Our near 14 month old had a first birthday

You know, I thought I understood what it was like to have a kid with a "holiday" birthday.  I mean, Kaitlyn's birthday is 10 days before Dusty's and my dad's.  And Samantha's birthday is 8 days before that.  Dusty's birthday falls on Thanksgiving regularly and Kaitlyn's birthday has almost always fallen during Thanksgiving break.  I truly thought I understood the stress of planning a party around the holidays, figuring out two awesome gifts so close together and all that jazz.  Then, Charlotte came along.

Having a birthday 6 days before Christmas is a lot of work!  I do not think I truly realized what that meant.  It's the week before Christmas, so you're already trying to cram in all the holiday fun, adding a birthday is just exhausting.

For Charlotte's actual birthday this year, we started a tradition of having that be the day we head out with hot chocolate, Christmas music and not a care in the world and look for beautiful light displays.  Charlotte enjoyed it in her new car seat so much she fell asleep before we left the driveway and woke up when we got home...

For her birthday party, we planned a Winter ONEderland.  <- a="" eah="" excited.="" get="" i="" in="" it.="" nbsp="" one="" p="" urning="" was="" wonderland="">

I took a whopping like 15 pictures.  I know.  Total crap!  But, it was a super perfect party.  It was simple, sparkly, low-key, filled with yummy food and a happy little girl who toddled from one room to another.

I loved the decor so much, I kept all 200+ snowflakes up until after the New Year!  For favors, I made everyone a personalized coffee travel mugs.  I just love my silhouette machine even more since discovering vinyl.

Charlotte has grown by leaps and bounds.  She still doesn't say a word really.  She babbles, once in a while we catch a mama or a dada, but it's pretty rare.  But, she knows so much.  If I ask Samantha if she wants to go potty, Charlotte grabs at her diaper and goes to the bathroom to sit on the potty.  She knows who we all are, she isn't shy with her hugs, kisses or love.  She loves baby dolls so much more than either of the other girls did.  She throws garbage away, puts dirty dishes in the sink and is just so amazing I can't express it in words.  If only she would start talking...

She's pretty petite.  She's at 20 lbs still, but nearly 33 inches tall!  She's wearing 12 months and starting to outgrow her tops a little.  Between Samantha's and Kaitlyn's clothes, she is set for the next several years regardless of what size she wears...  Her and Samantha nearly have the same size foot.  Well, that might be an exaggeration, but Samantha is finally almost into a 9 and Charlotte is cruising into a 5...  So, it's not too far off.

Charlotte wants to do everything the big girls do.  She plays hide and seek, tag and runs after them everywhere they go.  I love it.  She's just a joy.  A miraculous little joy.