Lauren's ONE!!!!!!!

WOW!!!! My baby girl is 1 today!!!! A year ago Luke and I were staring at each other in amazement at the birth of our beautiful 7 lb. girl-Lauren Michelle. I remember the first time James met her I just looked at them both in utter amazement at how richly we had been blessed. Here we are a year later and I feel that same sense of blessing and amazement but so much more and so much deeper. It has been an phenomenal year. One filled with tears, disbelief, frustration, lack of sleep (lots of lack of sleep), and yet so much love, joy, and gratitude. Those of you who journeyed with me the first 6 months of Lauren's difficult little life know how far we've come! :) Thankfully too...otherwise I may not be blogging about her journey :)

9:30 a.m.
My dad has been bringing James a donut every Friday for the past several months. James loves it and looks forward to them each week. Well, my dad was laid off a few weeks ago so he has been stopping by the house more frequently which means....more donut days. Lauren has gotten in on the fun now too and she LOVES them (just like her mommy). We figured since today was her birthday we would put a candle in it and sing to her. It was lots of fun...probably more for my dad, James and I than for her. She looked a little confused! :) Of course James loved blowing out the candle!

We ended her birthday night with a trip to Target to buy her kitchen (bday gift) and we stopped for ice cream at Dairy Queen. As you can tell by the pictures, she loved every bite. She would have eaten much more, but we cut her off. This girl LOVES food and sweets....We think she eats more than James! :) She squeals as soon as she swallows what's in her mouth. This is one happy girl!


She is such a fun and happy little girl and such a stark contrast to the first half of her life. We are so thankful for her and are so excited to watch her grow into the girl and woman God has for her. Here are some pictures of little ways we celebrated Lauren's birthday today! Her party is on Saturday and I have been very busy at work and will be sure to blog all about it....so....stay tuned!

And a few facts about Lauren at 1 Year:

-she has a "blankie" she sleeps with and loves to lay on and cuddle when she's tired

-she LOVES whole milk (thank the Lord too...SO much cheaper than formula!)

-she loves to put things in various places and especially the animals in James' barn

-she has a little temper. I have seen more anger from her than I ever have from James!

-she loves to open and close EVERYTHING! and has found the only few door and drawers that didn't have latches on them from James

-she responds easily from just a look

-she loves taking baths

-she loves chasing James and being chased

-she loves food of all kind

-she has a really sweet nature

-she will dance to anything that has a beat

-she hates being left...and loves to be included in everything

***So I lied when I said I just a few things....hey, I could go on!