Thanks Ian and Katherine!

Stop the presses! Write this down! My little girl FINALLY fit into her first outfit in the 9month category! (Never mind that she is 13 months old...) She weighs a whole 17.5 lbs and she is wearing 9mos clothing! It is worth celebrating. :)





This is a little dress & sweater we got as a gift from our friends Ian and Katherine. It fits PERFECT right now and it was just so much fun to see her in it! She likes wearing it too!





Thanks, guys!

Fuzzy Bunnies

Doug went hunting today and got two rabbits. Here is the proud hunter with his kill and his daughter. I'm not sure Danika knew what to think of the great catch, but it wouldn't be right if we missed out on the Bierer family tradition of photographing the kids with dead animals. :)

I don't know...maybe she's thinking "I wonder what they did wrong...maybe I should listen better when Daddy says no!"

Let's sweep!

As I have mentioned before, I am married to a wonderful man. He often helps me with stuff around the house, for which I am very, very grateful. Recently, we were preparing for company and Danika was NOT in the mood to be put down while we did what needed to be done. So, we decided to put a backpack that was given to us to good use. Doug strapped her on and went to work vacuuming the living room. It was so doggone cute I had to get a picture. :) Danika was happy...Daddy was able to sweep....Mommy was thrilled. It was a win-win-win for everybody!

First Trip to Chuck E. Cheese

Cousin Julie was still in town for a few days after Christmas and New Year's, so I thought it would be fun to get her together with Danika's buddy Trinity for some play-time at Chuck E Cheese. Danika went too, and I think all the kids had fun. Uncle Mike was GREAT with all the girls and Aunt Wendi and I took pictures and visited. What a great day!

Christmas in Erie

What a great Christmas this year. It is just so fun to share it through the eyes of a new little one. :) Danika was more into the paper and boxes than she was most of the gifts at first. But once things came out of the boxes, she got right into it.

After returning from our Christmas celebrations in Ohio, we have had a different Christmas party almost every night here in Erie.

We got back on the 26th, and on the 27th we celebrated Christmas with Doug's Dad's side of the family. All the Bierer Christmas parties always involve....oh.....well let's call them "interesting" and "unique" Christmas gifts that have been personalized for each one of us. :) Grandpa never ceases to entertain. You can see Kristen and Dave showing off thier custom-made lawn ornaments. What fun! :)

Then the 28th was the "Andrews" side Christmas celebration at Grandma Berniece's. It was lots of fun to see all the little ones toddling everywhere. Last Christmas this side was unable to get together because out of the 6 cousins on this side, four were either pregnant or had JUST given birth. That means this year for Christmas, there were FOUR ONE YEAR OLDS running around. :) It was great! And Julie was having a blast, too. It was a little insane, but the best kind of insanity.

Last but not least, we had our own Christmas with Doug's parents and Kristen's family on New Year's day. It was just a great time to be together with family.

I confess, I'm probably the worst Aunt in the world....I find myself irresistably drawn to gifts that I would have loved as a child...and my mother would have hated. I always try to ask Kristen's permission before I give them...but even with permission, some gifts turn out to be a little more than any of us expect. That would be the case with the "make-up" gift I got for Julie this year. It was a special bag of make-up for little girls...and I think we were all under the false assumption that it would be more user friendly for children...you know....easy to wash off, light colored, etc. Well....not so much. My 4-year-old niece Julie LOVED her gift....and her mother LOVED scrubbing her face to get it off. I'm sorry Kristen...I really do love you!

Dana and Susan were in all thier glory with a whole pack of little red-headed grandaughters surrounding them. It was great just to be together.

Doug and his sister Kristen.

My shorty and her mama.

Merry Christmas, everyone! I hope it was a great season for everyone!

SHE TURNS ONE!

December 29, 2007

Danika Kay Bierer's First Birthday

There are no words to describe how much I love this little girl. I can NOT believe she is already a year old! It seems impossible. I know people say this all the time...but it is so true. I feel like she was just born...there is no way that could have been a year ago! But it was. And she is crawling like a speed demon and thisclose to walking. My Endicott cousin's went together and got her a beautiful dress to wear for her party...but alas, my munchkin is only 17lbs and still wearing 6 mos clothing....most 9 mos clothing just falls off her. So, the 12mos dress was way too big. But...we were able to exchange it for a really cute "Birthday Girl" t-shirt that fit perfect, and a "Birthday Princess" tiara that made the whole outfit. :) Of course, this is MY daughter we are talking about here....so both the shirt and the hat sparkled like mad. As did her shoes. There can never be enough glitter in the world. :)

Doug and I have been debating what to get her for her birthday...we knew she would be getting lots of toys from other people and tried to think of something she would like, but would be a little special. Back in October when we went to visit Kristen and Dave, Danika fell in love with Julie's lady-bug folding chair. It is a munchkin sized folding chair, and Danika just climbed in and out of it the whole time we were there. So....Doug and I talked about it and thought that a Danika-sized chair would be the perfect gift...but we wanted to find one that was well paded and very hard to tip over because our little wild-child is a climber and absolutely fearless. So, the search began.

I found the perfect chair at Target on sale right after Christmas. It was this adorable pink fuzzy upholstered chair just her size...a little wider than it was tall, so it looked hard to tip over. I bought it, and we kept it in the van until her party.

Danika's party was at Grandma Andrew's house since our little house is so tiny. That was such a blessing because Grandma's house has lots of room for people, food, and tiny little munchkins to run around and play. It was perfect. When it was time to open gifts, we brought the chair out first covered with a blanket. When Doug sat it down and pulled the blanket off, Danika's eyes got HUGE and she sqealed and immediately dove into it. We captured the look on her face as soon as she turned around. That pretty much says it all! It felt so good to get her something she liked that much!!!

I have to thank all our family for the gifts they got her...each and every toy was a PERFECT choice for her...I can't think of a single toy that she received that isn't a "favorite". The whole party and every single gift was just one of those moments in life where you know God is smiling as He watches...everything was just about as perfect as a person could ask for. All the kids played great together, the adults got to enjoy wonderful time together, and at least for this Mom, a wonderful memory was made.

Thanks for celebrating as our little girl turns one!!!!

Christmas 2007 - Ohio Trip

Well, Christmas was wonderful. We got to spend five days at hom in Ohio with my Mom and Dad(which was WONDERFUL), and then came back to Erie to celebrate the holidays with Doug's side of the family (which was also WONDERFUL!). It was just an incredible holiday season filled with great food and fantastic family.

It did seem at times that the celebrations would never end! But what a wonderful thing to be able to say. This was really the first time in years that we have been able to be home in Ohio for Christmas. We got to see my Endicott cousins first...that was just great! I love them all so much and wish I could see them more often. The party was held at my Unlce Aaron's house. I can't say enough about how much I love my family and how much I miss them. Getting to visit for such a short period of time always makes me wish it was longer. But I am thrilled that we all were able to get together.

Here are a few pictures...as you can see, there was a visit from Santa. Danika wasn't very impressed. :)

There is also a very, very large annoying child who wouldn't stop harrassing Santa. :)

This is Uncle Aaron, his wife Patti, and Danika.

All the grandkids together.

Who knew it was so difficult to get two children to look at the camera at the same time???

We got to celebrate Christmas Day at Mom and Dad's house with Joanie, Cory and Brock. Aunt Jane was there as well. It was just a wonderful, relaxed day with great food and tons of laughter.

Danika couldn't decide if it was more fun to open the packages or sit on them.

Danika got a barn from Nana and Paw-Paw. (SHE LOVES IT!)

Joanie, Cory and Brock in thier "Christmas" pajamas. :) Doesn't my pregnant sister just look adorable?

Merry Christmas! Now back to Erie to celebrate with Doug's side!