A life filled with Autumn Leigh

Happy 1st Birthday to our Autumn!

Claire was quite excited for her sister this morning.  As soon as Autumn was downstairs with her, Claire took her to the couch and brought over one of her 1 year old birthday cards with a teddy bear on it.  Autumn looked at it with delight!  Claire said "I want to hold my one year old, I want to hold Autumn".  I teased "But I gave birth to her, so she's mine and I get to hold her".  Claire reminded me quickly, "She is not yours, Mommy, she is ours!".  Yes, she is ours.  All of ours- she belongs first to the heavenly Father and second to all those to whom she has brought joy.  Her sister, her friends, her grandparents, her neighbors, her church community, her elderly friends on the bus....She is well loved and, it would seem, extremely filled with love for others.  To all those who prayed over her in my belly, I believe the Lord is going to bless many lives through this little one according to your faith;)

So, the panda cake and cupcakes are all ready to go...pictures to come this evening I hope! After Claire and I finished the cake yesterday, Autumn saw it for a moment and smiled, almost as if she believed the panda on the cake was smiling at her.  Can't wait to see her dig in;)   Autumn is taking a nap, then will need a bath.  Teething and a cold are leading to dried snot all over the face and often.  Claire is more than excited for the party.  White, pink, blue, and purple balloons are bringing the living room to life already. 

At one year, Autumn is crawling with pace, moving around furniture, walking alone with her walker, pointing at things, reaching out to touch leaves and flowers, saying and waving buh bye and even night night, has a least ten teeth, is feeding herself with her hands and is mostly turning away baby food or anything that arrives in a baby food dish, learning to sign "more" and "hi" and "all done", splashing in the bath, despising diaper change time, sneaking into cupboards, climbing stairs alone, and starting to cry at men she is not familiar with.  She has been to America, the United Kingdom, and even Germany!  We are so proud of her and deeply thankful for all that she has added to our family.  So, as Claire would say, "Happy Birthday, Auty booty booty boo"!