What a Year It Has Been

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months 

10 Months

11 Months

12 Months

 What an incredible year! I am so lucky and so blessed. The only thing I was sure of this past year, I have a happy, healthy baby that I love more than I could have ever imagined. Here's to the next 12 months! I can't wait to see how you grow and change baby girl!

My 12 Months Post

Well, I have been dreading this day. The birthday has come and gone, and I still couldn't bring myself to do this post. My last monthly baby post. I can't put it off any longer...my girl is 12 months old!

She is an amazingly beautiful, spunky, energetic little girl with a big personality. She is outgoing and social, and I love her to pieces.

At 12 months...

- You babble and talk like crazy. You don't say any true words yet, but you are constantly having a conversation. You screech like an owl when you are excited and you scream like a stinker when your food is gone! You are truly starting to communicate in your own way. I really think you are starting to understand many of things I say to you too.

- You are still a little peanut. You are average height at 29 inches. It puts you in the 47th percentile for height. You weigh 19.5 pounds which shocked the crap out of me because I would have bet money you were over 20 pounds. You are in the 22nd percentile for weight. I love keeping track of your stats. It is the one thing that reminds me of when you were first born and we were so concerned with your weight.

- You wear 12-18 month clothing, and you wear 12 month clothing from Carter's. Your clothes are still baggy on you, but you are slowly but surely going to fill them out. The onesie from this post is a 6 month onesie which just makes me laugh that it still fits you. I love leggings because finding jeans to fit you poses a significant problem. You have shoes! You wear a size 4.5!

- You wear a size 3 diaper, and I am still a Pampers fan all the way.

- You have just cut your 6th tooth this week! You had two come in at once, and you were sluggish and cranky all week. Hang in there sweet girl because we still have a long way to go!

-We have been done with bottles for a while now, and you eat mostly finger food! You are obsessed with grilled cheese, and I am scouring blogs and things for new healthy, kid friendly recipes. Feeding time is not our favorite time around here. Please don't be a picky eater, please don't be a picky eater, please don't be a picky eater. You can drink from a straw and you love drinking from a real cup while we hold it.

-You can walk with mommy or daddy holding your hand and you can walk pushing your car and toys, but you aren't walking alone yet. You really aren't showing any interest in standing alone either.

- You are too cute for words.

Happy 12 months Baby Girl! You are a big girl now!

Pumpkin Days

On Sunday, we had a family day of fun spent with great friends. After our special birthday celebration, we headed to Tyler Arboretum for their annual Pumpkin Days. I was tired after running around to get ready for Kay's party, but I am so glad we decided to make the trip out to Pennsylvania. We had a great time.

We put the uneaten cake away, the bags of gifts back in the car, and we walked over to board the yellow school bus! Kay's first ride on a school bus. Who would have thought it would have been on her first birthday? 

Ready to Rock!

As we started exploring the grounds, we found a wonderland of fun and games for kids. Our girls were a little too small to do everything, but this place was most certainly magical for children. As we walked up, there were little houses built for the kids to explore. There was face painting, pumpkin picking, hay bale mazes and races, arts and crafts, moon bounce houses, and bungee jumping on a trampoline. We found decorated pumpkins and scarecrow making.

As we walked around, we were welcomed by bubbles filling the air from a continuous bubble machine. There were chalkboards to leave messages and write notes.  It was pretty amazing! 

The Crooked House

After we arrived, we were hungry for lunch. It could have been partly because an entire cake was still sitting in the car... whoops!...but we decided to have a bite to eat. They even had apple cider. It was the perfect fall day.

Me and My Girl!

This place was full of amazing things. After lunch, we headed to take a hayride. It was wonderful. At first, I was a little hesitant to get on the hayride and actually sit in hay, but it was so comfortable and relaxing. 

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Addie 

Kay was mesmerized

Even on a fun hayride, she was interested in the phone.

We were getting tired, but we wanted to explore some of the special exhibits they had for the season.

Some of the treehouses were incredible. The organic designs were impressive, and they were fascinating for the kids of all ages.

We had such a great day with our friends. This place was such a great new exploration, and I can't wait to go back when Kay can walk and enjoy it. I can imagine her at this time next year running around and crawling through the houses and tunnels. She will love it.

One final birthday celebration

After our big Pop Shop birthday party, we were not done celebrating. Sunday was Addie's birthday, and Daddy and I decided to join Addie's parents, our close friends, for a special birthday celebration for both girls. We headed out to Pennsylvania to explore a new place, Tyler Arboretum. We had never been there, but we heard great things from a friend at work. They were having a pumpkin festival, and it was a gorgeous fall day. We arrived with in the early afternoon with two tired babies. We met our friends, and we decided to have a little birthday celebration before we headed to the festival. We spread out a blanket, and we opened presents and sang "Happy Birthday!"

My friend and my baby girl 

My sweet friend and her family had an entire bag of gifts for Kay. Each gift had a special label about the girl's first year of life together. It was so emotional to open this bag of gifts as we realized our babies are turning into toddlers. It was the sweetest thing ever, and I can't thank them enough! This bag was full of Kay's and Addie's favorite things and there was a special gift for me.

Such a creative, thoughtful idea!

Daddy's favorite gift...Kay's first set of golf clubs

Thanks Addie for all my gifts! I loved them!

Addie opened a few presents from us too, and we were ready to eat birthday cake.

Too bad I forgot any and all utensils or paper products. So after we blew out the candle, we put the cake away. Who does that?!?! I packed a blanket, my new 31 cooler, snacks and drinks, but nothing for the cake! What can I say?

It was our own special first birthday celebration, and it was perfect! Until next time...

A Sugar High

The most anticipated moment of the party was the cake smash. I find it mesmerizing and hilarious to watch a baby get the first sweet taste of pure sugar. It is like you can see the blood sugar rising and happiness pouring out of the ears. Baby Kailyn did not disappoint.

As we sang "Happy Birthday" to her, she did nothing but smile!

She hesitated when we finally placed her homemade Elmo cake in front of her. She looked at it suspiciously so I gave her a little help. I put a little bit of icing on her lip, and she was ready to go.

After a few good bites and a bit of a mess, we shut her down. She slowed down at one point and pushed the plate away so I knew I should clean her up and wrap it up. Kailyn ate her cake and smashed it, but she did it like a little lady. My little girl's first sugar rush and she loved it!