More Cuteness

I know I am biased when it comes to judging the cuteness of my daughter, but seriously...how can you not think this is cute?!

Vacuuming

Makaila is hit and miss when it comes to vacuuming.  She loves our Roomba, but is less enthusiastic about the regular vacuum.  The other day I pulled it out to use, and she kept telling me "no" every time I got close to it.  She kept grabbing my hand and taking me over to her toys to keep me "busy" so I couldn't use the vacuum.  Haha!  Such a smart and funny little girl!

Keeping Mom busy :)

Playing with Daddy

Bean loves her dad.  She especially loves playing with her Daddy.  Here is a cute video we got over President's Day weekend.  I love how she stops to try to love Tigger, then goes right back to it.  Good times :)

Bean's words and signs

Little Mom

Everyone told me that having a girl first was the best.  I was told that girls are much more helpful with siblings than boys.  Since Bean doesn't have any siblings yet, I can't verify these statements, but I suspect they are going to be true.  My little girl has some very cute, interesting, and funny inclinations that make her seem like a little mom.

One thing Makaila does is she meticulously picks up after Jack.  Anytime she sees stuffing or pieces of fur on the floor from his toys, she either picks it up and throws it away, or has me come get it and throw it away.  These "fuzzes" drive her crazy, and she only watched me pick up after Jack once, so I'm not sure why she is so worried about it :)

Another nurturing habit that she has is caring for her stuffed animals.  After Bean's last doctor appointment, I learned that showing her what was going to happen on a stuffed animal made it seem less scary.  So when she didn't want her diaper changed one day, I thought I'd put a diaper on her stuffed bear so she would see that it wasn't so bad.  What a can of worms that turned out to be!  Since then she wants diapers on all of her bears, her elephant, and even her seahorse!  She will even help "wipe" them with wet wipes before putting the diaper on...haha!  This has also evolved to attempted baths for her "babies", though I have yet to find one that can be washed.

Wearing her bear's shirt

Kaila also loves to give her animals rides, and put them in her high chair and feed them cheerios.  She is super sweet with them and will often give them kisses and hugs for no apparent reason.  She gets worried when they fall over and helps them sit back up too.

Yes, I think this little Bean is going to be a great helper to Mommy in the future :)

Rides

One of Kaila's newest activities is to ask for rides ("rai") in the laundry basket or her stroller.  She also loves giving rides to her pets and her toys.  Here are a couple of pictures and videos that I have managed to get of her "rides".

A Look at 2012

2012 has treated this Baker family well.  We have experienced a lot of "firsts" in our family this year.  Makaila grew from this...

...to this.

She went from crawling for the first time,

to taking her first steps.

Kaila ate solid food for the first time,

And said her first words.

Trip ran his first obstacle course race (see this post for more) and got to see two of his young men from Malaysia leave to serve missions, which was a first as well.

I also ran my first race ever (more can be seen here), and attended a mission reunion for the first time in 4 years.  We took Makaila camping at Lake Powell for the first time (more about this to come), and we stopped at Zions Canyon on our way home.

Dan was the first out of my brothers to get married, and that made Alyssa (whom we love!) our first Doxey sister-in-law!

Trip and I went river rafting on Provo River for the first time with Dan and Alyssa this summer (unfortunately we don't have any pictures, just fond memories).  Makaila turned 1!  

She went to the aquarium for the first time...

we went to a pumpkin patch.

 We took family pictures for the first...

January 2012

second (click here to see more)...

April 2012

and third time this year!

November 2012

We sent out our first Christmas cards as a family.

Makaila had her first Easter,

Valentine's Day,

St. Patrick's Day,

Fourth of July,

and Halloween.

Our first nieces were born!  

Bean experienced her first snow.

She will also get to see the lights at Temple Square for the first time this year.

This picture is from Scott Sanders

We have been truly blessed and are forever grateful for the unique experiences, gifts, and love that each and every one of our family members and friends brings into our lives.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!!

New Shoes

At the beginning of October, I finally decided to get Makaila some shoes.  She had been walking for a couple of months and like it or not, she was ready to walk around outside and in public places.  I wasn't sure how she would feel about shoes, since we could never keep them on her feet when she was an infant.  I took her shoe shopping and after trying on several pairs to find the right size, she found a pair that she loved!  I didn't have socks on her, but she didn't care.  Once those shoes went on, I couldn't get them off of her!  She even wore them to the checkout counter (the guy was afraid I was buying and empty box at first).

The next morning, the very first thing she did was pull her new shoes out of the box and ask me to put them on her.  Grandy was there and helped her put them on so I could take some pictures and a quick video.  Who would have thought that she would love her shoes so much?!

Busy Bean

One of Bean's favorite activities is emptying my bag to see what goodies I have 

I often tell people about how busy Makaila is.  Here is a glimpse at the truth of that statement :)

Running around with one of her birthday cards, which she found to be almost as exciting as the gifts they came with!

Kaila loves this shirt.  She loves carrying it and feeling how soft it is.

Always on the move!

Bean tackled me while trying to get the camera

She loves her books

Talking to dad on the phone