Happy First Birthday, AK!

Well, as you can see, this is birthday month around here! I always said I wanted each kiddo to have their own month of celebration....but, our oldest and youngest are only two weeks apart in b-days. So, the big party continues!!!

It seems so cliche to even say that "Time has flown by" and that "I can hardly believe she's already one"....but, it's TRUE! It literally feels like yesterday that I was holding this little girl...

And, now we are celebrating a year of having Abby Kate as a part of our family of five.

Mark and I were actually hoping to delay her birthday until this weekend, when he gets home from his last business trip. But, Kendyll didn't let us get away with that. She has a calendar right by her bed, and this morning, she was the first one in AK's room singing "Happy Birthday" to her baby sister. I ran around trying to find the video camera and made her reenact the whole thing.

Here's the sweet face that greeted us this morning...
Abby Kate sure loves her sisters...and thought it was so fun that they kept singing to her over and over. (check out that "bed head" on Carlie! That is what I get to comb through every morning...and, yes, Kendyll does wear that nightgown every night. :) )

Abby Kate's big birthday was spent running errands with Mommy and Kendyll, including a not-so-successful picture attempt for the birthday girl. We did get this one for her party this weekend:

The theme is "cupcakes" and is obviously completely inspired from her Gymboree cupcake sweater. :) I could gobble her up in it too! (For the cupcake theme, Kendyll, Carlie, and I are actually going to attempt to make the infamous Sprinkles cupcakes in a few different flavors...so, we'll let you know how that turns out!)

Tonight, the girls convinced me to take them to Outback to celebrate a "pretend birthday celebration", as Kendyll called it, because she didn't want her daddy to feel left out. (And, because he told us NOT to celebrate without him!) Our sweet waitress helped me alot, and even brought us a sundae dessert for Abby Kate and all of her dessert-eating-helpers.

Now, we have a few more days of partying with Daddy and the rest of her big family! We love you Abby Kate, and love watching you grow and learn every day. Thank you for making our family feel complete and providing us with constant entertainment. :)

In honor of the birthday girl, I wanted to list a few things about her that I don't want to forget....

1) As I already mentioned, she LOVES her big sisters. She absolutely lights up when they walk into a room and no one can get a true belly laugh out of her like her sisters...

2) She is truly a happy baby. Always full of smiles, hugs, slobbery kisses, and laughter. And, let me tell you, it makes it hard to discipline her when she's running away from me while cackling and grinning. :)

3) She is a pretty good eater, although there are definitely things on her "do not like" list. This includes mac-n-cheese, or any pasta, as well as carrots, cantaloupe, and strawberries. Her favorite food in this world is saltine crackers, and it has now become her "dessert" after she eats her meat and veggies. Some of the favorites on her list range from avocado to pinto beans to blueberries and lots in between.

4) The expressions on this girl are endless...and very entertaining. She can be serious...

or silly...

And, of course, absolutely happy!

5) Of our three children, she is by far the craziest, as far as activity level. There has not been a baby contraption yet that can hold this child. Even highchairs and grocery carts fail at their one purpose...to keep a child sitting during a meal or shopping trip. Nope. The girl shimmies her way out in record time. Of course, this also means she's "the one" in the family who has found the potty water, the dog food, and the stairs even though I swear I was right there with her!!

Mark is determined that all of this activity means she will be an awesome athlete. I have told him that I sure hope he's right...or she's just going to be the one who's always doing what she's not supposed to. :)

6) Some of her favorite things are her paci, her blankie, her bottle (on its way out, unfortunately!), her Praise Baby video, her stack-em-up eggs, bathtime (especially with sisters), sliding, swinging, crawling while being chased, and wrestling with any member of her family in the floor.

7) She has several tricks that we use for our own entertainment countless times a day. She loves to get a reaction from us, so it works out for everyone. :) She claps, waves, says "more" and "please" in sign language, raises her tiny arms above her head to say "SO BIG!", gives kisses, "pat pat's" babies and dogs (usually after being reminded that grabbing their faces isn't the best way to do it), plays peek-a-boo by covering her own ears or leaning so far to one side that she "disappears" behind something, and of course, says "I don't know" in the most stinkin' cute way. :)

Happy first birthday to our sweet little cuddle bug. We look forward to so many more wonderful years watching you grow more and more into the girl God has made you to be!