My smiley little baby girl is growing up!  When Ariana turned one, I hosted a big dinner party for 50+ people . . . and vowed that I’d never do that again because I was too busy and too tired to enjoy any of it.  So, Miss Vivi’s big day was quieter by design but no less special.  Uncle David, Aunt Lisa, Uncle Clint, Dad, Mom and Ari helped her celebrate at Cheddar’s in Irving–because Dad had been in business meetings in that area, David was picking up Andee from the airport later that night, and it was closer for Clint and Lisa to travel.

At age one, you are perfect mixture of sweetheart and stinker.  You have the most amazing smiles and are almost always happy.  You have 4 teeth–two bottom and two top in varying stages of protrusion.  You weigh 20.6 lbs (45%), you are 29 inches tall (50%) and your head is 17 1/2 around (30%).

Vivi’s Favorites:

Eating anything and everything you can find on the floor, for which you’ve earned the nickname “Kirby” . . . . Pulling out all of the tissues from the box . . . Reading books (especially the “lift-the-flap” kind) . . . Watching Baby Einstein videos . . . Poking and prodding Marina the cat . . . Going on walks . . . Taking baths . . . Uh-oh . . . People, but especially big sister Ari–you are so happy to see her when she comes home from school . . . Binkies at naptime . . . Crawling (you do a cute half-crawl scoot on the tile floors) . . . Peek-a-Boo . . . Music . . . Animals . . . Pulling hair . . . Video conferencing with Dad on Skype

DISLIKES:

Sleeping through the night . . . Taking medicine (I’ve NEVER seen anyone put up a bigger fight) . . . Walking . . . Anything anyone wants you to do (you’ve got quite a stubborn streak in you) . . . Shopping.

You are a miracle, and I can’t imagine life without my Miss Vivi in it.  I love you, Kirby!

 On Friday, January 26, 2007, Ariana was recognized as a ‘Center Stage Student’ of the week at Fisher Elementary School where she attends first grade.

The award is “given to students who are showing improvement or mastering one or more of the following pentium behaviors:  prompt, prepared, productive, polite, and proud.”

Ariana’s teacher particularly recognized her because “Ariana is always such a wonderful help and friend to others, and she is making great strides toward completing her work in a more timely manner.”

GOOD JOB ARIANA!  We are so proud of you!

 After many, many months of researching, I finally bit the bullet and purchased a new camera–a Nikon D50 DSLR.  I am so excited to learn more about photography and better capture the priceless memories of our family.

Here are a few of my first photos taken early in January: http://www.tolberts.org/lori/photo-albums/album/72157594508527922/Trying_out_the_New_Camera.html

Whew!  The last few months have been crazy busy, and we switched our hosting provider, so I had to figure out how to get my blog up and running again.  But I’ve recommitted myself to blogging again.

Stay tuned for a few ‘catch up’ blog entries over the next few days.

When Bryan and I were first married, he vowed that he’d never go on a family vacation to Disneyanything.  This was a little disconcerting because, growing up in Southern California, I had many fond memories of going to Disneyland with my family.

Well . . . it’s funny how two little girls (and one big (aka medium-sized) girl) can change the heart and mind of even the most stubborn tough guy!  (Having free AirTran vouchers and a pre-paid, use-it-or-lose-it timeshare week didn’t hurt, either.)  So, on the Saturday before Thanksgiving 2006, the Tolbert clan headed to Florida for a Walt Disney World adventure.

Even though the highlight of the trip for Bryan may have been spending a little time doing family history work at the Polk County Library and at a cemetery look for family headstones, even HE admitted that he had FUN at Disney World–especially Epcot where he took a behind-the-scenes tour of their greenhouse operations.

Ariana was a trooper–riding all the ’scary’ rides with Mom (Space Mountain) and Dad (Fast Track, Thunder Mountain, Soarin’).  On the quest for the perfect souvenir, Ariana used her own money and bought a Mr. Potato Head toy with COOL accessories that you can only get at a Disney resort.  Only 10 minutes after her purchase, I could tell that something was really bothering her.  “Mom, I think I made an unwise choice.  I don’t want to spend my money.”  Nothing Bryan or I said could change her mind.  So, Ariana and I navigated our way back to the gift shop where she presented her receipt and the toy and asked for a refund.  She’s such a thrifty little kid–so funny!

Vivian held up remarkably well through the vacation, despite an infected earlobe that sent Mom and Vivi to the Disney first aid station and then on a shuttle to an Orlando area clinic where there was a 3+ hour wait to see a doctor.  Thankfully,  we were able to withdraw our name from the clinic wait list because our wonderful Texas pediatrician (Dr. Susan Sickler) returned our call and told us what to do to treat the infection.

The highlight of the trip to the Magic Kingdom for me was simply being with my Magic Family–my wonderful prince of a husband and our two precious princesses.  May the choices we make in our lives enable us to always live happily ever after!

Click to view photo album: http://www.tolberts.org/lori/photo-albums/album/72157594508475264/Walt_Disney_World_Album.html

I went to the Gray berns fun run. I ran a 5 k.  Dad did that to. And I saw my techr .I felt tird aftr that. Not my hol famly did this. this was satrday (October 28, 2006). my time was 45 minis and 43.25 sekins.  by Ariana

Have you ever met someone and immediately known that there’s something extra special about them . . . something so divinely good that just being in their presence helps confirm your belief in angels?  I have–Yunhi Nesmith.

To me, Yunhi is a perfect example of FAITH, HOPE and especially CHARITY.

“Charity suffereth long, and is kind and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. . .and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.”

I am grateful for special friends like Yunhi that are gentle reminders of the kind of person I should aspire to be.

I was so excited to receive this voicemail from my mom yesterday:

[audio:http://tolberts.org/lori/Audio/Mom Texas Message.mp3]

Using frequent flyer points, she was able to book an award ticket for the day after Thanksgiving.  She’ll accompany us to historic downtown Granbury for their annual day-after-Thanksgiving Country Christmas Celebration: Lighted float parade, holiday carol sing-a-long, candle lighting, and a visit from Santa.  The next day, we’ll head to Homestead Heritage for their Thanksgiving Craft and Children’s Fair (http://www.homesteadcraftfair.com/).

Guppy . . . Gupster . . . Guppy girl.  This nickname was given to Ariana a couple of summers ago when we (and she) discovered that she really liked swimming and was actually quite good at it.  But it was not always so . . .

“You’re going to drown me!  You’re going to drown me!”  Ariana SCREAMED when we took her into the deeper (4 1/2 feet) waters of our community pool.  Bryan and I soon realized that the crowd that was at the pool when we got there quickly thinned out after our arrival. It was THAT bad.

In his ever-patient way, Bryan ascertained that Ariana meant “You’re going to dunk me!” and not “You’re going to drown me!” So, once he got the semantics squared away and addressed her fears, we went to work and taught Ariana how to swim. In short order, she became a little fish, and the nickname “Guppy” stuck.

I was excited when Ariana showed an aptitude and an interest in swimming because swimming is in my blood. I swam competitively on the San Dimas Aquatics USA team from age 10-18; Breaststroke and Butterfly were my events.  Although by no stretch of the imagination could I be considered Olympic material, swimming on the team taught me so many wonderful skills and lessons–hard work, goal setting, team work, time management, the importance of exercise, etc. By working summers as a lifeguard and swim instructor, I earned a good wage which helped with my college expenses. Because of the positive experience I had with this sport, I’ve looked forward to the day when my own kids would participate in competitive swimming.

Yesterday, as Ariana practiced for the first time with the Frisco Aquatics year-round team, I couldn’t have been more impressed with her.  She worked so hard and was very attentive to Coach Jackie.  I hope that this will be the start of a life-long love for her and a means of learning so many important life skills.