Little Family Blog

newborn picture on the left and 1year picture on the right

Well it is finally here and gone. That first birthday came in a hurry and what a full and exciting month it has been! There has been lots of "firsts" this month. Some great and some not so great. Starting with the not so great would be that out of Kate's one year of living she had her first fever and sickness :( It was so sad. It lasted from Sunday evening until that following Thursday. I had never experienced my active and busy little girl laying still in my lap for hours. I felt like all I did was give her medicine. But, Praise the Lord, on Wednesday night she was running a low grade fever and I decided not to give her anymore medicine. She woke up without a fever and was much more active. It did take several days for her to be back to normal but, we were so glad to have her active and bubbly personality back! I don't think it helped that she was cutting all four of her molars the same week : /
Onto greater things now :) Kate has really improved on communicating to us. She has started pointing to things showing us what she wants. She has also started saying so much more, she is really understanding and using them correctly. She has blown us away in how she knows to associate certain words with things or actions, for example when I say the word "sweet" she associates it with a kiss. She really has become alot more affectionate and it is so amazing when she decides to give you a hug or kiss on her own. It has truly made me see that the reason the Lord wants us to choose to have an intimate relationship with Him is because it is definitely more meaningful and the love is evident when we act first.
However, with her learning how to respond this way sometimes there are times that aren't as fun and discipline has to be used now. It is not something we want to do but know that it is commanded in His Word and needed to hopefully save herself from things in her future.
It is amazing how when you have a child it makes you look at yourself and life so much differently. You want them to have all the good traits from you or your spouse, but not the bad ones, haha. It makes you think about what you put into your mouth because they are watching, and what comes out of your mouth because they are listening to you ALL the time. She definitely understands way more than I think she does.

Kate had her 1st Christmas! She missed it last year by 4 days, lol. It was so much more fun with her around. However, she doesn't understand alot about it, but she does like things like lights and the paper. We did decide for our family that we want her to know from when she is young in her heart the true meaning of CHRISTmas without Santa. Mainly because we never want her to think Jesus like Santa is something that is a fantasy or "not real". Santa will always be known as her parents in our house :)

A major milestone took place for her this Christmas day also. She decided to start walking! I got a couple of videos, but we were so excited and she has walked ever since. When she wants to get somewhere faster she will crawl, but she has done really well with her walking. I have realized now that since she is walking there is more baby proofing that needed to be done. She found the dishwasher buttons the other day and that is when it hit me. Mommy is going to have to be watching like a hawk especially when she doesn't know I am!
We also started a new routine. Before I put her in the bathtub we spend time on the potty. We look at books and sing. I let her sit there until she will no longer be still. Sometimes that is 10 minutes or sometime it is 30 minutes. We have had a really good results so far. I think there maybe only one time so far that she hasn't used the restroom at all. I know she might go through a phase of being a little scared, but hopefully starting early like this since I have time and am at home with her it will prevent that.
Upon turning 1 this month and her weight of a little over 20lbs now she is able to ride in a front facing carseat. I don't if I was more excited or she was but it is so much fun being able to see her and talk to her now.
Ok lastly,
that I can think of for now, we had her 1st birthday party with family. It was SO much fun and she loved having both grandparents at her house at the same time. We got her some balloons which she loved and has played with. I made strawberry cupcakes with sprinkles. Since we had her birthday "smash the cake" pictures taken earlier this month along with our Christmas pictures she knew what to do. It didn't take long at all for her to dig into that cupcake! We got some really cute pictures. Kate got lots of nice things from friends and family over Christmas and her birthday. We are so thankful for everyone that participated in this joyous occasion with us. I know we only had a family party, but lots of people were so sweet and got her a gift. Thank you! It is funny how that she is getting older and may find one toy that she prefers to play with or hang on to for that day or take to bed with her that night. It is so adorable and the older she gets, we want to be able to tell her who it is that purchased that item she clings too. Then she in return can be reminded to pray, that just as she has enjoyed this toy, that the person in return would enjoy Jesus. We always want her to know that no matter what is taking place, where we are at, or who is around that Jesus is the center of everything we do and are.
We have learned alot over the past year and I know we will be learning alot more in the years to come. What a blessed year this has been and looking forward to many more! This time last year we were coming home the first time with our new baby girl, Happy New Year everyone!!!