A Year Old

Yesterday was Kate's birthday. She's a year old! I still can't believe my little baby is a year old already! I want to treasure every day with her and kiss her every time I hold her. (There will be a day when that's not cool anymore, so I'll get my time in while I can!) It's amazing how much I love this little girl... my love for her grows more and more each day.

Josh took Kate outside for a little photo shoot commemorating her 1st birthday. Here are some photos from that time.

Here are some other pictures from Kate's Birthday Celebration:

And of course there are the infamous cake eating pictures:

It was a wonderful day of celebration.

Thank you to everyone who helped make Kate's first birthday a wonderful day!

Cake Decorating 101 - Don't take lessons from me

I knew I bit off more than I could chew. I knew it would be a huge endeavor for me - someone who doesn't really bake often-- someone who has never decorated a cake with anything other than the frosting that comes from a Betty Crocker plastic jar. I love to cook, but baking is different--it's just not really my thing. But once I got the idea in my head to do a Baby Einstein caterpillar birthday cake for Kate, nothing else would do.

So at 3 p.m. on Thursday I started making the frosting. And at 7 p.m. and 24 cups of confectionery sugar later, I had a refrigerator stocked full of frosting containers: green, yellow, red, purple, blue and white.

9 p.m. Thursday, I made the first cake section and let it cool for decorating the next morning.

10 a.m. on Friday, with babysitter in hand, I headed to my mom's house to finish the baking, decorating, and assembling of this master cake.

1 p.m. - Friday

4 p.m. Friday
Only one segment of the Caterpillar is done...there are still four more parts to go!!
Look, Kate doesn't have a clue what this is all about...

9:00 p.m. - Friday

Okay...I felt like I was on the final stretch. By 10: 30 p.m. I was putting the finishing touches on the head and all I had to do was decorate the little feet and I was done! So as I added the candy cheeks...I gasped as the head fell forward. I grabbed hold of it before it hit the table, and in the process I ruined the frosting. I attached the head again and touched up the frosting...and it fell off yet again. With new dowel rods and the cake in a different position, I attempted it a third time. And not only did the head fall off again, but the purple base cake cracked in half and was not salvageable. So here I am at 11 p.m. with a mangled head and no base...what do I do. Stores are closed. My mom's not a baker so there's no extra cake mix in the house...nor does she like crafts so there are no Styrofoam pieces around. Yet, my mom, my Aunt Jackie, and I put our heads together and found a solution! We used a cantaloupe!

The remainder of the night was like watching the miracle of the loaves and fishes...but with purple frosting this time. I barely had any left when the cake split, and I was so tired that I didn't want to mix a new batch up and have to deal with matching the colors. It was amazing that the frosting lasted. In the end there was a tiny section on the back of the cantaloupe that was not covered, but you couldn't really see it.

12:30 a.m. - Saturday

1 a.m. Saturday

So with the cake finished, I crawled into bed in my parent's guest room. I didn't even have it in me to make it home. The cake was done, and every ounce of effort was worth it. It was my way to make Kate's birthday extra special - even if she never remembers the cake. You know, I'd probably do it again too.

Happy Birthday, Little One! Momma loves you!

Miss Independent

Well, we all know Kate has a mind of her own - with specific preferences and tastes. She makes it really clear when she's not happy. But now independence is happening in new ways.

We've been watching and watching - just waiting for Kate to meet some new milestones...and the day has arrived. Kate has been taking her sweet little time getting up and moving around. Her (much) younger friends are already passing her. But in the last few days, Kate has figured out how to sit up all by herself, pull herself up to a standing position, and get on all fours with tummy off the ground. She still refuses to crawl, taking the much preferred route of rolling around-- but she's at least getting her body in the right position now. She's been taking a few small steps holding on to our hands. So the crawling and walking should be coming really soon.

This morning, she went down for a nap. About 15 minutes later she started crying really hard. I went in to check on her and she was standing up and holding onto the crib rail with white knuckles. She was all sweaty and frustrated. She managed to stand up but I don't think she knew what to do after that!

This video shows Kate's frustration of being stuck in the crib, and her process of standing up.
(3:15 long)

Today she figured out how to open and close the entertainment center cabinets. I guess my job tonight will be to empty them out!

Hard to believe our little one will be a year old this Saturday! How do you keep them tiny forever?

Videos of Kate

Here are three videos of Katherine that were shot today. She was in rare form at dinner time! Kate is definitely full of energy and has already begun to develop her own opinions and wants.

Pre-Dinner Playtime (2:29)

Here I am--Spillin' the (Green) Beans (2:08)

Me and My Sippy Cup (2:00)
I thought that these things were supposed to keep the water from spilling all over!