Grace is WALKING

I'll have to add some photos and video of Gracie walking, but she is FULLY -OFFICIALLY- A WALKER NOW!!! :-) It's been gradual and it's hard to say when she first started to walk, but on St. Patrick's Day she took 8 steps in the kitchen from me to Daddy. Then two days later it was 11 steps. She would seem to be too scared or unsure of herself to just keep it up from day-to-day, but last week she just really got the hang of it and now she is walking and crawling pretty much 50/50. Even though she was a bit late to start walking -just shy of 14 months old- it seems like she's growing far too fast! Katelyn even said she didn't want Gracie to grow up so fast and that she wanted her to stay a baby. How sweet.

Flower Girl Katelyn

Katelyn was THRILLED to be Annie's flower girl last weekend! She looked so adorable too. She had a BLAST and danced the night away with my cousin, David, who is 5.

I was Annie's Matron of Honor -so I was at the front of the church for her entrance, but could not see her. I did a quick look around -all eyes were on Katelyn- so as any good mommy would do: I walked dead center of the aisle and watched her coming in!!! NO ONE SAW ME!!! :-)

Katelyn took her petal tossing SERIOUSLY and made sure to cover it all very well. She didn't want to stop. Thankfully, Annie's friend, Paige (who was also in the wedding) did a great job helping with her (I was up on the altar area and the rest of the bridal party was not so I couldn't help with Katelyn at all).

The whole morning while we got ready Katelyn talked about weddings, dresses, rings, etc. She knows more than most 3 year old girls given what her mommy and daddy do, but she has a huge interest in them now! She wanted to know about the rings and thought she should get one too. I explained what they were for and how one day she would get one when her husband asks her to marry him (I got choked up telling her that) and another one one the wedding day. She said decidedly, "Okay, but I want a pink one with a big ladybug on it!" :-) (If I ever know of a pending engagement before she does I'll tell her husband-to-be to give her one just like that!)

Katelyn, in her own words, "danced the night away." She first danced with my cousin, Michael, who is 7. But then David, again who is 5, decided to claim Katelyn as his! It was just too cute!!! They were smitten with each other and I could smile forever just thinking back on how adorable they were together. He twirled her around, they slow danced, ran around, played under the tables with glowing necklaces they got from the DJ during the "PARTY" part of the night. When we left David was nearly in tears. They hugged and hugged goodbye. He even kissed her on the cheek.

The next day when we were in the car she was obviously remembering the night before and said, "You know that boy I danced the night away with? I call him 'my prince.'"

Here are some pictures of my little princess Flower Girl (and some of her and her "prince" David).

Getting ready...



Annie & Katelyn




The three of us

Katelyn wanted in on the action shots. This was one of the best featuring her in it...



Katelyn's walk down the aisle...





Katelyn with some of the boys! (From left to right: Michael, Katelyn, David, Johnny)

Katelyn on Annie's lap during the watching of the slideshow we made for them featuring their baby photos through their engagement photos.



Katelyn dancing with Michael:


Then Price David enchanted Princess Katelyn and they danced the night away (Sorry Michael!):




Annie & Bren during their last dance of the night -see Katelyn & David in the background? Katelyn's wearing her glow-necklace.


David hugged his Princess at the end of the song...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACE!

Today is Gracie's FIRST BIRTHDAY!!!

As of last week my lil one weighed 18.5 lbs (she is so tiny!) and 27 inches (but I think she she was more like 26). She has 7 teeth (three on top and four on the bottom). She is not walking, but she is about a month off -so I am guessing. She says "Momma" but not that much. "Dadda" and "Doggie" -which she says more like a funny Scottish accent of "Deg-eh!" When our dog, Roxy, barks or the neighbor's dogs bark she often gets a stern sound and goes on and on with "Deg-eh!" It's hilarious!

She has said many words -just once- like "up" last week. But she says "hi" and "Deg-eh" the most. ;-) She is getting good at signing "all done" and "more." Last night I nursed her (we're on the sllllllow to stop nursing plan) and when she stopped she signed "more." I laughingly said, "MORE?! There isn't any more, silly!" She giggled and giggled and then signed it again and then giggled.

She cries easily -whether she fell and got hurt, just got scared or got her feelings hurt -and if Katelyn takes a toy from her she cries like her hand was chopped off! Let's just say -she is my sensitive girl. -Katelyn, generally, is not physically or emotionally sensitive.

She is so sweet and adorable. I am in no rush for her to grow up -but I can hardy wait to see how she'll be when she is older.

I will be posting a fun slideshow of her first year soon and lots of photos from her first birthday (today) and her party on Sunday.