She's One!!

Ready for all the cliches? I can't believe she's gotten so big. It's gone by so fast. It seems like just yesterday that she was born. Those are all true and, yet, it also seems like Maddie's always been in our family. Just as Eli was and is a perfect fit for our family, so is Maddie. God is so cool that way! :)

I must confess that we are not used to buying "girl" toys yet, though. Maddie's favorite toys have been dump trucks, fire trucks and trains. We don't think that there's anything wrong with that, but we also feel like we should at least expose her (and Eli) to some typical girl toys too. So, for her first birthday, we bought Maddie her first doll. And, as you may have guessed, she loves it! She carries it around, gives her kisses, climbs into her new chair with her dolls, etc. It's quite adorable.

Even though she's only 1 yr old, I think Maddie figured out that this day was all about her. She was quite the little princess and loved all of the attention. She especially had fun playing peek-a-boo out of the fort on our playset and making everyone laugh. And, I must say, Eli was very good about it! He sang "Happy Birthday" to his little sister several times, helped her open her presents and even let her have the attention. (of course, it also helped that one of his grandmas brought him a big firetruck to open before the party;))

While we didn't have an official "theme" for Maddie's party like we did for Eli's, we did have quite a few flowers involved. So, here's a look at Maddie's flower cake. It was really a bunch of cupcakes frosted together to look like a cake and it worked out pretty well. It was the perfect sweet ending to a birthday brunch.

Maddie, you are our little red-headed sweetheart. We love your belly laugh, how you pose for pictures, and that you love to play chase with your brother and the rest of us. You have truly enriched our lives and we thank God daily for entrusting you to us. May God put His hand on your life and help you become a goldy woman as you grow. We love you!!

(By the way, did you notice the beautiful November day here in CO? Amazing. :))