Thirty-Second Thursday

Jordan's mom took this video this past week while we were visiting for Christmas. I love it because it captures Serena displaying her newest addition to her 'vocabulary'...spitting!!! :)

Moments in a Busy Day

Serena gets LOTS of kisses, and it's no wonder...how can anyone resist those BIG SQUISHY CHEEKS?!?!?

This is the look Serena gives Macy when Macy starts howling (whenever we talk to Serena in a silly voice or use silly noises to get a laugh out of her, Macy feels the need to join in on the fun by howling)

BIG smiles!!! :) Notice in this picture and in the first one Serena's newest trick: twisting her tongue into a corkscrew...man, I can't even do that!!! ;)

Today we were very busy getting ready to go to Minnesota for New Years Eve. Besides my normal activities (read: taking care of Serena), I did five loads of laundry (which included changing the sheets); made mocha truffles, peanut butter wafers, and puppy chow; and did some packing. Whew! Looking forward to this weekend, though!!! :D

Pretty Face

At Play

Getting a 'feel' for her new book she got for Christmas

Serena loves playing with her feet these days!

Another Day at Grandma & Grandpa's

Taking a nap

Becoming familiar with a deck of cards...card games are a favorite pastime at the Horak's :)

Kisses from Grandma

Baby's First Christmas

Serena had an exciting first Christmas! Besides enjoying the novelty of opening presents, she spent the day being passed around and doted on by everyone; and of course, napping and eating. :) To make things a little more memorable, she had a HUGE blow-out tonight at the Horak Christmas gathering. :P Before we left for the party she had been napping for over 3 hours, and I finally had to wake her up to take her to the party. I didn't have time to change her, so I figured I would just do it when we got to the party. On the drive over, I heard her do a little toot, and I thought to myself how she hadn't pooped for at least two days and whenever she ended up pooping it was probably going to be a big one! Shortly after we got her in the house, she started making the rounds of Jordan's aunts and uncles. I thought I had better intercept her and get her diaper changed since she'd been wearing it for quite a while. Lo and behold, the little twirp had made a BIG MESS in there and gotten it on her clothes and on her blanket!!!! :P Out came the back-up onesie and Serena's cute but poopy "Baby's First Christmas" outfit was banished to a Wal-Mart sack! Way to go, Serena! Merry Christmas! :D

Thirty-Second Thursday

Good Enough to Eat

Mischievous?

I could swear she's plotting all the trouble she'll cause once she's mobile!

Tasty Fingers

Exersaucering

Bows

Macy liked Serena's bow so much that I had to give her one to wear as well

Squishy Cheeks and Hair Bows

This picture is from yesterday...I forgot to post it. But, I just HAD to post it, you see, because I finally got a bow to stick in Serena's hair for the first time!!! Isn't it CUTE?! :)

Come on, you KNOW we HAD to do it!!!! :D

Thirty-Second Thursday

For some reason, Serena really gets to 'talking' when she's with Jordan. Tonight we were getting a kick out of it because she wouldn't take her hands out of her mouth, which made her squeaky noises all the more comical!

What It's All About

For Serena, Christmas isn't about the presents, but about the boxes the presents come in!

Ready to Go Out and About

I love putting Serena in tights! These thick pink ones are so cute with her jean skirt and pink sweatshirt! She stayed warm and chic while we were out running errands today!

Serena's Going to Have a Girl Cousin!

Serena was delighted to find out Uncle Jason & Aunt Julia are having a girl! :)

Play Time

Pajama Baby

I love these jammies...they're so fun and PINK! :)

Admiring the Christmas Tree

Thirty-Second Thursday

Unfortunately, I didn't have anyone here to hold the camera for me when I did this. So you can't see much, but you can hear Serena laugh...which I think is pretty cute!!

Full Tummy

I had just finished feeding Serena, so I laid her down on the couch for a minute to help Jordan with something. When we looked back at her, we had to laugh because her shirt was pulled up a little and her tummy was sticking out all round and full! Poor kid, she's going to hate me for this one someday! ;)

Reaching Out

As you can see, Serena was getting pretty tired by the time I got the camera out tonight; but she still had enough curiosity in her to want to try to reach out for the camera!

Bundled Up

Special Edition

All ready to go to a party!

I always love going in to get Serena up from her naps because (most of the time) she is all smiles at the sight of me. So, I decided to take a video of it this time. I have to say, she was a little distracted by the camera, but this is pretty close to how it usually is.

Getting Ready for Bed

Today's Smile

Thirty-Second Thursday

Despite all my good intentions, blogging a Daily Serena post was not meant to be yesterday! I got sick Wednesday night, and Thursday was a really rough day for me. I felt a little better during the afternoon, and managed to get my thirty-second video for my post, but shortly thereafter I started feeling really sick again and never got around to posting it. Today I am feeling quite a bit better thankfully!! I'm going to date this as Thursday since the video was taken on Thursday, even though I'm not posting it till Friday.

Serena playing in her Exersaucer

Exersaucer!

Today I got out the Exersaucer that I had snagged at a garage sale back in May. It was in super shape and very clean; but just to be safe, I put the cloth seat through the wash and then washed all the toys with bleach water. It looks brand new! When I put Serena in it this afternoon, she was just crazy about all those toys within reach plus the novelty of 'standing' up!!! (She loves to stand!) The seat spins very easily, and she got around to all the toys pretty quickly. Macy was pretty curious about it and kept sticking her head up there too, so Serena would play with Macy's face like, "Oh, this toy even comes with a Macy head! How nice!" (Serena loves touching Macy and Macy doesn't mind as long as she can lick Serena's drool-soaked fingers, haha!)

Sleeping with Her Dolly

Serena loves to hold something while she's sleeping...usually either one of my fingers or something soft like a blankie or, in a pinch, even a burp rag will do. Today, she got one of her hands free from her swaddle during her nap, so I put a dolly in her arm, and she immediately hugged it to herself and fell into a sound sleep holding the dolly for the next couple hours! She looked so sweet!!