1 year check up

Belle's Stats:
Weight 15 lb. 11 oz. --- 30%
Length 26 3/8 in. --- 25%
Head 16 3/4 in.

Her roly-poly legs and arms are very deceiving. She almost gained one pound since her nine month check up. She is such a tiny little thing. Dr. S isn't concerned about it but does want to see her again in three months to check her again. She can sit up on her own for a short time. She sometimes waves goodbye, plays patty cake, rolls like a maniac, and is starting to get into crawling position. She is still the happiest little girl and loves to play with her brothers. She also has started to yell at us if we walk past her without saying hello. It is a funny little game she started with Jonah. She has all of us wrapped around her little finger.

Birthday Parties

Belle had two first birthday parties. The first one was just our little family on her actual birthday. The poor girl was feeling miserable, she had a fever and was moaning all night. We could only get one smile from her the whole evening.

This smile......but this is how she really felt.

She is really picky with textures so I thought I would try cupcakes out a couple weeks before her birthday hoping that she would love them and then dig into her cake. She hated them. So instead we just plopped a big scoop of ice cream on her tray with a candle in it. When she touched it she screamed bloody murder like this....

Before and After

After that we thought we should stop torturing her. It was a pretty miserable birthday.

Sunday night we got together with the Bennett's and did a combined birthday celebration for Belle, Cheri, and Lilly. Belle was feeling much better by then and had a better experience. We got a huge ice cream cake for everyone to share. And this time Belle loved it cake and all.

To my beautiful little baby,

From the moment when your daddy and I decided to have another baby I prayed for you. I prayed so hard that Heavenly Father would grace me with a little girl. I had all these wonderful dreams for you and I. I imagined us playing dress up and having tea parties. I imagined you letting me do your hair up in braids and curls. I dreamed of daddy baptizing you and your first date. I tried to imagine what it would be like when you got your heart broken for the first time as we laid in your bed me holding you and telling you he was the one missing out. I thought about your wedding day and how proud I would be of you for getting married in the temple. I even dreamt about you being a wonderful mom who let me smother your kids with love. I wanted you to be a girl so much it hurt. When we found out you were a girl my heart felt like it would jump out of my chest. I was so happy. At the same time we found out that you also had an extra little tag along friend. My heart didn't know what to do. It wanted to be broken but I was so excited for you that love won. Some people say "that moment" shattered their dreams. It didn't mine. It made my dreams more colorful. I still have all those dreams for you, they just have a different time line on them. Maybe some of those dreams we won't see together in this life and it's ok we'll get them in the next. But most of them we will. I can't wait to live out these dreams with you. I can't believe you are one already. This year has gone by so fast. You are the cutest little baby I know. You are so loved, not only by our little family but by everyone that meets you. No one can resist your big blue eyes and those dimples. We are so lucky to have you in our family. Your big brothers adore you and I know you adore them back. I love when you play with them. You get so excited every single time you see them. You definitely have them wrapped around your cute chubby fingers. The way you look at your daddy melts my heart. You look at him like he is your hero. I love when you say mama to me and snuggle with me. When you are asleep in my arms I never want to put you down. I'll tell you a secret.......when you are in other peoples arms for to long I get really jealous and want you back. I sometimes hope you will see me and start to cry just so I can have you back. I love you so much my darling girl. You have brought so much more happiness to our family. We love you more than you could ever imagine. We look at life with our eyes and hearts more open. Your favorite song is "You are my Sunshine" and it is very fitting because you really are the Sunshine in our lives. You brighten up our days. Miss Belle, I hope you always know how much we love you. We are all so very proud of you. I look forward to living out all my dreams with you, my precious girl. Happy First Birthday my darling baby!

love,

Mama

Mothers

When I was younger everybody said that I didn't know who my real mom was because I had so many. Between Mom, Grandmas, Wendi, and Aunts I always had someone around to love and take care of me. I think I started to understand how lucky I was in high school to be surrounded by wonderful woman but not until I became a mom did I truly understand and appreciate how many of them I have in my life. I know that I can count on any of the woman previously mentioned as well as my fabulous mother-in-law, ALL my sister-in-laws, old friends, and new friends. All these women have been such great examples to me. I have taken bits and pieces from all of them and learned so much. These women have all supported me through thick and thin. They like me for who I am and give me courage to be better. They are all fabulous mothers. I am so grateful to be blessed with so many beautiful woman in my life. I especially want to say to my real Mom....you are the best. I love you so much. Thank you for all the sacrifices you made for me growing up. Thank you for your tough love and helping me be the person who I am today. Thank you for all the love you give to me and my family. Happy Mothers Day!!!

My first 5K

Last month I did my first 5K. No, I did not run it. (For those of you who don't already know I despise running). The walk was to benefit Kindering and other youth projects. Kindering provides early intervention services for children who are disabled, medically fragile, or vulnerable because of abuse or neglect. This is who Belle gets her therapies from. They are fabulous and do so much for the wonderful little people and their families in the community. I also did this for another personal reason....Tommy, Belle's friend (from our DS playgroup) has a daddy with brain cancer. Him and his family are always in our prayers but this was also a little way to support them. They can use all the extra support and prayers they can get right now as they go through this life experience.

Cheri came with me. She is such a great friend to support me. We had a lot of fun people watching which you all know is my favorite thing to do in the world. It was a really neat experience to see all these people out running and walking supporting this cause. It just felt nice to be part of something so positive. Cheri and I are looking forward to more "walks" in the future. I think I've got Tony convinced to do the DS walk in the fall. The boys are really looking forward to it.