1st.birthday

Happy birthday to you...

Amelia Kate, you are one of the sweetest babies ever, and you bring our entire family such joy. It has been such a pleasure to watch you interact with Claire and Meredith. They love you so much! I'm sure that even Claire (who was going to send you back if you were a girl) wouldn't trade you for the world!

The day you were born.

Amelia took her first few steps a couple of weeks ago, and she's been gaining momentum. She's consistently up to 4-5 at a time! She has also started to give us kisses which I assure you is one of the cutest things in the world.

She loves her sisters, baths, her pink bunny, milk, and the dishwasher.

She hates getting her faced washed after dinner and being told "no". It's actually extremely comical. She's only been told "no" sternly a couple of times, but she cries the saddest cry followed by lots of sniffling and gasping for air. Josh and I were in tears yesterday (from laughing so hard) as we listened to her.

We just adore you Little 'Melia! We can't imagine our world without you!

Here's a peek into your first year:

one.year.ago.today

....was my last full day of being pregnant! This picture was actually taken the morning that we had Amelia. I was so excited to be in labor...really! Look for a fun birthday post tomorrow!

My baby's turning one!

 

mommy.i.need.you

This is what happens when Daddy does hair. :( Do you see that little rubber band hanging by 3 pieces of Amelia's hair up there on the left? Good try, honey...you're much better with a single ponytail for Meredith. Keep trying, though!!

 

sleepy.juice

I hate it when I fall asleep while I'm trying to finish off my meal!

This was Amelia's first nap in her high chair, and I just couldn't resist snapping some pictures.

 

time.out

Claire has been documenting Meredith's time in the corner as well. We may have to replace the carpet where she's standing in a couple of years...it tends to get a lot of foot traffic. :)

 

more.from.claire

This one is an ant. I guess kids take pictures when you have ant problems in your house.

These next two are really fun. This is a birdhouse that my dad gave the girls to paint. I bought the paint (last fall), and we obviously didn't get it painted fast enough for the girls.

Here's how the story goes: "Mom! Don't come in here. We're doing something, and we don't want you to see it. It's a surprise!" Hmmmm...this always makes me wonder.

But, I'm trying to be nice...I just think they are playing and "creating" something. Yes, that's what it was. Again, "Mom! We're making your Christmas present...don't come in here."

Ok, now I'm going to feel bad if I see it because I don't want to ruin my Christmas present! So, I go to the back of the house to do some work. I come back out (forgetting that they are working on my Christmas present), and I walk around the corner and see this:

Yes, those are crayons. Yes, those are barrettes. Yes, those are plaster of paris shapes. Yes, that is a Littlest Pet Shop figurine. And, oh yes, they are all glued to the birdhouse.

Me: What did you do?!!! Those are our best crayons! (On a side note...of course, they were the best crayons...this was a Christmas present for Mom after all.)

Claire and Meredith (pretty much in unison): Mom! You saw your present before we wrapped it! Now we can't give it to you for Christmas!!!

Me: (saying nothing...what do you say when you've ruined your Christmas present?) Well, let's just put it on the counter, and we'll talk about it later.

Later...after Josh gets home...

Josh: Girls, don't you think you should ask before you do something like this?

Claire and Meredith: Well, we couldn't ask Mom...it was her Christmas present...then she would have known what she was going to get!

Josh: (just like me...no response to this one.)

I guess I'm not getting anything for Christmas.

 

photography.by.claire

Claire loves the camera...especially being on the other side of the camera (although, as you can tell, she likes to even put herself in the pictures!). She loves to take pictures. She's a girl after Grandma Ice Cream's own heart!

I'll be sharing some of Claire's photography skills in the near future. It's pretty fun to see things from a 5 year old's perspective!

Here is a fun series of her and Amelia...I'm guessing that Amelia was seeing spots by the time the shoot was over!

I love my girls.