Highlight of my day

Undisputed best part of my day... When I put Leona down in her bed now and told her that I loved her she said "I love you" back. It wasn't exactly the words but it was an approximation and the inflection that I had just used was there. We said it back and forth to each other several more times before I left the room. What a sweetie! She also did a passable job of saying family prayer tonight. I would say a phrase and she picked one word out of it to repeat. She was so pleased with herself. :)

Fun in June for Leona

Leona's first "do" and isn't it cute?

Before Leona found her love of the sea she was offered the chance to go swimming over the summer with her sisters and buddies but she refused. So each time we went swimming Leona would take a nap in the house while we swam. 

Leona is absolutely convinced that she is one of the big kids. If they're riding bikes then she will too!

Easter Dress Photo

Fun With Cousins

Lily and Junie came down with Grandma Cole for a whirlwind weekend of Houston fun.

We went to the Museum of Fine Arts and followed it up with a picnic at the new Centennial Gardens.  Clearly Leona just wanted to run, not pose for pictures.

We also went to the beach while the cousins were here and that was clearly the highlight of the trip.  It was Leona's first trip to the beach and she was IN LOVE.

Leona couldn't tear her eyes away from the ocean for even one minute.  She really liked wandering around on the sand and chasing the seagulls.  Toward the end she would walk on the wet sand but for most of the trip she really didn't want anything to do with the actual ocean, just the beach.

How you know you've properly enjoyed a cupcake...

Much Belated First Year in Review in Pictures

Bonus- Too cute to be excluded

First Day in Nursery

I'll interrupt all of the horribly overdue posts to post a real time event.  Leona went to nursery for the first time today- 5 days early but she snuck in undetected.  She loved it, had a great time, and didn't even cry at all.  It helped that Clara was there to help show her the ropes.  It's so sad that she'll only get to be with Sister Pannell, the world's best nursery leader, this one time since it was our last day in our ward.  I'm sure that Leona will love nursery in Utah too.

***Update***
Leona has loved nursery in every ward we've attended.  She loved it in Colorado en route to Utah and she loves it here in Provo.  Hopefully she stays strong even when Clara leaves next year.

Leona's First Thanksgiving

We got out of the hospital with Leona late the Wednesday before Thanksgiving so we left early Thanksgiving morning to go to Grandma's house.  They held lunch for us and Leona enjoyed a hearty meal after her forced starvation in the hospital, even if she did have to sit in the Bumbo on the floor because there wasn't room at the table.

Leona also got her own stocking, courtesy of Grandpa Cole's knitting needles.  I guess she'll grow into it.

Lake House Vacation

The weekend that our house was on the market some friends graciously lent us their lake house so that we could get out of town while our house was showing.  This was so wonderful because our house had 14 showings in 4 days and it would've been almost impossible to be gone all that time and also to keep it clean.  Soooo we went to lovely Riverside, Texas and had a fabulously relaxing weekend that was much needed.

Leona wasn't much for getting wet in the lake but she sure had a great time climbing up the 3 stairs from the living room to the kitchen of the house.  She thought it was a stair master the way she'd climb up, we'd put her back down, and she'd do it over and over again.  She also enjoyed the brief spin we took on their gold cart.

Bluebonnets 2015

Poor Leona was sick the day that we went to take bluebonnet photos.  She had a fever and felt rotten but it was the only day that we could do it with nice weather so she had to soldier on.

Or not...

Leona's face says, "Take another photo and I will mess you up!" It makes me laugh every time I see it.

Teeth!

Leona took her sweet time getting her teeth in.  She finally broke through the gums the week that she turned one.  This photo was taken a little after that.  It was hard to get a photo of her teeth because she thought it was a game to close her mouth whenever I got close to snapping a photo.

Baby's 1st Rodeo (that she was awake for)

She wouldn't be a true Houstonian if she didn't go to the rodeo every year so Leona joined us at the rodeo.  Last year, being that she was 6 weeks old, Leona slept through most of the rodeo but this year she was wide awake and really enjoyed the spectacle. She especially enjoyed all of the animals and just being outside.  It was a fun family day!

Happy 1st Birthday Leona!!!

Happy Birthday Beautiful One Year Old!

For her birthday we did pony rides! It just sort of worked out that way actually.  We were at Grandma and Grandpa Cole's house for the weekend and got to go over to a friend's house who has ponies.  So Pony got to ride a pony. : ) She really enjoyed it.

We also went to a park with all of the Cole cousins and had a great time.

Last but not least for the day was Leona's official birthday celebration.  She really liked the cupcake.  She's the first of the sisters to really go for it and eat it rather than just poking it.  This proves that she is my true "Cole Baby" and has the sweet tooth to prove it.

Leona had a great time wrestling her cousins and sisters for her birthday presents.  She was just happy to jump in and play with everybody.  She had a great day!  We are so happy to have Leona in our family.  She adds a special spice that no one else can to our lives.  We love her very much!