No more sitting quietly and smiling, Mommy...

Everleigh decided it was time to see what this whole camera thing was all about...

Gotta love the 2 teeth!

Playing around the house

We've had some nicer days weather-wise lately, but Everleigh has been sick quite a bit and honestly, so have Cody and I. So, we've spent more time in the house than usual. Here are some random photos of us doing a little bit of nothing!

Granna and Pappy's Christmas present to Everleigh - her new chair. It arrived a little late d/t the awesomeness of the chair and everyone wanting it (backorder), but it's here now and Ev loves it. Such a big girl in her own chair!

Everleigh and bunny (her newest favorite) going for a walk in her wagon (another gift from Granna and Pappy- birthday this time)

Her new favorite face...she knows she's funny!

Playing with the laptop Aunt Kathy and Uncle Lindsay got her for her birthday - she loves it too!

Not exactly what it was designed for, but it works

Funny face again

Everleigh found the spices in the pantry (Please do not judge the attire - she felt rotten and I wasn't about to change her. There are purple socks you can't see too. :) )

Yummy vanilla!

Happy Valentine's!

I got some beautiful flowers from my awesome husband! He picked out the colors and combination (my 2 favorite flowers) all by himself. So proud! Everleigh made Daddy a Valentine's card this year too. :)

My sweet girl in her new pigtails

Daddy's Valentine's Day card

More of my gorgeous flowers

1st Birthday Princess Party

We had Everleigh's 1st birthday party at our house a few days before her birthday. We wanted to keep it small and just had family and a few very close friends. It turned out relatively large and was so fun! It was so great to see everyone and have everyone at our house. Happy birthday to our sweet baby girl.

Cole thought the balloons were so funny...

Isabella dancing...or something. :)

Mimi and Isabella

Absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to get a picture with everyone smiling. We had to settle for everyone looking

Her cake was so cute...I obviously did not make it.

First bite EVER of anything sweet

I would definitely say she liked it. We eventually had to take it from her because she was eating so much of it!

Feeding Mommy

Feeding Daddy...such a sweet girl

Everleigh in her new wagon from Granna and Pappy

Ethan being a big helper delivering presents to Uncle Cody

She really liked the bows on the gifts

Everleigh and Anagail

A lot of people in a small room!

Everleigh crawling away in her cute tutu

To my darling daughter,

What joy you have brought into my life! I smile just thinking about you and your precious grin.

When your grandma, my mom, had cancer, I asked her if there was anything in her life she wished she could do or wanted to do differently. She said no. She said she loved her life the way it was. We talked for a while about it, but the one thing I will never forget that she said to me was, "I did everything I wanted to do. I had a Christy and a Lauren". I have never felt so loved in my whole life and will never ever forget that moment. But as special as that moment was to me, I don't think I could truly appreciate what she meant until I became your mom. Now, I know I can say that I've done everything I ever wanted to do, too, because I had an Everleigh.

This year has been the greatest of my life just watching you grow and change. At 1 year old, you are a bundle of fun! You are always smiling and laughing and making silly faces. You love to dance to nay music - including commercials (you like the iPad commercial!). You love your daddy! And, oh, how he loves you. I have never experienced so much joy as to watch him love you. He doesn't take one second for granted and is with you every second he can be. You also love Dublin. You chase him all around the house. He mostly runs from you, but you don't seem to mind. You just laugh and keep crawling after him. You have a mind of your own and are starting to let us see that! It's pretty funny to watch you assert your independence. You will push our hands away if we are helping you too much or push a toy away if it's not what you were wanting and go get what you do want. I love it! You are a very easy-going baby for the most part. We can take you any where and not worry that you are going to fuss or pitch a fit. In fact, a man who owns a furniture store we were in said you were the best baby he had ever seen in his store because we were there for so long and you never fussed! What a sweet girl! You are not as clingy to me as you once were, but still prefer either me or Daddy over strangers. I know I am your mom, but you are the most beautiful child I have ever seen. Seriously. Could. Not. Be. Cuter. I think it every day.

No matter how you change or what phases you go through, I want you to know that you are so loved and special. There is nothing I would not do for you. What I want you to know most of all in this life is that you are the Lord's child. Your dad and I get the pleasure of raising you and having you in our life, but you, my darling baby, are His. I pray that you love the Lord with all you have. I pray we do a good job of teaching this to you. Thank you for giving me the best year of my life so far (it keeps getting better!). I love you more than you could ever know, my sweet little love. Happy first birthday.

"Before you were conceived, I wanted you. Before you were born, I loved you. Before you were here an hour, I would die for you. This is the miracle of love." -Maureen Hawkins