There's a 1st time for everything!!!

I just want to announce that I finally canned something all by myself yesterday!!! Yep, that's right. I canned applesauce. I only got 14 quarts (2 batches) done and it felt like I had been at it long enough to have done 5 batches, but I got them done and I'm pretty proud of myself!!!!!

All I have to say is that I give props to all of you who have ever canned with young kids before. I only have one, but it was one of the most difficult things I've ever done. Jenna would not cooperate and doing it by myself took nearly all of my attention. She just didn't like that at all!!!!

Happy 1st Birthday to Jenna!!!!!!!!!!!!!

On October 1st, Jenna Nicole Baker turned one year old!!!!
(Grandma Forsberg got one year older too, but we won't get specific :) Love ya Mom!!!!

It certainly was a day full of celebration (and pictures)!!!!!!

First thing, Jenna and I set out to make some cakes. Yes, I mean cakeS, lots of cakes. Jenna's cake, guest cake, and 12 little cupcakes. As you can see, she had a great time helping mommy making them and then getting to lick the beaters and spoon when we were all said and done.

The reason we had to make the cupcakes was so that my volleyball team could be in on the festivities. (In case you didn't know, I am the assistant volleyball coach at Big Bend Community College here in Moses Lake. ) At first I was going to invite them all over for a party, but then decided I didn't want that many people at my house at one time and I just didn't know how Jenna would handle it.

So we brought the party to them at practice.

Here's the team, everyone with their own candle and cupcake!! They had a blast singing to Jenna.

Then started the messiness!!!!

She certainly was a mess!!! But that didn't stop her from playing just like usual:

Later that night, it was time for the birthday party!!!!

I had to get the cake finished by putting the frosting on it (whipped cream is amazing!!) Jenna found out she reallly likes whipped cream, enough to actually lick the lid!!!

Look at all the presents for one little girl!!! So spoiled!!!

Winnie-the-Pooh theme

I will say, this isn't the prettiest cake, but I do have to say that I am an amateur and it was absolutely perfect for our little Jenna!!

Time to open presents!!!! I thought that all she would want to do was play with the wrapping paper, but the very first present she opened was this doll and she would not put it down!!!

I love my dolly!!!!!

Man, she is so stinking cute isn't she? So loving. You can tell it was bedtime and she was plumb tired out. but the party wasn't over yet. The best part is still yet to come.

CAKE TIME!!!!!!

Yes cake time was definitely fun. She was having a blast and wondering the whole time, I'm sure, why we weren't stopping her. But she was eating as if we were going to take it away and she wanted to eat as much as possible before that time came.

She didn't really know what to do at first. She didn't exactly know what it was because of all the frosting, but she sure did figure things out pretty quickly.

Oh Mom, I'm parched!!!!! Give me a drink so I can wash it down and eat some more!!!!!!

Patty cake, patty cake, roll it, and THROW IT IN THE OVEN!!!!!!!!!!!!

Of course she had to have at least a little bit of ice cream in there. No problem. Leave it to daddy.

She just couldn't believe we were letting her get so messy!!!!!

After two tubs of bath water, a couple of washcloths, and a lot of scrubbing, Jenna was all clean and so was my kitchen floor AND WALLS!!!! (yep that's right. She flung cake and frosting EVERYWHERE!!!!)

It was time to play with her toys. It was definitely bedtime, but with all that sugar and chocolate in her system, it would take a while for her to want to go to sleep.

Oh well, you only turn 1 once right?????

Well, HAPPY BIRTHDAY OUR LITTLE JENNA BOO!!!!!! WE LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

A little update

It's been so so long since I've written anything on this blog, so here are a few pictures and updates from the last two months:

The last two months have been full of changes in our little angel. Jenna has gotten to be pretty much a pro at walking. She walks around everywhere and loves being LOUD!!!

On September 4th, she helped me wash the car and got completely soaked:

On September 13th, Daddy gave her a diet pepsi to play with. It's amazing the things that she loves to play with and never wants to let go!!!

Oh and this was also the day that I put her first pigtails in. Kinda crooked, but they were still so cute on her!!!!

Jenna and I went and visited Grandma Forsberg's house in the middle-end of September. It was there that Jenna first got to sit at the piano and play it just like a big girl!!!! It was really cute and heartwarming for me to see that my baby girl likes playing the piano just like me!!!!! :)

I can't believe it, but my sister Sondra is going to a be senior this year. She spent a week with us last week and while she was here, I experimented with my brother's camera by taking some senior pictures. I know I'm definitely not a very good photographer, but here are our favorites:

Jenna is WALKING!!!!!!!!

Yep, she's walking alright and at 9 1/2 months!!! I took this video about a week and a half ago, so she's actually walking a little better than this, but not much. She is growing up so quickly and I love her so much. Sorry it's sideways. I have no idea how to fix it, but at least you'll get the basic idea.

This little girl is growing up so fast!!! She is doing so many things that show me that!!! She's actually starting to walk!!!!! I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not. I've been told that I don't really want her to walk, but I think it's normal for you to want your first child to walk, then as you get more, you know you don't want them to walk. Oh well, she's getting there at a good enough pace for me.

She is so so silly. I was folding laundry, which with Jenna's help, is more like UNfolding laundry :) Anyways, she's hilarious to watch sometimes, even though it's frustrating to refold the clothes. But, I find that if I give her one piece of clothing to play with, she plays with it and leaves the rest alone. Last week, Sondra stayed with us for a week. One day when I was folding laundry, Sondra put some of James' shorts that Jenna was playing with over her head, but instead of pulling them off completely, she pulled them the wrong way and her head went through the leg holes!!!! She ended up wearing his shorts like a toga!!!! (pic above) She's a crazy kid, but she eventually figured out how to jiggle them off.

Yep, like I said, Jenna is learning to walk right now, and there's really nothing I can do about it. She walks all over the place, sometimes by herself, and sometimes with the help of furniture or my legs.

Happy Birthday to James!!!!!

July 18th was James' 26th birthday!!!!!!!

He got some movies from Jenna and a lounge camping chair from Me. (Too bad, camping already over. Oh well, he uses it right now as a recliner for watching TV!!!)

He also got one more thing from everyone that I didn't take any pictures of:

A 42" Big Screen TV!!!!!!!!!!