Twelve months

The time has come…  last year at this time we were welcoming a precious baby girl into our family!! A whole year has flown by and Belle just celebrated her first birthday! Holy buckets.



Dear Belle,

Over the past twelve months, you have changed our lives (beyond the sleepless nights and the amount of pink that has invaded our house). You have wrapped Daddy around your finger, melted my heart, and become besties with your big brother. I am so grateful for the precious little girl that God has blessed us with—YOU!!

You are quite the little walker these days… and you definitely don’t need my help. If I try to hold your hand, you go crazy.  You’re still a little bit wobbly, but you do okay when you fall down. You can even get up by yourself in the middle of the floor instead of crawling to a piece of furniture and grabbing it to pull yourself up!

Girl, you love to make noise. You like to scream, squeal, babble—anything that makes a noise. And it’s generally loud. You say “dada” a lot. You’re first word that you always use in context is “Uh oh” and it is soooo cute! Sometimes you don’t even open your mouth to say it! Daddy taught you how to say “Hi” this week and that is super sweet as well!

And while on the topic of speaking, you started signing this week too! You can sign “more” when you want another bite. We haven’t worked on other words very much, but I expect you to pick up on them soon.
You’ve gotten another tooth on bottom, so you’re up to five teeth total. You eat whatever we eat for dinner. You’re favorite food is—well, it’s not a certain food. It’s just anything that comes out of a chip bag. I am so not kidding. Even if I hand you a chip off my plate, if it didn’t come out of the bag it is worthless to you! I have even put fruits and veggies in a chip bag so you would be excited to eat! We’ve made the switch to milk instead of formula and we’re exploring different milk options to make sure we avoid lactose.

Needless to say, I feel I must mention that you are pretty strong-willed, opinionated, determined… whatever word you’d like to choose. Please refer to the above pictures: the one with the drill—yeah, you wouldn’t cooperate without the drill. The one with the scowl, that’s your “I’m not happy with you” face. Do you see the attitude!? You are rather sensitive and a bit dramatic at times. I know you’re one, but I am amazed at how little girls are so different from little boys.

You love stuffed animals and you sleep with certain ones every night. Your favorite is pink ruff-ruff {a gift from friends}, but it’s looking a bit dingy and because it has a music box in it, I can’t wash it. So we are transitioning to a sock monkey you got for Christmas. You have started sleeping through the night more consistently. Only once or twice a week do you wake up in the middle of the night. You totally prefer to sleep in your own bed {me too, I can’t blame you} but you are quite ridiculous about when it comes to sleeping in a pack and play at my parents house.

But even so, you are still such a happy baby. Totally cute and super sweet!! You give the best kisses, even when they are wet and sloppy or if it’s just your forehead making it’s way to my lips. I love it all! We love you more than we can ever express into words and it is so much fun to watch your personality bloom!

The messy eater phase—but you’re just so darn cute! Look at that smile! {and the little ponytail that sticks up on top!}

You love the water, both at the pool or in the bath! It’s a great
cure for a cranky baby.

Last week at Jackson’s doctor appointment, you walked right over to the sucker basket and helped yourself! I let you have it after you worked so hard at pulling that off! You were definitely proud of yourself.

I love this picture from the park. You totally love to walk around and climb and play! When did you get so big!?

Belle, you bring so much joy into our lives and into the lives of everyone you meet. I pray that you never lose your radiant smile and positive energy. Sometimes I wonder how I am going to keep up with you, but I would never, ever want to change you! I am so blessed to be your mommy and I hope you will always know that. You make the world a better place; we love you. –Mom and Dad

{First birthday party pictures coming soon!}

One Year Stats:
Weight: 20 pounds - 29 percentile

Height: 28.5 inches - 27 percentile