Friday, July 20, 2018

One Year.

Yesterday, my sweet baby girl turned one! I have no clue how that happened so fast and I'm not happy about it. I feel like last week she was this chubby, happy, little 4 month old who just smiled all day long. Now she's crawling around with her brothers, playing with toys, being loud and sassy and adorable.

This first year was absolutely wonderful, even though it was fast. My little girl has been my sidekick, my little bestie all year long. Whether I liked it or not, she went with me wherever I went (thanks to clingy-ness and refusal of bottles). Grocery stores, Bible study, Target runs, even date nights. I'm not even mad. Everywhere we went we would get stopped by random strangers commenting on her beauty!
I mean, they are right, right? 

We spend a lot of time together, for sure. She still doesn't sleep through the night, despite all my efforts and multiple attempts at sleep training. She just wants me close. We co-slept for the first six months so I understand. And to be honest, she's my fourth kid so it doesn't really faze me to get up three or four times a night. I've been doing it for five years it seems. Part of her attachment to me is nursing. I don't think we're going to be weaning any time soon. She still nurses probably 6-8 times in a 24 hour period. Usually not for long, but she demands it often. (She thinks she's in control... she kind of is...) She's eating food but never too much at a time. That girl LOVES bananas and most fruit. Blueberries, watermelon, cantaloupe are among the top favs. 

She loves to play with her brothers and she thinks she can keep up with them. If they go running down the hall to their bedroom, she's usually not far behind crawling as fast as she can. She can take steps, but it's not her preferred method of getting around yet. She's a bit wobbly still, but I'm ok with that.  

My girl is such a sweetheart. She can be a little dramatic and sticks her little bottom lip out so far when we say no. She will hug or kiss you if you say "awwww." She loves to play outside, especially in the sand. If she finds a dinosaur laying on the ground she will go "rawrrrr" in the cutest way. She likes to say "go!" and was saying quite a few words last month but this month she doesn't feel like it apparently. For a while she was saying "love you" and it melted us all. She does what she wants, though, she is the princess after all. We call her that, but her most popular nickname is still Nugget or Nugs. She answers to it and her brothers even call her that sometimes.

I wish I could sit here and write down every detail of each stage my kids are in right now. They change so fast. The cute thing they did last month is gone now, and the things they are doing today may be gone soon. Right now, Easton is obsessed with Sonic. He's registered for Kindergarten and has started to learn to swim without swimmies. Every time we get in the car he requests the song "Reckless Love." Maverick tells me "love you too" even when I don't say it first. He is still full of trouble but is much better behaved and loves to be silly. Tucker calls Hadley "Haley Laine," and has a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch every morning. He's goofy and always surprises us with how much he gets when we think he's not paying attention. All three of them like to put on capes and masks and shoot the bad guys with nerf guns. They will play outside for hours and be absolutely filthy and happy. They are sweet boys and take such good care of their baby sister. 

It's always chaotic, but I go to sleep every night feeling so grateful and joyful that they are my kiddos. God has been so kind to us.

Back to the grind, it's lunch time! 💚