12 Months... 1 Year Old!

It's so hard to believe that our baby is already 1 year old!   I will say that birthdays have changed their meaning this year... Although my birthday is the day before Katelyn's, I was far more excited for hers as it carries such amazing memories welcoming her into our lives.  

Birthday Party!: We celebrated Katelyn's birthday a few weeks early since we had so much going on in September-October and then we'll have a newborn so we really wanted her to have her own day.  My mom flew in to help me prep for it and of course to celebrate and spend time with Katelyn.  Katelyn did a great job!  Woke up from a nap shortly before the party, she ate a great supper, loved all the attention, got excited with each gift opened, and loved the cupcake I made her.  It was actually a healthy version made without sugar but made with bananas and applesauce.  The icing was made with mainly powdered sugar (and a tiny bit of greek yogurt) and although I thought she'd go crazy over the icing, she was more excited about the cupcake (more like a muffin) and turned it upside down to eat the underside more than the icing!  Silly girl!  Note to self- make more muffins!

Vocabulary: We have added the words "down", "yep", and signs milk and all done.  She also points a lot- often to ask for more.

Sitting: We LOVE to arrange things, turn around, squat down and sit on it.  Whether it's a pillow or stuffed animal or just a bucket.  Anything that is her size!

Steps: Gaining more balance as she practices walking holding on to one of our hands.  She sometimes accidentally takes a few steps without realizing it.  We need to work with her more on it because it's really just about confidence now.  She has the balance and skills.

Teeth: We have 5 teeth now!  2 on bottom, 3 on top!

Toddler bed!: Grammy helped a bunch by painting Katelyn's new room and cleaned the room.  As soon as Grammy left town, we switched the room over for Katelyn with a toddler bed and transitioned her over.  We thought we'd go slow- just for naps to start.  The first day we did a nap in there, it was as if there was no transition at all.  Because we felt confident about it, we haven't gone back to the crib since!  We put a body pillow down on the floor in case she somehow got out and we rolled up towels and put it under the sheets across the opening just so she doesn't fall out (since she came pretty close in one of her naps!).  I know- most people freak out when they hear we've transitioned her before she can even walk, but she knows what edges are and that if she leans over them that she can fall and she knows how to turn around and climb down from the couch or other high things so we feel confident.  It's been a few weeks and so far so good!

*videos of Katelyn at the bottom*

Baby Boy

This should be the last post by me before baby boy is born!  We have about 2 weeks left until the "due week" but we'll see what he decides on timing (or even more so what God decides on timing).  I won't lie, I'm feeling very uncomfortable.  I don't remember pregnancy feeling like this to the point where bending down is nearly impossible with how incredibly low he is and everything I do causes contractions.  Anyway, I think baby boy will look a little different than Katelyn- at least their 20 weeks ultrasounds shows a little different face shape in my opinion.  Baby boy on the left, Katelyn on the right.  We're excited to see him in real life!  Dr. said "this is NOT a small baby..." scaring mama quite a bit, but then she mentioned that Katelyn wasn't small either (oh phew- I was thinking she meant 10-11 lbs?!)  Sounds like he's probably about 7lbs already with a few weeks to go.  Praying God knows the timing best and that labor is a little faster and even more efficient than last time but you just never know!  Baby boy loves to stretch out those legs and push hard!  Anyway, his appearance should be coming shortly in the next few weeks so keep us in your prayers that labor goes well, that he's perfectly healthy, and that Katelyn learns to transition and love her baby brother!