And the Birthday Party....

Well, it's Wednesday after the big First Birthday Party and I think I'm beginning to recover! :)  We had such a great time and enjoyed it so much.  We're so glad our friends and family were able to come celebrate this special occasion with us and with Kate.  Kate had a pink and brown party!

Pink "Little Tikes" car from Grammy and Papaw

Strawberry Cake...mmmm

Cupcake cookies!!!

Pretty much everything was pink and brown!

It was a beautiful day!

Kate's 1st Year in Pictures...

Rare Family Photo :)

Also rare...Kate and Mommy :)

Playing peek-a-boo with Morgan and Tyler

Precious Emily

The Sweet Family

"Smash" Cake

Happy Birthday to Kate!

Mmmmm....this stuff is REALLY good!

Kathryn and Will...he looks hungry

Blowing bubbles with Papaw and Julee

Opening gifts...hmmm, which should I open next??

Morgan and Tyler helped with opening all the gifts...Kate lost interest and went to hang out with Daddy.

More gift opening...

Kathryn and Kate with her new shoes...PRECIOUS!!!  Kathryn put the "sparkles" on the shoes and laced the cute pink ribbon through.  I'm LOVIN' these shoes.

Kate and little beauty Claire

It's hard to believe her first birthday party is over!  It came and went, pretty much just like that first year.
Not much is new these days, other than the fact that we no longer have an infant, but a one year old.  We've been working on switching from bottle to sippy.  It seems to be going ok...sometimes.  She's only getting whole milk now, no formula.  Still doing bottles here and there just to be sure she gets some milk in somewhere during the day.  She still hasn't quite mastered drinking the milk from the sippy.  I've also been working on transitioning her from so much baby food to more table food.  That's been a challenge as well!  Still working on coming up with good ideas for her.
Halloween will be here soon!  Kate is going to be a Lady Bug this year.  Trick or treat!

My Little Pumpkin with some pumpkins

Happy Fall Y'all!

Love this time of year!

Happy First Birthday Kate!

Today was a great day....Kate's first birthday!  Of course it was a much bigger deal to Joe and me than for her, but we still had a wonderful day.  Joe and I were recalling last night what we were doing this day exactly one year earlier and just how nervous we were about the whole delivery process.  We were up practically the whole night before my scheduled induction...I don't think we ever went to sleep.   I know I didn't.  We got up about 4:30am or so to get ready to head down to the hospital so we could be there by 6am.  We had to wait in the waiting room for about 45 minutes while they prepared a room for us. By 6:45am I was getting dressed into my hospital gown, climbing into the hospital bed (the exact same room where Kelly delivered Will!), and trying to gain my composure over the fact that I was about to literally give birth and become a mom.  By 7am, Dr. Morgan-Gibbs had come in to break my water and my labor had officially begun.  I felt some contractions that were pretty painful by my standards, although the nurse assured me they really weren't that intense compared to the real, intense contractions that come toward the end of labor.  I remember being unsure of how to respond to that...should I hang in there, be brave, and try to hold off on the epidural?? or should I fold now and go ahead and get it??  But then, for me it was really never a question.  Definitely go ahead and get it.  In my mind, there are two ways to deliver a baby.  With pain, and without pain.  Call me whatever you like, but I chose without pain, and proud I did.  I think I got the epidural (thank you, Lord, for the gift of epidurals!) somewhere between 8am and 9am and was immediately pretty relaxed and comfortable.  And then Kate was born at 10:25am.  I couldn't have asked for a more picturesque labor and delivery.

Getting ready for delivery!

Kate, a few hours old

Kate, one year old

Luckily, today fell on a Wednesday so I was already off and got to spend the day with her.  We started off the morning with a blueberry muffin and birthday hat.

Doin' a little birthday struttin'

I'm One!!!!

Daddy helped me blow out the candle--and no, I'm not touching the flame (although it actually really does look like it!).  No need to call DEFACS.

Now THAT was a birthday breakfast!

I found myself stopping and looking at her so many times today and saying to myself, "Wow, she really doesn't look like a little baby anymore.  She's looking more like a little girl."  Bittersweet!!  So proud of her and all she's accomplished in her first precious year.  Praying for many more years of healthy growth for Kate.

This past weekend we travelled to Perry for the family reunion.  We had a great time getting to meet all the cousins!  Kate had fun playing with all her little cousins!!

Beautiful sunset over Houston Lake

Sweet Ella, me, Anne, and Kate

Julee, Kate, Anne, and Ella

Look-alikes?  :) Kate, Joe, and precious Belle

Four little beauties:)  Kate, Ella, Belle, and Emma

Birthday party in two days!!  Today was fun, but we are excited about celebrating with some friends and family on Saturday!

Personality?? Yes, please!

My how she loves this baby doll!

These "Diva" bloomers were a gift from Kathryn...SO fitting :)

Ok...the shirt says, "I quit daycare so I could do more hunting."  Ha!  Daddy likes this one!  Great gift from Paul and Delta ;)

My first pair of shoes!! (other than my pink Crocs, of course!)

Helping Bubby be sure he finishes his snack alright.

Kate's 1st birthday party is fast approaching!  This has undoubtedly been one of THE fastest years of my life.  Guess they'll only go quicker from here!  Kate is crawling all over the place these days and is really, really wanting to walk.  She is not quite there yet, but very eager!  

Nothing Like a Good Laugh

She got so tickled after lunch today!  All it took was waving my arms around in a funny way (similar to what she does when she's giving you "the snub") and she just thought it was hilarious.

And on another note (and sorry, Kate, but I just couldn't omit this) Kate tried dog food today.  And hate to say it, but she liked it.  When I ran to pull it out of her mouth, she started crying as if to say, "Hey!  Could ya put that back in?!  I was kinda enjoyin' that."

Happy Labor Day

We had a great 4-day weekend.  We really didn't do much of anything, no real plans, just hung around the house.  We managed to make it down to the pool yesterday for one last hoo-rah before they close it for the season.

My swimsuit still fit, thank goodness!

The water was a little chilly, seeing as it has been cooler these past few evenings and mornings!  But Will and Kate didn't seem to mind.  We had a good time.  

We were outdoors a good bit this weekend enjoying the beautiful (and cooler!) weather.  We capped off the weekend with some BBQ pork tenderloin and ribs, courtesy of my best-griller-ever husband!!  They were soooo good.  And some good company too...Grandmama and Grandaddy, Nana and Papa, Lori, and Kelly, Billy, and Will all came to join us. 

This outfit will probably be good blackmail material one day.  But it was TOO stinkin' cute!!  So girly.

Visit with Great-Grandmama & Grandaddy

We have had a fun time going over and visiting with Grandmama and Grandaddy some of these past few Wednesday mornings.  Kate has the best "greats" in the world!!!  They have their own pack n' play, high chair, and special books and toys for when Will and Kate come to play.  Kate sure does love her Great-Grandaddy!!  He is such a good Great-Grandaddy.  He got down on the floor and crawled around with her, gave her a bottle, and read her a book:

Oh my gosh, Mommy, he is soooo funny!!

Does it get any sweeter?!?!

Let's get back on that floor and play!

He is such a good storybook reader.  There are pictures JUST like this one from 30 years ago, only I'm sitting where Kate is.  Isn't God good?

Kate loves exploring new territory and crawling all around Grandmama's house.  We went over early in the morning, took a morning nap, and had lunch with them.  Fun morning!  Grandmama fed her her lunch.

Mmm...Good stuff.  You'd think she had done this a few times before.... 

It's been a good week this week!  The summer is almost officially over...this weekend marks Labor Day.  I was just thinking today about where I was and what I looked like this day one year ago...SOOO pregnant.  My goodness how life changes drastically.  Thankful to God for what I consider a healthy and successful first year as parents.