Little Miss Firecracker

We celebrated June's 1st birthday over the long July 4th weekend.  We had lots of family come into town and lots of fun, food, and hanging out.

Anyone who knows June well knows that these pictures of her walking are absolutely perfect because they truly capture her "spirit" with the dirty knees and behind and a huge grin on her face.  That's our girl!

The guys decided to golf on Saturday morning and so the girls and the kids were looking for something fun to do.

The boys wanted to show off their bike riding skills to their cousins and so we made a quick trip over to the park. 

Next stop was a lunch date at Chick-fil-a with Bop's for dessert.  Yum!!

After we made it back home, Gigi took the kiddies outside for a little "stained glass" artwork,

And then told some walk, walk stories. 

It's showtime!

"Here Daddy!  You try a bite."

Clay turned 25 over the weekend so he got in on the birthday action too!

Present time!

After we got all the little ones settled into bed, the adults took on "Just Dance 2."  Check out Jabo's moves.  :)

And finally we ended the weekend with mass on Sunday before everyone hit the road.  

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of our wonderful family that made the trip for our girl's birthday party.  It really means more to me and Dan than we can even express to have such a close-knit and loving family who is always willing to drive the miles to celebrate with us and our kids.  We really do have the greatest family! 

June is 1!

June is officially a year old now and I'm in total denial that she's been in this world for an entire year already. Where has the time gone? 

We are having a little party for her this weekend, but I just thought I would do the obligatory month pictures along with a little blurb about our girl. 

She had her doctor's appointment today and she is a whopping 16 lb 6.4 oz (not even on the charts) and 28.25 inches(25%).  She is a teeny tiny babe, but she's happy and healthy, so all is good.  

She still eats a large variety of foods with her favorites being avocado, oatmeal, watermelon, and cheese puffs.  (Yes, she has had a cheese puff and she was in heaven. Oh the joys of being the 3rd kid!!)

She now has 2 big shiny teeth front and center to help with all that chewing.  A 3rd tooth is making its way in on the bottom.  

She is really starting to wean herself a little from nursing and I'm pretty okay with that. I'm actually looking forward to some sleep(one day maybe!).  Don't get me wrong, nursing June has been one if the greatest joys I've ever experienced, but all great things must come to an end and I feel like when she's ready, I'm ready now.  I've made it to my goal of 1 year and that feels soooo good.  

And speaking of sleeping, the child is just not much of a sleeper. She has, at least, started to sleep for some of the night in her own crib in her room, which a few months ago seemed like an unattainable goal.   Maybe she will figure the sleep thing out soon.  It's like I say to her during one of the 3 or 4 times she's awake during the night: it's a good thing she's so stinkin cute! ;)

She walks now.  She still prefers crawling but is getting better and better at walking everyday.  

She's a wild woman! She climbs, she screams, she turns the whole house upside down, but she's a lot of fun too!  

As is evidence by the month pictures, she has a mind of her own and does not like to do anything that's not her idea.  She's a spunky little girl full of personality and she fills our lives with joy and laughter. 

We love you "Bay Dune!"