a picture of Santa because we were trying to keep the little one happy.
Ahh a snack helped ease the grumpiness but not for long...I don't have any pictures of the lights because she literally melted down in the middle of the square. Nothing would calm her down. i felt like a terrible mom. She was MAD...everyone was looking at us as we walked to the car--I'm sure they thought we were stealing her from someone...no she's ours, but VERY independent! But once she was buckled in the car everything was fine. So, we plan on returning to the square to get some family pictures before they turn the lights off after the holidays.
But here is something that makes Stella happy. Yes, that is my coffee cover from Starbucks and Stella thought it was so cool when I put it on her milk. That milk instantly transformed into a latte in her world.
So proud of her new drink.
And I took this picture today and wanted to share it. Stella and Diesel have a love/hate relationship...very on and off, but today they were enjoying a game of tug-o-war. I can't complain Diesel is super gentle with Stella. He only shows his teeth when she grabs his fur a little to tight, but otherwise he is very patient with her and she just loves him!

Hope everyone is having a GREAT week!

Our Little Book Worm

This girl LOVES to read. Sometimes she will read to herself, but she really likes it when Mommy and Daddy read to her.

Randomness...A Little of This & A Little of That

I know she's a ham, but it was so nice this weekend that Stella wanted to sport her sunglasses!
And since we thought this might be the end of nice weather we headed to a local hiking spot and enjoyed the weather. I promise Stella was having a good time...she just wanted the camera here.
Pretty background!
Enjoying our picnic lunch...until the bees showed up. We finished our lunch in the car.
Stella being a silly monkey. She's double fisted. She thinks it is so funny when she has two of her sippy cups.
Dancing with her sippy cups.
Wiggling her hips :)
And we were right about the warm weather ending...this is today (just 3 days since our hike) and it's in the high 30s. But Stella was begging to go outside. She stands by the front door and says side side side over and over...so we bundled up and went outside.
Always on the go...
Running after Diesel...
too busy to pose for mom. Don't worry Grandma's we were only outside for 5 minutes...enough to let Diesel go potty.

Woo Pig

This past Saturday the Curry's invited us to go to the Hog game with them. The weather was PERFECT and we had a great time!!! This was Stella's first game and she LOVED it.
Here is Stella with Tom and Amelia with Patrick outside the game.

Taking it all in before kickoff.
Watching the crowd.
Stella had so much fun she crashed in my arms at half time...THEN she SLEPT 13 hours straight that night.
The hogs won and we had a great time with the Currys. Woo Pig!

On Your Mark, Get Set...its Time to Catch Up!

Ok, I know I'm way behind so this is a long post...including parties, trick or treating and fall festivals!
The week before Halloween we loaded up the car and headed to LR for a Halloween party at the Bakers...it was a blast. This is Deacon and Stella checking eachother out before we left for the party!
I think they agreed they both looked ridicuously cute and silly! Of course Andrea (party host) went all out for the party and made the cutest treats for everyone to enjoy. She is the Martha Stewart of the group!
Stella is "posing" for a picture outside the party!
Cute little flower don't you think?
Attempt at a family photo.

Playing with her friend Chandler, aka the sock monkey...too cute.
When we got back from LR it was pumpkin carving/painting/drawing time. Here are Tom and Stella gearing up for the project.
Working hard...Stella was done a lot quicker than Tom so we just pretended to keep working.
Sorry...there is no picture of the finished project...you'll have to ask Tom about that one.
Ok, now it's go time. Businesses on our cities square have a trick or treat event for kiddos so we decided to join in the fun this year. As you can see the little flower was very excited!
I promise she did get candy.
I love this girl!

Grammie and Papa even made the loop with us...there were A LOT of kids.
And I feel bad that I've never talked about Stella's distant grandparents...so I thought I'd throw in a picture of them---this is Grampie Julian and Gigi Lori...they loved on Stella big time over Halloween :)
Then to top off the candy/fun filled weekend our neighborhood had a fall festival and Stella got to ride on a PONY!!! It looks like daddy is having fun too.
Laid back!
She had a blast. This is such a fun age because she is really getting into everything and showing her personality and boy does she have one!
Hope you all had a great halloween!