She's ONE!!!!!

We're all familiar with the phrases exclaimed during such an occasion...

"I can't believe she's one already!"
"It went by so quickly!"
"Where has the time gone?"

I won't bore you with such musings. Let's get straight to the point. Our little girl is one and we LOVE it!!!

We were blessed to have Grandma and Grandmpa Witbrodt and Aunt Nora in town. We made the most of our time together and had a blast. Here's a glimpse into our birthday weekend extravaganza...

With weather in the 70's we were sure to spend some time in the park.

We visited the Blue Bell Creamery where Micaiah had her first taste of ice cream. She's not so sure about the sweet cold mushy stuff yet!

The girls in the house did some baking and cake decorating while the boys recovered the dinning room chairs. Both were a success and Micaiah actually ate and enjoyed her cake! Banana cake with cream cheese icing. Yum!

Her new clothing and toys were a big hit - especially after all she got from Mom and Dad was a new carseat.

We visited the zoo and saw all of her favorite animals... zebras (thus the zebra cake seen above), giraffes, lions and elephants. The baby elephant wins the prize this trip. Micaiah loved it so much she blew kisses! Too cute!

Got our first haircut. Mom and Dad are sad to see the little curls and whispies go. Micaiah's glad to be able to see!

All in all it was a great time. For those of you who were present here and in our thoughts, thanks for making this time special. Much love to you all!!!

What Could Have Been...

Those of you who know me well know I never get my act together early enough to mail Christmas cards to family and friends. If you didn't know this about me and were insulted because a card was not received, now you do. Sorry!

Just wanted you to see the photo from the Christmas card that could have - should have - would have been...

From our family to yours... MERRY (late) CHRISTMAS!!!

Just for Fun

When the weather gets crazy, so does the West household!



We've been in sleeveless tops working on our sippy cup skills, in adorable dresses playing peek-a-boo, and playing dress-up in Mommy's hat and scarf. Only in Texas could these pictures be taken within one day of each other!!! A peak into the happenings inside the walls of the West abode...

The GREAT Outdoors

Although it was snowing in Houston Wednesday night, Saturday was a beautiful balmy 70 degree day. We headed out to Discovery Green, a park here in downtown Houston, and reveled in the fresh air and playful breeze. Micaiah LOVES the outdoors. LOVES it. She lights up at the touch of the wind in her face. The colors and sounds. It seems that to her, to be outdoors is to be REALLY living.

By the way... Today is Monday. A cold front is blowing through. We've gone from a beautiful balmy 70 degrees this morning to a chilly 40 degrees here at lunch time. (No comment from you northerners... a 30 degree temperature change is a lot anywhere!)

Let it Snow???

Hooray!!!

Snow in Houston!!!

I felt like a true Houstonian this evening. As we peered outside into the dark, wet, cold night we saw white flakes drifting down from the sky. Upon closer examination we confirmed it was indeed snowing in Houston! We grabbed Micaiah, put on her coat and hat and ran out side to celebrate. To the untrained eye I'm certain we looked as if we'd never seen snow in our lives. And in some ways this is true, at least for one of us! :)

So. Micaiah's first snow...

P.S. For those of you who know, or have heard me rave about, my longtime very VERY good friend Kari, check out her blog... Waterman's World

It's all Relatives...

We had the pleasure of spending a few very short days in St. Louis last week and it was a blast! All three sisters found themselves in the same place at the same time in, well, WAY too long. Nora drove up from Potosi and Alison drove over from Kansas with her twin boys Joshua and Caleb. Talk about a house full! Thanks for taking the time to make it happen. We had FUN!!!

This was Micaiah's first real taste of true fall. The fall we grew up with and miss terribly down hear in big bad Texas. Although we just missed the peak of fall color on the trees, the few colors remaining combined with the crispness in the air was, well, it just was.

Micaiah couldn't take her eyes off the leaves. She took everything in as we walked through the park near my parents home. You'll note in the pictures below that not once did she look at me while exploring her first carpet of golden autumn leaves. A girl after my own heart!

Isaac, Micaiah's cousin on Brian's side, celebrated his 1st birthday while we were there as well. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay for cake... we're anxious to see picture of that experience! We celebrated puppy style which was super fun. Way to go Aunt Sara!

Because of the festivities Great Grandma Lanik came to town with Brian's parents. This was her first opportunity to meet Micaiah and we are thankful she made the long trek to STL. GG even got to hold her for, well, maybe 4 minutes when you add all her attempts together... Micaiah was a little overloaded with all the seldom seen family and friends.

Thank you everyone for taking time out for us. We love and miss you all very much!

Catching Up

We've had a great last couple of weeks including fun visitors, time at the park and good old fashioned trick-or-treating. Yea! Let's just get you caught up on life...

1. Kari!!! She spent the weekend attending a wedding with her boyfriend, Jason. On their way back through to San Antonio they were able to take a couple of hours off the road and visit with us! This was our first, and much anticipated, opportunity to meet Jason. We enjoyed our time, short as it may have been, and packed as much catching up in as possible...


2. Micaiah has been to the park many a time, but usually we don't stop to play. You see, it's part of her almost ready for bed time. Well we've had some absolutely gorgeous days as of late so we decided to take advantage. I'm certain we'll be taking advantage of many more of these days in the future. Micaiah absolutely LOVES being outside...

3. Erin's Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Louis were in town over the weekend to celebrate the 20th anniversary of a church they attended here in the Houston area. We were blessed to have an evening of time to get caught up on life with them and introduce them to Micaiah. I wasn't bright enough to get the camera out that evening, but we're hoping to see them again around Christmas. We'll definitely get a picture then!

4. Micaiah got to be a fish for Halloween! She makes a pretty cute fish if you ask me. We went to an event at Christ the King called Trunk or Treat. It was a great atmosphere for her first Halloween experience. In addition to candy, they have a variety of games set up for the kids to play. She enjoyed seeing all of the kids in their costumes and even played a duck game. Well, really she just pushed the little rubber ducky around in the kiddie pool, but she enjoyed it! :)

Old Mac Donald's Farm

Happy fall everyone!!!

Today was a great day! Despite the overcast skies, the temperature was a refreshing 77 degrees and we hit the hay. Almost literally! We met some dear friends - Tamara, Shelby, and Seth - for a couple of hours of barnyard goodness at Old Mac Donald's Farm. Can I just say Micaiah LOVED it!?!

We saw may of your typical barnyard friends - cows, sheep, goats, hens, pigs, donkeys - and some of your not so typical barnyard friends - emu anyone? Micaiah got up close and personal with the goats. In your typical goat encounter fashion one of her furry friends tried to eat her super cute jacket. (Grandma Witbrodt gave her this jacket when she was born and Micaiah has been dying to wear it ever since... FINALLY!)

After a quick picnic lunch we headed to the pumpkin patch. Talk about good times. Micaiah LOVES her pumpkin!!! She was just all smiles - except for the family pic of course. After coming home and taking a nap all she wanted to do was inspect her pumpkin. How do you tell an 8 month old that pumpkins don't last forever - and that her dad wants to cut into it with a knife and gut it? Oh well. Treasure the good times while they last!

Thanks to our good friends for sharing a part of their day. I'm including a few pictures so you all can share, too!