Birthday Party

Today we had Jocelyn's birthday party. It was a small crowd - us, Ama and Grandma & Grandpa. I think it was okay having a small group - she was overwhelmed as it was I think! Lots of presents and excitement. We had a super fun day. She took a good morning nap while we finished decorating her cake. We had lasagna for lunch, opened presents and ate cake. She got lots of fun new big girl toys, books and cute clothes. I think she would have been happy just opening the first one! Kailee had fun helping her open the rest of the presents and showing her all the new things. Oh, and we taught her how to put up one finger when you ask how old she is - what a smart girl. :)

Crayons and markers from Grandma & Grandpa

Reading a book from Great Grandma

Doing a puzzle from Grandma & Grandpa

Riding the car from Ama & Bumpa

Dancing with her puppy from Mommy & Daddy Pushing the cart that turns into a car from Mommy & Daddy

She wasn't too sure about the party hats, so everyone got to put one on!

Now she was sure she didn't like the hat

The cake - it was a group effort by me, Calvin and Kailee

Yummy!

She stayed pretty clean but still shoved it all in!

Oh, and we had her one year check up on Friday, and the doctor says she's perfect! But we already knew that. She's at the 50th percentile for both height and weight. She's 21 lbs. 2 oz. and 29 1/4 inches. It was a sad round of 4 shots and a blood draw! She was a trooper though! One of my friends sent her a baby doll for her birthday, and it's her new favorite toy. So once she could have that and her pacifier she was good to go!

One Year Old!

Happy Birthday Jocelyn! I was so excited for this day! I love my birthday, and hope that she always has a special day too. It amazes me how much she's learned in the past year. A year ago, all she knew how to do was eat, poop and cry! Now she knows how to do all sorts of things! Her latest ones are walking, knowing where her ear and nose is, finding some toys when she's asked (her baby, monkey, ball), her first "word" - it's kind of a grunting noise, but it means 'dog' - I think she's imitating their barking/growling sound, eating all sorts of things (and giving up the bottle - yeah!), and my favorite - giving hugs and kisses.

It's been such a fast year, but so much fun. We are so blessed to have her in our lives, and she brings us so much joy each and every day. I am so thankful that she is such a happy, healthy, easy going kid. We love you very much, baby girl, and look forward to the upcoming years and making more memories with you!

We're having her party this Sunday, but I had to take some pictures from her actual birthday!

She had a rough day at day care - she was really sensitive and slept a lot. Poor birthday girl! I think she may be getting a cold, or still working on some teeth.

Once we got home though, she was happy as could be!

Giving the bear a hug

One year ago!

Birthday dinner - her favorite - spaghetti and green beans!

So big!

Ellie helping to clean her up

Into the tub!

Fun weekend

This weekend we went over to Neenah for my Grandma's birthday. We had a great time visiting and meeting the newest member of our family - Laura's daughter Sadie. Friday night we had a coffee cake making contest. My Grandma makes this delicious coffee cake, and some of the aunts started talking about needing to learn how to make it like Grandma's. So, we decided to have a contest to see whose was the closest to hers. There were 8 coffee cakes, and we went around and sampled a piece of each. The winner was my cousin Sarah - the most people thought hers was Grandma's, and my mom - the most people thought hers tasted closest to Grandma's. Grandma didn't even pick out her own! I think we've all had our fill of coffee cake for a while!

The winners
Four generations - Grandma, Mom, Aunt Sandy, Laura, Sadie, Me and Jocelyn

Saturday we went to visit some friends, then went shopping at an outlet mall, and then hung out again on Saturday night. They had a little birthday party for Jocelyn on Saturday. We sang happy birthday, she got to open a present, and she got to eat a birthday cupcake. The video says it all - she LOVES cupcakes. It's a little bouncy because I was laughing so hard!

She tried to touch the flame and obviously didn't get how to blow out the candle, but she thought it was funny anyway!

She really enjoyed opening her present - tissue paper is fun! She didn't care about what was inside!

Uncle Tom & Jocelyn - he tried to help her, and she gave him the meanest look - she thought he was trying to take it away!

She has started walking more and more. She really walked a lot on Saturday when we were visiting our friends - there was a little 2 year old girl there, so I think Jocelyn wanted to be like her. She's still a little wobbly, and still prefers crawling, but if you stand her up, she'll walk until she falls down.