Happy Birthday Bailey!

Bailey Elizabeth Foster joined our little family a year ago. It's so hard to believe that it's already been a year and my baby is one! It's been so fun this week remembering the time of eager waiting and then the day of her birth.





Bailey was our smallest baby weighing in at 5 pounds 15 ounces, but there was nothing little about her big spirit. Her big brother and sister could not have been happier or more proud of their little sister.





On Friday evening we had my sister and her family over for a little birthday celebration for our big one year old. Rachel helped me pick out decorations and Matthew and Steve put them up. Sweet Bailey surely didn't understand what was going on that day, but she certainly knew something was going on and she loved the streamers and balloons. She was actually pretty giddy about everything -- coudn't stop clapping and laughing.

Generally for our birthdays, the b-day gal or guy gets to choose her/his favorite meal for dinner. Well...Bailey eats very very little as far as solids go, but we recently discovered that she likes noodles. So, pasta it was. I made fettuccine alfredo and she loved it. YUM!

I know - there are four candles on the cake where there really should be only one, but I had a whole gaggle of children helping blow out candles. (We had to re-light and blow a few times). I was informed by my children and my nephews that there ought to be only one candle for every year of life. So, this was one candle for Bailey and three for her birthday guests.

Traditionally the birthday child gets her own birthday cake to mangle and eat. Up until very recently we really thought that Bailey would merely shove the cake off her highchair tray and be done. She did, very delicately, dip into the cake and even eat a bit of it. Go, girl!

Don't worry -- she's a Foster...she'll learn how to eat with the best of them. :)

She got an Elmo Live. I wasn't so familiar with this toy, but Bailey really likes Elmo from watching little glimpses of Sesame Street or Elmo's World dvd's that Rachel watches. It's really cute, but a little overwhelming, apparently, to a one year old. She was enthralled...and a little tiny bit freaked out. Little Sweetie was laughing hysterically and clapping one second, and then almost crying the next. After a few minutes she kind of got the hang of it and really liked it.

Aunt Becky and all the boys got her a new baby doll, too. It's darling and she loves it. She just kept kissing her new baby ... and poking it's eyes. (Isn't it funny how they do that? All of my kids have been obsessed with eyes of dolls and stuffed animals at this age.)

This year just flew by and it seems like just yesterday that Bailey came to fill her spot in our family. We can't imagine our lives without her. Her beautiful smile and laugh are contagious, (She has this big belly laugh that surprises people who have never heard it.) and she brings us so much joy. We love our little Bailey Babers so much and are so grateful she's ours!