The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hillis

This year we started the holiday driving to Houston on Christmas Eve and had a very special Christmas celebration with Great Grandma, Grandma Mike, Aunt Kim, Uncle Jeff, Cooper, Jackson, and Brady. We of course were missing one special person though, Uncle Chip. Holidays are tough while Uncle Chip is away over seas. We are thankful he is safe in Korea and he will be home with all of us next Christmas. Lexi enjoyed playing with her cousins, opening presents, and really enjoyed playing with wrapping and tissue paper! She stayed up late and had a blast! Christmas in Houston is always quick, but every year it gets tucked away as a wonderful and delightful memory.

Although our time together as an immediate family was short as well, Jason, Alexi, and I had a very special Christmas

together. On Christmas day we drove back to

Dallas and had our own family Christmas. While we were in Houston Santa came down our chimney with a kitchen for Alexi! After Lexi played with it for awhile the three of us went out to eat and after Lexi went to bed Jason and I snuggled up on the couch with a big soft blanket and watched a movie. Even though half of our Christmas was spent in the car, it was perfect because the three of us were together.

On Sunday, the 27th the three of us celebrated Christmas again with Mimi, Paw Paw, Aunt Sarah, Uncle Daniel, and Kristi. We all shared some laughs, good food, and exchanged gifts. Lexi once again loved the tissue paper and all of her new toys. Lexi missed her bedtime this Christmas too, but she did great!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Lexi did it again...

Alexi lit up my world once again today. To be honest, Lexi lights up my world every single second I am with her or thinking about her. This evening we were playing on the floor and I put my arms out wide and my legs in a V and Lexi "ran" to me with open arms while she was squealing and gave me a bear hug! She is precious, sweet, and makes me the happiest mom in the world. Alexi's hugs and kisses melt my heart.

Ok Santa, maybe some soap for these stinky feet!

Santa, all I need for Christmas is a pack of size 5 diapers...

I know the video is long, but I took the video to document part of Lexi's day. My friend, Ginny asked me today what we usually do during the day. Most things are routine like, eating, napping, and bathing, but Lexi comes up with new games and creative ideas all the time. I am fascinated by her ability to play on her own and her imagination. She played, "Organize the diapers" for about 30 minutes today. It made sense to her. She enjoyed it and I enjoyed watching her. I absolutely love my job. It may sound silly, but watching the diaper game today once again made me realize how rewarding my job is...every single day. To Jason, thank you for your hard work which makes it possible for me to be home with Alexi. It is a dream come true to have her and to have you. I am a one lucky mom and wife.

I am also happy to report we are truly making progress with the transition to a sippy cup. She was quite attached to one this evening and she learned from her friend, Caleb last night how to hold the cup and tilt her head back. I put the same sippy cup filled with water in her crib tonight. My hope is she will continue to grow an attachment to the cup and not want to leave home without it!

All Aboard!

Over the weekend Lexi and I drove to Rusk, Texas to spend the weekend with Aunt Kim, Uncle Jeff, Cousins Cooper, Jackson, Brady, Grandma Mike, and Great Grandma. We "camped" in a cabin with Grandma Mike and Great Grandma. On Saturday night we road on the Polar Express train all the way to the North Pole! Lexi was fascinated (and had her jaw dropped most of the time) with the train, all the Christmas lights, the dancing Chefs on board and of course Santa Claus! Her reactions were priceless. We had a wonderful time with the family and can't wait to see them again in a couple of weeks for Christmas! Lexi and I really missed Jason and will find a way to be able to go on the Polar Express with him next year.

Lexi's Big Day!

Lexi took her first steps today and I got them on video!

She walked and I cried. She is getting so big. I am loving every single minute of being Alexi's mom. The baby time maybe ending, but we have so much to look forward to.

I am sitting here watching her video's from today over and over again. I can't wait to see her walk again tomorrow. Tears come to my eyes just thinking about her walking around holding our hands. She will be 13 months in just a few days. Next thing we'll know she'll be off to kindergarten.

Finally an update!

Ok, that was a long time without the internet. Here is the latest Walsh news:

1. We moved to McKinney.

2. We unpacked.

3. We had family over for Thanksgiving. Great Grandma, Grandma Mike, Cousins Andrea, Caleb, and Joshua all came from Houston to celebrate with us. Mimi, Paw Paw, Uncle Daniel and Kristi, and Great Aunt Roseann also all joined us. We had a wonderful time, but sadly I did not take pictures. Really? I know...I am still kicking myself.

4. We received the pictures from Lexi's first birthday. I am so thankful we chose to get a photographer. It was the perfect gift to our sweet girl. I will put together an album for her to cherish when she is older.

5. Lexi saw her first snow. It was beautiful. The flakes were huge. It really makes me excited about Christmas.

Here are a few pics from the party. Most of our families were able to make and Lexi's little friends joined in on the fun as well. We met at our house, paraded down to the park for lunch and cake and then walked back to the house for presents. It was a blast!

November 19th

Alexi's due date was one year ago today. This year on 11.19 we officially sold our house and closed on our 2nd home. We move tomorrow. Lexi will not remember this house in Sachse, but we've had some great memories here. I remember bringing her home from the hospital and showing her each room. Lexi has slept in her pack 'n play all over this house, in the living room, master bedroom, the "elephant room," the "yellow room," and even in our closet (the quietest room of them all)! She has thoroughly enjoyed climbing up the stairs, playing with the doggie door, crawling all over, looking out the windows, and kissing her reflection in the dishwasher and oven. Lexi helped turned Crestridge Lane into a home. We are looking forward to many more wonderful family memories on Woodstream Lane. Goodbye Sachse, Texas...it was fun.

Yellow Spaghetti O's

 Lexi may not have mastered holding her own bottle or adjusting to the sippy cup very well, but when the doctor asks me tomorrow at her one year check-up things she has learned thus far I will be able to mention:

Words she can say are hi, bye, momma, dada, uh-oh, and other babbles...

She can point out dogs, birds, babies, horse, cat, strawberries, duck, all of her stuffed animals by name, yellow, car, guitar, spider, pumpkin, diaper, window, lights, fan, Nemo, flower, Andie, frog, and I might be forgetting a few...

She also knows how to follow simple directions like, no, go upstairs, share, feet first, be careful, and watch your head. She can also communicate by signing no, waving, all done, milk, and sing. It is amazing to watch her learn!

Hugs and kisses to all!

Photos of the week

The day my prayers were answered...

Today's the day. November 11, 2008 at 7:04 PM Alexi Preston was born. As I stated in my last post, my expectations were high about giving birth and having Lexi in my arms for the first time. My expectations were not only exceeded, but I experienced an "out of this world" feeling. It's funny, because a year later I still feel it. The labor and delivery room was filled with so much joy and love one year ago. After 12 hours of labor I did not feel one bit of pain. I waited for about 8 seconds to hear the most precious cry ever. Alexi, my daughter, was healthy, pink, and blessed.

I will never forget Jason standing in between my bed and Lexi's incubator. He is the sweetest father and the most loving husband. He didn't want to leave me, but he wanted to be close to his 7 pound newborn daughter. We made eye contact, each with tears in our eyes and I told him it was okay for him to be next to Lexi. He stood next to Lexi and I could see the pride in his eyes. I could see it all over his body. His dreams and prayers came true too. We both felt complete. We were a family. A family full of unconditional love. This day changed our lives. We were given the best gift anyone could ask for. Alexi will never know how many prayers were said for her. Before she was conceived, while she was in utero, and all the 365 days of her life thus far.

Since today is Lexi's first birthday it is not all too peculiar that I sit here reminiscing about this past year. Today at lunch Jason asked me what I thought was the hardest part of the first year. Just like labor pains, you forget about the tough times, the sleepless nights, and the crying moments where you don't know how to fix it. My response was, "ending breast feeding." Not even the guilty feelings I experienced because it didn't work out the way I expected, but the worst part was the pain I experienced trying to get back to normal. I even stated the pain was worse than labor. The other obvious difficult time was on Lexi's two month birthday when she was in the hospital for a few days. It broke our hearts to see little Lexi with an IV and in a hospital bed. I have never felt so helpless in my life. I wanted so badly to take it all away from Lexi and give it to myself. Jason helped me more than he will ever know during those few days. He was my rock. I don't have words to express how much he helped me get through that time. Our families also helped more than they know. I will never forget Mimi and Uncle Daniel showing up at the ER and just sitting with us for hours. Aunt Sarah took Andie in, brought us dinner and sat with us in the hospital room. Paw Paw came by before work and smiled as he looked at his granddaughter. Our Houston family called non-stop and sent Lexi her bear "Sam" and balloons. We felt a tremendous amount of love during that hospital stay as well.

On a happier note, I remember Lexi's first laugh. Jason was out of town, but I got him on the phone to hear it. She was giggling away and I was crying. I remember the first time we made eye contact and she realized I was her mom. I remember cuddling with her and us both falling asleep. I remember the day she rolled over for the first time. I will never forget the days she smiled, sat up, crawled, pulled up, danced, pointed, said "hi," gave kisses, gave snuggles, or spit raspberries. She makes me laugh all the time. I literally don't stop kissing her all day long. It is uncontrollable. I have fallen quite hard over her.

I knew being a mom would be awesome, but that is definitely an understatement. I "get it" now. I get why mom's have to call first thing on your birthday morning. I now know why they don't sleep, take the best care of themselves at times, or buy their children things rather than buying something for themselves. I will always put Alexi before myself. I will always want the best for her. I will always want to be with her on her birthday. I will always tell her the labor and delivery story on her birthday. My wish to Lexi on her first birthday is for her to have twice as many smiles and giggles than she did this year. Although I don't know how it possibly can, but my love for my daughter will continue to grow. I will love her more and more each and every day.

I am thankful for so much, but most importantly, I am thankful for our answered prayer. Being a mom is a dream come true. Happy 1st birthday, Alexi. I love you. And that again, is an understatement.

No Sleep

Last year on this night I did not sleep a wink. Not one minute. Not one second. My mind was racing. I wasn't scared of labor or even really thinking about it much. My mind was racing about seeing my sweet baby for the first time. I had already fallen in love with her in my belly so my expectations were high about the love I would feel once she arrived. I wondered what she would look like, what her cry would sound like, if she would feel an attachment to me, if I would be a good mom to her, if I would be able to balance being a good mother and a good wife. I prayed she would be healthy, that we wouldn't have complications during labor, and that our families would feel so much joy and love and become even closer.

One year ago Jason, my mom and I went to eat at Perry's. I was still conservative with what I ate so my blood sugar wouldn't harm Lexi. I have never taken care of myself better than when I was pregnant. I would do anything for our little girl. Anything.

That night I tried so hard to sleep. I tried the bed, the couch, and the bed again. I moved back and forth all night long. I checked my email, put together a snack bag for the visitors at the hospital, and watched TV. Nothing worked.

During the night while I was in bed I had a couple of contractions. They weren't strong or close enough to go to the hospital. So I thought and I prayed all night long. I simply could not wait. I wanted Lexi in my arms for so long. The wait was making my heart ache. I just wanted to kiss her sweet face and hold her next to me. I remember this day/night like it was yesterday. I amazes me it was already one year ago.

One week...

One week until Alexi's birthday. Last night at about 11 pm I was reminiscing about this time last year:

Kelly: "What were we doing this time last year, Honey?"

Jason: "Cleaning."

Yep, sometimes Jason is known for being the man of few words. He summed it up perfectly. Although, I do also remember my hands never leaving my belly and talking about what it would be like to hold Lexi. Tears again...

Hi, Uh-oh, Bye

Lexi's three favorite words...

Be sure to pause the music on the right hand side in order to hear her.

Our Little Pumpkin

Alexi's first Halloween and trip to the Dallas Arboretum

Lexi dressed as a cute witch yesterday for her first Halloween. She didn't like the hat too much, but she did leave it on for a split second and that's all I needed to snap a quick photo. Donna and Frankie came over to help give out candy to the neighborhood kiddos. Today, Jason and I took Lexi to the Arboretum for the first time. It is such a beautiful place. We plan on going back more often. Lexi was pretty chilled today while we took pictures and she even left the ears on! She looked so cute again today.

It is really hitting me...

Miss Alexi will be a year in 14 days. More like 13 actually since today is 2 hours away from being over. I am happy and excited to see her grow up and learn new things, but I am also sad. I have tears in my eyes as I write. I can't explain the roller coaster of emotions hitting me right now. At this time last year I was dressed as a basketball for Halloween. This year I am a mom. Wow, I am a mom. That brings tears to my eyes as well. I can't thank Jason and Lexi enough for making me a mom. A happy tear filled mom.

Do we look alike?

Over the past few months people have said Lexi and I look alike, but I wasn't sure I agreed until I compared these two photos. I don't think we really look alike in the picture we have together, but I think we may look alike in the separate photos. I still think she looks mostly like her daddy though. Speaking of him, we are both SUPER excited to see him after this past week. Hurry home, Jason...we love you!

11:26 PM

That's the time when I decided if I wanted to get any sleep at all I would need to take the blankie out of Lexi's crib. I stared at the monitor like she was a newborn. Jason had a good idea to let her sleep with it during naps for awhile and then when I am comfortable, we can give it to her overnight. This seems like a much more reasonable and acceptable baby step for me.

Blankie

Lexi still sleeps with her sleep sack on, but she is now also sleeping with a small square blankie! Tonight when I changed her diaper and put her pj's on she held onto one sock in one hand and her shoe in her other hand. I fed her her bedtime bottle while she held the shoe and the sock. When I put her in her sleep sack I got her to let the shoe go, but she had a good grip on the sock so I let her keep it. I lasted about 5 minutes with letting her sleep with the sock. What if she got hungry in the night and tried to eat the sock? She would choke. So, I caved a half of a month early and let her sleep with a blankie. I went up there to check on her and everything is fine. She is sound asleep on her stomach with blankie in hand. It is absolutely adorable...I wish I would have given it to her sooner! I know, the next question is when will we let her sleep without the sleep sack? One thing at a time...baby steps.

Wednesday with Words

I wanted to post a "Wordless Wednesday," but surprisingly enough I did not snap any photos of Alexi today. So, my post will be with words today. Lexi always makes me laugh, but here are a few stories that tickled me today:

1. She still puts everything in her mouth. I say, "Eh" to get her attention and hope she will not pick up the random thing on the floor and put it in her mouth. Today, she looked at me, put it in her mouth, crawled over to me, opened her mouth, and stuck out her tongue so I could get it out. Better than nothing I guess...

2. While running errands today, the car next to us had birds on the roof. Her eyes lit up, her jaw dropped, and then she started bouncing, waving, and yelling, "Hi" to the birds. Priceless.

3. This morning Jason picked up his work bag and Lexi started waving and saying, "Bye." She loves saying "Bye." I know tears will be here soon when Jason leaves for work. I also know it will break my heart and Jason's heart to see Lexi heartbroken.

4. During bath time tonight I was singing, "If Your Happy and You Know it..." and Lexi was clapping and splashing the water. I sang it about 5 times in a row and then stopped. She stopped playing, turned and looked at me, babbled a bit and clapped her hands. Once I started singing again she continued clapping and splashing the water. The girl has me trained.

Lexi lights up my world. Every. Single. Day.

Dr. Kelly

Jason often refers to me as, "Dr. Kelly." Not because he is confused about my degree from TWU, but rather because I tend to diagnose myself with random illnesses or problems based on unreliable sources from the internet. However, this latest development needed no internet research at all. I clearly remember learning the symptoms and signs of OCD in Psych 1301. The following list is proof I clearly hold the label of being OCD:

1. Throughout the day I say the words, "bird, baby, tree, fan, light, dog, cow, guitar, duck, and ball" repeatedly so I can sit in awe watching Lexi point to the things over and over again.

2. I tell Lexi "I love you" a million times a day. I want her to hear those words again and again so she doesn't forget.

3. I kiss Lexi a million times a day. Whether it be her face or her foot, each time I kiss her it is like the first time I kissed her.

4. I am obsessed with seeing Lexi do, "Monkey Face." I ask her to make the face all day long.

5. I have never had a foot fetish, but now with Lexi in my life, I can't get my hands off her feet!

6. In 10 months, I myself have taken 4000 photos of Lexi.

The above reasons are just a few of my many obsessions with my daughter. I believe I meet the qualifications outlined for OCD in the DSM IV.

Dr. Kelly is now leaving the office for the night.

Friday Fun!

Thankful

Alexi,

I read a blog today and it made me cry. There are heartbreaking stories out there and I want you to know every single day how thankful I am for you and how much I love and adore you. I am so happy to be your mom. Your love and happiness radiates and fills my heart. I pray I do the same in return for you.

I love you sweet girl,

Mom

Wordless Wednesday

Lexi Happenings

Lexi is now 10 months. After visiting with a 4 week old this evening I am totally 100% in shock at how fast it goes. She shows affection towards Jason and I now. She loves us for being her mom and dad rather than just the people who hang out with her all the time. She kisses us, pulls up on us, grabs for us, and may even cry a little if one of us leaves. I am officially counting the beginning of September as when she said her first word. She may pronounce it like a little hick, but it counts. She says, "hiah" for "hi." She waves as she says it and she greets pictures, Andie, Molly, or really anyone with the country tone. Amongst all of her toys she is able to pick out Molly, Mia, a ball, and the cow puppet. Her feet smell like actual feet and I love it! She had her second music class today and wowed me once again. She seems too young to "get it" and participate, but she does. She has a favorite song (the video posted shows the end of one song and the beginning of her favorite). She is growing up so fast. Life is amazing.