Happy 1st Birthday!

On June 29th, our daughter turned a wonderful ONE YEAR OLD! We had a mini party on her actual birthday that night and the big one the next day! At the mini party, she got a few presents from her grandparents and us but the highlight of that party was when she got her baby dolls. Kimi and I knew that she’d go nuts if she got one for her birthday and we were totally right! When we went through the baby doll aisle at Toys-R-Us, she just went crazy grabbing for as many as she could all at once, bouncing up and down in my arms making uh-uh-uh-uh sounds while pointing rapidly at each and every baby doll she could see. Absolutely bonkers. Anyway, at the mini party, she got TWO of them and tried her best to rip them out of the package before I could get them undone! It was hilarious and adorable at the same time! But she just loved them.

The next day, we had a much bigger party at my mom’s house where about 40 people showed up! I was shocked that so many people came but it made the whole day so much more fun with them there. We had food catered by Makenna’s Aunt Lindsay, who owns a catering business. It was wonderful! We had brisket, baked beans, mac and cheese, cupcakes, and more! She even made a very special princess cake all just for Makenna!
But I’ll get to that here in a minute. We had a bubble machine that boasted 4000 bubbles a minute, and after playing with it for a while, I believe it. It guzzled the bubble liquid up faster than my car goes through gasoline but it did fill the air with bubbles! There were several kids there close to Makenna’s age and they stripped down to their diapers and played in the kiddie pool out back for a while, splashing each other and spraying each other with the hose! Makenna had a blast but the water was very cold so she got out of there pretty quickly.

Makenna had a mound of presents to open. All of the kids helped open them one at a time, which was cute. Makenna couldn’t decide which ones she wanted to play with so she’d pick up a toy, drop it, pick up another one and do the same. I guess that’s a good problem for her to have, huh? Anyway, at the end of the party, my mom put down a “Happy Birthday” tarp on the floor and put the big princess cake in the middle of it. After some help blowing out the “1” candle, we let Makenna tear into it. At first she squatted down and gently put a hand in and stopped and looked up at her mommy, as if to say, “Is this alright?” With an assured look from her mommy, Makenna put both hands in and squished it all around! She then sat on the cake, got up onto both knees and proceeded to get her face all covered with two fistfuls of icing and cake! When we pulled her out of there, there was a hilarious “cake angel” where Makenna’s knees had been, wings and all! Too funny! She didn't appreciate us hosing her off outside with cold water but oh well! All in all, it was a great day and we just wanted to say that we appreciated everyone for coming and celebrating our daughter’s first birthday! Thank you all!

In other news, Makenna just had her 12 month wellness check up this past week. Not a whole lot of new info other than these stats: She’s now 29 ½ inches tall and weighs right at 19 ½ lbs. Tall and skinny, not much of a change there. However, she’s turning into a toddler by the minute! She took her first steps right after we got back home from vacation last month. She hadn’t really tried on her own before this so we stood her up to see if she’d even try to take a step. Just one, please… she gave us two instead! First from her mommy to me and then back again. The first step was solid but the second one was wobbly. Still, very cool stuff. The next day we tried it again and this time she took 4 steps, albeit like she just got off of the tilt-a-whirl. :) Now she’s practicing standing up straight and getting her balance down. It reallllly won’t be long until she’s running everywhere! I just had to baby proof the cabinets throughout the whole house because she’s discovered how to open them up and take everything out. What’s next I wonder…

I thought I'd wrap this posting up with a few pictures from her first year of life. She's changed so much in just one year that I'm scared to death at what's going to happen this next year, or the next, or the next... Kimi and I would like to tell each and every one of you who supported us mentally, physically, and spiritually this past year how much we truly appreciated your love as we journeyed through our family becoming even better than before. Here's to the next year and beyond!