NATE & JENNY est. 5.25.08: Katelyn's ONE!

Oh, sweet, strong baby girl! You are officially a toddler, though you've been toddling around for TOO LONG ALREADY :) You are a mover and a shaker, little one. You started pulling yourself up on furniture and cruising around at about 7 or 8 months. You really took off at 11 months, and in a short amount of time, you've mastered the art of walking. You love the thrill of climbing stairs and more than once you've made it to the top without anyone noticing. You're quick! It's pretty amazing and was pretty funny to see such a tiny little thing cruisin' around and walking like "psh, I've been doing this all my life, why are you actin' so surprised!?!?". You crawled super early and were and still are pretty flexible. You used to just hang out in the splits position all the time.

You are everything and MORE than I could have asked for in a girl baby. I think you might have some intensity in you, but it's a pretty quiet determination (so far). You aren't talking much, just jabbering, but I never did well with figuring out what babies are saying... You walk, push things around, crawl super fast, and seem to be pretty fearless, oftentimes making me a little nervous because I thought your brother was busy... he's got nothin' on you!

I feel like today is a day to celebrate YOU, the fact that daddy and I have made it through our first year as parents to TWO sweet babies, and also to praise God for all He's done for us. This has been quite a year, so much happened that you may not fully understand, but here we are... Standing. Together. Happy. Full of Love.

2 Months

Your first moments on earth almost exacly one year ago were sort of scary ones. You were born with a knot in your cord and right away proved yourself to be quite the miracle baby. You had some heart issues, which all ended up checking out fine, but were such a sweet reminder to trust in Jesus. I pray you always do that. He's so trustworthy. Truly.

You were a pretty good sleeper and still are, for the most part (praise God!) and were so sweet and pretty quiet. You have always loved being sung to, "Jesus Loves Me" is one of your favorites, it makes you smile and giggle.

4 months

5 months old with daddy - at Larry and Jess' Wedding (9/10/11)

In your first six months of life, daddy changed jobs; we bought remodeled, and moved into our first house. What a crazy first six months for you!

6 Months

In the next six months, you took some pretty long plane rides, ended up in Finland, went for a reindeer sleigh ride, celebrated Christmas for your second time in the same year, and much more. It was a great trip! You didn't sleep that great, but you were pleasant. That's one of my favorite things about you - you have such a pleasant personality.

You had the cutest two tooth grin for a long time, I just loved it! Your smile is still beautiful, but those days of two toothin' it were among my favorites!

You are BUSY. Always on the move, quietly so, but seriously, you don't like to sit still - which serves you well in this family! Your brother makes you laugh and cry, sometimes in the same moment. I think you two will be great buddies your whole lives. He adores you and you adore him. It's pretty great to see. You're starting to show your feisty side, and that's good. You tend to get up when you fall, you don't cry a whole lot, even when you fall and skin your knees, you just quietly get up and get back to whatever you were doing, no tears, no fuss. You're a pretty awesome blend of girly and strong. I want you to be sweet, but I think it's also good if you can stand your ground! Speaking of standing, you're pretty tall and lean. You still fit into some 6 month stuff, but mostly you're in 9-12 month stuff. You have little tiny feet, still in size 2's.

You have a strange obsession right now with eating dirt and splashing in the toilet water if we aren't careful. Both are kind of funny to me and sometimes drive me crazy. Your pointer and middle finger on your left hand are your very favorite sources of comfort. You like to walk around the house with something in your right hand, preferably laundry of some sort. When you're sleepy, you suck your fingers, play with your hair/ear, and sometimes lay your head down on the floor. You love to sleep on your belly and hate having to sit still/lay still for diaper changes, etc. You also are not a big fan of your bib at mealtimes. You seem to prefer things that are sweet over just about anything else.

You are good at giving kisses and daddy seems to be your favorite benefactor of your kisses at this point.

I just asked daddy what his favorite thing about you is and he said he loves how you squeal with excitement. You seem to genuinely enjoy life, little lady. We pray you always have God's joy in your heart!

Smiling because she LOVES getting sung to! Cake?
Who cares, these people are SINGING to me!

For your birthday, we had a THANK YOU Party with our friends and family who could make it, a birthday party with your extended family along with your uncle and three cousins. You received gifts from Switzerland/France (Auntie Gretchie and Uncle Thomas), Arizona (Grandma Warner), and from here, of course. You are a well loved and well-like little lady. We were blessed with a gift of money to do something special, so we went to pizza for dinner and took you to get your first ice cream at Oregon Dairy where you touched the goats and played. You also had your first haircut and got your piggie toes painted for the first time.

You are so loved, sweet girl. I am beyond blessed by your life. Each night when I put you to bed, we talk and pray and sing together. I tell you that you're a treasure and reward of the greatest kind - really,

I can hardly believe God's kindness to us in you and your brother. We are so glad you're our girl!!!