Happy Birthday, Sweet Skylar.

Dear Sweet Baby Girl, Happy Birthday. Happy One Year Birthday! This year has been the biggest adventure of my life -- and though it had its ups and downs -- I could not be more thankful for YOU -- every little thing about you just makes me so proud to be your mom! It seems like just yesterday I found out you were in my tummy - and your daddy and I could NOT believe it! We were so blessed! It seems like just yesterday I was riding to the hospital with your Mimi -- thinking I was going to meet you soon -- (I didn't know HOW soon!) and when I held you for the first time -- it was just me and you -- I could not have been happier! When we brought you home - I remember thinking -- oh my, what have we gotten into? -- and the weeks that followed -- full of a few hours of sleep and days spent in Pajamas because I did nothing but sit on the couch, feed you and stare at you and all your perfection - It all seems like just a few moments ago! Now -- you are full of energy, funny, smart, adorable, hilarious -- a little ball of energy! I could not be more thankful to be your mommy -- and to be able to be home with you -- even working from home part of the day -- I am WITH you -- getting to soak up all of the little moments that make being your mommy so fun! You have grown so much this year -- not just physically -- you are still on the petite side -- but have had a small growth spurt this last month -- you were 30 inches and 18 pounds 13 ounces at your one year check. Alot of your clothes are still 6/9months -- but you have a few 12 month things that I have had for a while that you are wearing anyway! :) You are all over the place -- into EVERYTHING. I mean EVERYTHING! It is very obvious that you are well aware of when you are NOT supposed to be doing something as well -- you almost ALWAYS tell on yourself -- even if I am not in the room -- I will hear you saying "No no no no" to yourself -- and know that I will almost always find you in a cabinet/trying to get into a cabinet you aren't allowed in, standing near the garbage can with one hand outstretched, touching an electic socket cover, playing with toilet paper or with something we have told you is not a toy -- and usually, when you see your dad or I coming, you grin like there is no tomorrow -- making it very difficult to keep a straight face while we get on to you!! You love your babies and stuffed animals. You squeeze them -- rocking your body back and forth as fast as you can - give them a kiss - and then pass them to the nearest person to "love" on them as well. Your favorite thing to do is read books. You will usually bring a book to your dad or I -- and say "more more" (and then sign the word please - which you refuse to say now that you know the sign -- little stinker) and then try to crawl into our lap to read the "gook" (book). So sweet. You would read all day long - and we can definitely tell it is helping you learn new things everyday! You know alot of your animal sounds already - cow, duck, dog, tiger, lizard (you stick your tounge out like you are catching a bug) you say mama, dada, more, (sign please) ball, bow, "guckie" (yucky - when refering to a diaper/trash), you say "Mmmmm" when you want to eat, and cup, and "ni ni" for night night -- the rest of the time to just babble - and babble -- and babble some more -- I am pretty sure I have no idea where you got that from. :) You had your first real dessert this month for your birthday -- you had a small cupcake - (which you finished every crumb of) at your first birthday photo shoot -- and then you also had a bigger one for pictures -- which ended up all OVER the place -- at your family party you ate another cupcake -- the entire time it was "Mmm mmm mmmmmmmmmm" -- I am certain you have the sweet tooth of your daddy and I combined!! You will eat almost ANYTHING we put in front of you -- and don't really want help doing it either! Your favorites are still fruit, corn, green beans, pasta of any kind, spaghetti sauce especially with meat, cheese, yogurt and anything that is slightly sweet! I can't believe it has been a year, Skylar! You have made my life (and your dad's) so much more full! It seriously has been the best thing every watching you go from this tiny, little, squishy, newborn -- to a smiley little baby who would watch everything -- to a chatty little baby who would scoot all over and "cooo" all day, to a baby who you could not leave alone for 10 seconds because you were crawling all over the place and would FIND something to get into -- and now we are literally chasing you all over the place and watching you learn new words, and how to do new things every day. I could not be more proud of you, baby girl. -- You have made me into a better person -- you have made my heart bigger and more open -- you have made me less selfish, more concerned with what the Lord wants me to be and do as your mom -and as a person -- YOU have done that. I am so thankful that God has given you to us to be your parents -- it is my one hope and desire that no matter how many times we mess up as your parents -- that you will always see Jesus in us -- and that you will know that we have your best interest at heart -- we want the absolute best for you -- and I pray that you will always be as sweet, kind, tender, smart, funny and open to new things as you are right now. You are the biggest blessing in my life and I would not trade one second of this past year for anything in this entire world. I love you with all my heart, Sky! Mommy

11 Months

Dear Skylar, You are now 11 months old! "I can't believe it"...I feel the need to continue the tradition of saying this in each post -- and YES - it is still true! Your little personality comes out more and more each day and it has been AMAZING to me to see how much you remember and how much you LEARN each day!! It is crazy to me how much you have blossomed! ....I can guarantee that your daddy will say two things to me every day -- GUARANTEE -- those two things are "Carrie, she is SOOOO smart" and "Oh my goodness, I love this little girl -- I LOOOOVE this little girl!!"...and I never get tired of hearing it - because it is exactly how I feel too. :) You don't seem to have grown much -- maybe length wise, but not too much in weight - we moved you to size three diapers just because we have some many boxes that I have stocked up on, and they seem to work fine -- even though its seems you could wrap it around your skinny little waist twice! You are still in 6-9 month clothes -- still sleeping in 3 month pants/leggins, but I have gone ahead and bought a couple of things for this winter in 12 months -- just in case you decide to have a growth spurt! :) This month you really started trying to mimic words and are remembering what things are. You will point and say "dat" or try to say the word if you remember it. This month you said "duckie" (guckie) "woah buddy" (whoo bubee) "ball" (baw) and you will tell us that the cow says "Mooo" (Mmmmm). You still say dada ALOT - and Mama more and more. Your 4th tooth came in this month - top left -- and boy was that a bear. I can usually tell now, you start to drool like CRAZY about 2 days before it breaks through -- this one came in the middle of the night, and we were ALL up and awake for it - you made sure of that! :) I am just very thankful the two nights of not-much-sleep didn't turn into a habit! :) You blew you first kiss this month - to Mimi. It was SO.STINKING.PRECIOUS. Now it is very dramatic -- You wave -- "buh buh" (bye bye) and then put your hand to your mouth and say....MMMMMMMMMMMuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhh....so cute! :) You took your first steps with no hands on September 29th to GGpa - at GG's house. Yall were outside on the back porch and GGma and I were in the kitchen and hear "Carrie Carrie Carrie" I looked out the window just in time to see the last one before you fell - I am so proud - and I am pretty sure it is one of your GGpa's favorite memories ever -- how could it not be!! You are still very cautious -- I honestly thought you would be walking all over by now, but you are just very content to crawl - it is faster and safer in your opinion (yes, I can tell) and that is just fine with me. My very favorite memory of all this month - actually of your life so far - was on September 25th - when we sat down for dinner and went to pray ... we have been folding our hands in front of your highchair and bowing our heads before dinner to bless the food since you were tiny -- and I had been working with you everyday at breakfast and lunch -- but that night, when your daddy said "Let's say the blessing!" You folded your hands and looked down at them. Seriously - I can hardly type this without getting all choked up. I was one of the most precious things I have ever seen in my life, Skylar. I know that right now, you might not know exactly what it means to pray, but to know that we are setting the foundation for you now, is so incredibly important to your daddy and I. If I do nothing else in this life, but raise a little girl who knows and loves Jesus with all her heart - I will be a happy mom. There is nothing that I want more for you that to know Jesus NOW - early in life - and to make decisions- for the rest of your life- with HIM in the forefront of your mind. You are so precious to me, but even MORE precious to Jesus, and I can only pray that your daddy and I make that clear to you. I can't believe that the next time I write to you it will be your BIRTHDAY!! But it will be here before I know it, and I am excited to see what this next month brings! I love you, sweet girl. Mama