miss molly grace turns one

Our sweet baby girl turned one last week.

To be honest, it was pretty hard for me, but at the same time, so, so special for us to be able to celebrate our precious little girl that we waited for and yearned for, and can't seem to get enough of now that she is here.  I just can't seem to adjust to time going so fast when it comes to Molly.
Oh, my heart.

She started her Birthday off with balloons and decorations.  It was really fun to decorate the house with pink and white.  It looked so cute and bright, and just like Molly.

We headed off to a little photo session after breakfast. 
Unfortunately, Molly was not feeling well (I didn't know it until the next day, but she had another sinus infection), and William and Luke were having a very hard day, so the photo shoot was an absolute train wreck. 
The boys fought and cried the entire time, all of the helium balloons popped for the hot air balloon picture, Molly screamed her head off most of the time, and I was having a hard time keeping it all together.
The photographer was extremely patient and understanding, but regardless, I cried the whole way home.  It was that stressful and frustrating.

Luckily, we were able to get some cute pictures of Molly.  She did smile for some pictures, even though she was sick.  Molly is one tough little girl.



Her new face when she is happy and excited.  I am SO glad we captured this!!!

just chillin' in my ride

Molly fell asleep as soon as we got home, and I got to work making cupcakes and wrapping her presents.

Molly woke up much happier, and when Ben got home the real celebration began.

I made a giant cupcake, and a great friend of mine who is a cake decorator offered to decorate it for us.  It turned out ADORABLE and exactly what I had in mind for my cute baby girl. 

For some reason this cake just says Molly.  Maybe it is the colors, or the cuteness of it all, but something about it is just her.

The cake smash ensued and we all had fun watching Molly enjoy her very own giant cupcake.

wait for it...

testing the waters...



she realizes that it's all hers!

ATTACK!

all done

and just like all of my food, when I am done, I will throw it on the floor.

After the cake smash, she opened her presents.  She was pretty excited to see all of the wrapping paper.  At this age, the wrapping paper was just as awesome as the gifts.

For me???

When all was said and done, she played with her new toys for a while, got lots of love and attention from her siblings, and then crashed.  I put my one year old little girl to bed that night, and thanked the Lord for her over and over again.

Even though Molly will not remember this Birthday, and probably had no idea what the fuss was all about, I hope that she felt loved and special, and recognized how much she is adored by her parents and her siblings.  Birthday's really are a celebration for a person's life, and there is nothing more precious to me than to be able to celebrate the life of my sweet Molly Grace, and the light and joy she has brought in to our lives these last 12 months she has been here with us.

Fun facts about Molly:

She is 20 pounds of squishy, lovey, chubbiness.
She walks everywhere, and she puts one hand straight up in the air to help her stay balanced.  She is still wobbly, and kind of marches around, and it is absolutely adorable.
She can wave and say bye bye, and love you.
She is a total daddy's girl, and lights up when Ben gets home from work, or when she sees him at any given time.
She gives kisses.
She loves peek a boo, books, and toys that pop up.
She loves to be chased, and to have her siblings hold her and run around with her.
She likes to sleep on top of me.
She loves to empty out my purse and put it back together over and over and over again.
She is being tested for all sorts of allergies next week, and has had chronic congestion since birth, causing ear infections, sinus infections, and tonsillitis.  We are guessing it is either the cat, or a milk allergy.
She loves Penny our cat.
She LOVES to empty the dishwasher and the cupboards.
She likes bananas, pepperoni, almond milk, waffles, apples, jellybeans, tic tacs, green peppers, and applesauce.
She can go up and down the stairs.
She absolutely loves to be outside.  She begs and begs to go outside.  She goes on walks with daddy almost every day.
Her newest nickname is "brown sugar." She is our darkest child, with light brown hair, darker skin, and deep piercing blue eyes.
She dances to music, and her favorite show is Baby Genius where they sing all sorts of nursery rhymes.
She begs for her morning nap, and giggles when I put her down for it, she fights to the bitter end at bedtime though.


We all love her fiercely, and she is an absolute light in our home.  She has a very specific role to play in our family and here on Earth.  We have known that for a long time now, and we can feel that any time we are with her or around her.  What a precious angel God has given us.

We love you Molly Grace.

Happy Birthday.