The Big ONE!

Well, its been a year since Kayla joined our family. We sure love our little baby girl. She's such a fun-loving, smiling, talkative, sweet baby. I did a lot of reflecting of Kayla's delivery on Sunday, which was her actual birthday. I reread my blog post from that time and was filled with gratitude for a healthy baby. A woman's body is nothing short of a wonder the way it creates a life and brings it into the world. You can read more about my experience here. 

Since Sunday was Kayla's actual birthday and Brett worked most of the day, we decided to celebrate on Monday. We had a quiet day here at home and just enjoyed our time together as a family. After we had breakfast, I filled Kayla's crib with balloons and let her play in it. She LOVED it. She was laughing harder than I've ever heard her laugh.

We took her to get some photos done at JCPenny that afternoon. She got grumpy half way through, so we took a break, she took a nap, and then we were good to go again. We got some great photos and I'm excited to get them printed out. 

When we got home, we let Kayla play with her balloons again and she opened her presents. It was interesting how much better she was at actually opening the gifts than she was at Christmas. She carefully tore away all the paper and opened the boxes. Kayla got a new dolly, which she was so happy about, Robin Hood, a quiet book, and lots of adorable clothes. She was, once again, spoiled. No doubt that this child is loved. :) 

I found an idea on Pinterest that I was excited about. I printed off all my favorite photos of Kayla from the past year and made a large #1 out of them. It turned out cute and she loved seeing all the photos of herself. She probably thinks that baby is her best friend. 

She LOVES this doll!

I made her cake using a large cupcake pan. I've seen my mom decorate lots of cakes and watched my fair share of Cake Boss episodes so I wanted to try my hand at cake decorating. My parents got me a huge cake decorating kit with all the tools and frosting tips. It was fun playing around with this cake. Its obviously very amateur but I'm excited to practice more and more with cake decorating. I need my friend Cassie to share her skills with me. ;)

It was a chocolate cake with chocolate frosting on the bottom and buttercream frosting on top. As soon as the cake was within reach, Kayla started sampling the frosting. She loved it! As we sang her birthday song, she just kept licking. We tried to get her to blow out her candles, since she likes blowing air on my face, but she didn't quite get it. 

For the first several minutes, she just ate frosting, but we cut into it to expose the cake, and then the mess really happened. 

Once she got into the cake, Brett cut half of it off to save it for us. :) We then got the ice cream out and gave her a small scoop to go with the cake. 

She didn't get much further than this. At this point, she began throwing her cake on the floor so we took it away. We had a lot of fun Skyping with my family and with Brett's mom and step-dad. I am so grateful that with technology, we can still share these moments with our loved ones. 

The aftermath!

"How'd I get cake down there!?"

That's one happy 1 year old!

 Brett got the chore of giving her a bath while I cleaned up the kitchen. I'm not sure which was worse! haha! He said he had to rinse her off several times before he could start the actual bath. She definitely had a great time and we loved watching her enjoy her special day. She even went to bed at a good time and slept great so we didn't have too much of a sugar high to deal with. 

Bath time! 

Kayla had her 12 month checkup today. She weighed in at 20 lbs. 14 oz. and was 29 in. tall, both in the 25-50% range, which is where she's been for awhile now. She's a little smaller than average and proportionate. She says 'Hi!' everywhere we go while waving.  Walking into Walmart is hilarious, because with so many people, she can't keep up with waving to everyone, but she sure tries!

She started walking a month ago and has it pretty well down now. She can get through most of the house without stumbling.

She can now climb up onto the couch and get down on her own. 

We child proofed the kitchen cupboards, much to her recreational dismay. 

Kayla has a picture of Jesus in her room and she would always point to it so I started telling her it was Jesus. Now, when we point to it she says "Jesus" and it melts my heart. We also have another picture of the Savior in our living room that I pointed out to her once. Now when I ask her where Jesus is, she points at that painting. She's such a smart baby. 

She loves looking at books and the pictures. 

She loves when we sing to her. Her favorites of late as Popcorn Popping and I am a Child of God. 

She's sleeping around 11 or 12 hours a night with two naps during the day. 

Kayla has recently started screaming to get attention. Its not my favorite thing but hopefully its just a phase. We're working on that. :)

Her favorite toys are her remote control  and guitar she got for Christmas. She also loves her scooter and rides it all over the house.

Kayla says Mama and Dada all the time. 

She will eat pretty much anything now. We just share our food with her from our plates and she's a happy baby. Some of her favorites are rice, corn, chicken, bananas, and yogurt. 

I am currently weaning her and she is now nursing 2, sometimes 3 times a day. Sometimes in the afternoon, she'll literally pick up the boppy or her nursing cover and bring it to me, making it very clear that she wants to nurse. Those are the days that she gets a 3rd feeding. :) We introduced whole milk a few days ago, and she's NOT a fan at all. Hopefully she will get used to it.

Kayla is still very snuggly and I love it. Occasionally, she wakes up early in the mornings and won't go back to sleep, so I just bring her in our bed and she snuggles right up to go back to sleep. I don't mind those mornings because I know it won't be forever that I can snuggle her like this. 

I love being Kayla's mother and am grateful every day for her. 

Happy 1st Birthday Kayla Rae!