My baby turns ONE!

Oh Happy Day!

We had a small birthday party for our sweet Hopey this weekend. It's hard to believe that this time last year, she was just a little bitty newborn. My, how time flies! As I reflect back over this year, I have no regrets! I soaked up every little moment and kissed those pretty lips probably too much! I enjoyed her like no other baby. What a gift we have been given.

"Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him." Psalm 127:3

Hope had a few of her friends over for an afternoon pool party. It was super hot outside...gotta love this smokin' hot Alabama weather! We had a great time of swimming, eating cake and opening presents.

I do want to mention one little incident that I don't want to forget.

I dressed Hope in her little birthday outfit, including ruffled socks and pink shoes. I was so excited because I never put shoes on her. (And they actually matched and all.) It was most cute. Not long after getting her dressed, she began screaming uncontrollably. This really is not like her at all. I offered her a bottle, some juice, even a cookie and nothing would stop her screaming. At this point, we thought she was having terrible gas pains because she was pulling up her feet and clenching her fist. The thought crossed my mind that we might have to call the party off...she was screaming THAT MUCH. Carlton gets in the van and zooms off to the pharmacy to get her some gas drops. After about 15 more minutes of screaming, I sat down with her and tried to rock her and rub her belly. But, Hope would not have it. She sits up, looks at me, and points to her shoes and screams again. I thought to myself, "No way, Hopey, you can't be throwing this kind of fit because you are wearing shoes."

She. So . Was.

I took her socks and shoes off and she smiled at me. Not another tear.

And no, her shoes were not too small or tight.

I just have a child who doesn't like shoes, I suppose. This should be interesting come Mid-October.

And.. here we are after our shoe melt-down. We had both worked up a sweat from all that fussin'.

Ok...back to the party.

Here are a few pictures of our fun weekend:

Hope wanted to share some with cousin Ada. Ada dove right in!!! I think Noah thought that was just hilarious.

This was a banner with pictures from each month of her first year.

Enjoy the video in the post below!