Can't believe she is 1!!!

Karissa is officially 1 year old! I can hardly believe it and what a year it has been! I can't say this past year has been the easiest, in fact it has been a bit of a struggle with her for most of the year, but we are blessed to have this sweet baby in our family and SOOOOOOO... happy that she has been happy these past few days. (Why does teething have to hurt so bad!?)

To celebrate Karissa's special day we had a simple party filled with family, fun, cake and ice cream! We celebrated a little early, but we wanted to be sure to have Auntie Emy, Uncle Mike and cousin David here! Emy was so sweet to help me make the cupcakes for the party. We made the chocolate butterflies the night before to be sure they had plenty of time to set up. Everything else was done the day of and I have to say I think the cupcakes turned out pretty cute!

Karissa was a little unsure of what was going on, but once she had that first bite of chocolate I don't think she cared about all the cameras flashing and family watching. It was her very first taste of chocolate and I think she liked it. She didn't eat much of the rest of the cupcake, but was having fun playing in the frosting!

It's funny, time didn't seem to fly by quite as fast with Tyson as it seems to have with Karissa. I vividly remember her birth and it really does seem like it was yesterday! She is a petite little thing and we just love her so much!!!! I took her in for her 1 year check up and she is a whopping 13.8 lbs. No sumo babies in this family;) The important thing is that she is healthy! She will gain more weight in time, but for now it's kind of nice having a lighter baby to carry around!

Things about Karissa:

Crawls everywhere
Can pull her self up and walk along the furniture
Points at everything
LOVES to play with her brother!
LOVES her bathes
Loves to be held by mom
Officially has four teeth, with two more almost broken through
She's enjoying more and more foods, especially green smoothies
Still wakes up an average of twice a night to eat
Enjoys knocking over towers built by mom or her brother
Not a big snuggler
Likes to be outside
Drinks from a sippy cup by herself
She has the cutest little cheeks and pretty little hands with long dainty fingers.
Loves to play peek-a-boo when getting her diaper changed

Karissa, I want you to know how much I love you! You have been a challenge, but more importantly a blessing in my life! I love to watch you learn, grow and explore! As the years go on I hope and pray that you will always look to your Father in Heaven for guidance in this life as well as to your dad, brother and I. Tyson loves you so much and I know that he will be a tremendous example to you. I pray that our relationship my be strong as you get older, and I pray that I can be the mother that you need and deserve. I love you more than words can express and I have received no greater gifts in this life than those of you, Tyson and your dad! Please be patient with me as I have so many weaknesses that I'm constantly striving to change. I know that you can be, will be and are a strength to me in so many ways as I progress in this life. We love you so much! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!