Happy Halloween.

Because Hannah already dressed up two days in a row for Halloween, and because she's only one, we decided not to take Hannah trick-or-treating tonight. Instead, we went to Concord and walked around to take pictures. Unfortunately, I was pretty late getting there, so I was only able to get a couple of pictures before it was too late. This is one of Hannah posing with her daddy on the sidewalk in the cemetery. Creepy right?

And, this is one of her playing in the leaves in the same cemetery. Even creepier right??? Oh well, it was fun and it makes a good story for her to tell her friends when she gets older!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

Halloween Parties.

Yesterday was an exciting day for Hannah. She had two Halloween parties to attend. She's such a social little one-year-old. Her activities calender is jam-packed! She has so much more to do than mommy and daddy do on any given day. Yesterday, her first Halloween party was with all of her friends from her Friday playgroup.

We tried, unsuccessfully, to get them to all pose together on the couch with their costumes. We have the beautiful ladybug, two monkeys, a pirate, and a toddler. They're all dressed up but it was pretty difficult to get them to all look at the camera, or even in the same direction at the same time. They all looked absolutely adorable in their costumes though and were real sports!

Her second Halloween party was at The Little Gym. She goes there once a week for classes and Ms. Jenny is her teacher. She LOVES Ms. Jenny. It was really cute that they were both dressed as ladybugs. Hannah took her first steps for Ms. Jenny on October 1. It was really cute. Hannah had so much fun playing with all of the older kids and trying to complete all of the activities. Her favorite activities were the balance beam and the "haunted house". Both of which she did about five times!

Trick-Or-Treat.

Tonight, we met up with some friends in Maynard and took Hannah Trick-or-treating for her first time. She seemed to have a blast looking at all of the other people in their costumes and collecting candy from all of the stores.

One thing was for certain though, there was no getting her pumpkin pail away from her!

Family Day in the Fall.

Every Sunday, we try to spend the day together as a family. This last Sunday was so beautiful, we decided to spend the day outside taking photographs of the amazing fall foliage. We walked all around West Concord and Minuteman National Park in Lexington. Like usual, Hannah made the most amazing subject! She had so much fun playing in the leaves...

...and walking around with Daddy. Unfortunately, Mommy hurt her foot crossing the railroad tracks so our expedition ended in the car rather than on foot. We all had a great time though. It was a wonderful and relaxing way to spend family day this week!

Pumpkin Picking.

Not too far from where we live, there's a pumpkin patch where you can pick your own pumpkins. Seeing as how Keith and I had never done that before, we decided that it would be a good way to spend family day.

It also turned out to be a great day to take pictures. I think Hannah had more fun playing with all of the big pumpkins than she did picking pumpkins!

Hannah's Birthday Party.

Hannah had so much fun at her first birthday party. She absolutely loved opening all of her presents.

But, even more than that, she loved being the center of attention. She is so lucky to have such a big family and so many people that care about her. Thank you to everyone that was able to make it and show your love and support. We really appreciate having you there!

When she got her first "block" of cake, she didn't really know what to think of it... She tried to push it off of her tray and was pretty upset that we had taken away her raisins. So, we ultimately gave in and gave her back the raisins.

She finally ended up eating her cake. Only because it was stuck to the raisins though... I guess it's good to know that we're raising such a healthy eater!!!!

Hannah's Birthday Cake.

On my first birthday, my mom made a cake for me out of building blocks.

So, for Hannah's birthday, it was important to me to make the same kind of cake. Sort of a way to try and carry on the tradition.

It took two days of work. Candy, Hannah's Nana, taught me how to decorate the cake and stayed up with me until 1:00 A.M. to ensure that it was finished in time for the party.

The little blocks were made out of chocolate cake with chocolate ganache and raspberry jam, and the big cake was a Pink Lady cake with Swiss Buttercream. Thanks to my friend Susie, I got the recipes off of SmittenKitchen.com.

I am very happy with the way the cake ended up looking. But, I don't think I will ever try that again!

This was my favorite block! I think it had the most even sides and I liked the heart on top. We gave Hannah the one block as her birthday cake.

One Year.

I can't believe my daughter has already turned one. This picture was taken on her birthday. Kim, from Nashoba Brook Bakery, gave her her first chocolate chip cookie to celebrate. Hannah loved it! She had chocolate all over her face and stockings.

It's been amazing to watch her grow over this year. And, in celebration, I decided to start a blog. Perhaps I should've started it sooner so that I could document all of her achievements over the last year. But, it's better late than never, right?

I love her so much and I think that she deserves the world. I hope that future years hold as much wonder for her as her first did and that she always enjoys life as passionately as she did during the first year of her life.