Brenley May is ONE!!!

Are you kidding me? A month has went by already and nothing to report between 11 months and 12 months. Well, not exactly. I guess I've just been saving up. Here goes.......

On January 8th, my oldest brother Troy celebrated his birthday. Then we welcomed our 5th nephew (#11 grandchild on the Levings side) into the family on January 10th. Carter Lee Levings is the son of my middle brother Travis and his wife Julee. He joins big brothers Dylan Kyle and Brady Aaron. We got to meet Carter Lee this weekend. Check out our 11th cutie!

Okay, let's see......January is really birthday central. We have Alyson's birthday on the 17th - she was 7. And my Mama's birthday was on January 19th. She came up to Wichita on her special day and we got to eat dinner together. That was more of a treat for me than it was for her and Dad, I'm sure. Then on January 22nd, Jordan celebrated her 6th birthday. Whew! Lots of fun.

We had a mini super bowl party with Brian's brother Kyle, and his son Luke last weekend. It has become kind of an annual tradition and we thoroughly enjoy it, especially because we had two babies to add to the "party" this year! Check out the little NFL fans in action.

Okay, and now on to an event that I gotta tell you made me cry a little - or honestly - a lot. My baby girl turned one on Friday. I took the day off so I could spend the day with her. We got her picture taken first thing that morning. I had visions of tutu's and crowns and a big girly pageant dress, and my precious birthday girl was going to have NONE of it. She cried and pushed those things away. So we opted for a very casual outfit, and they turned out super cute. And of course all my Mom could do was laugh and reminisce about her own daughter that shucked anything girly and itchie! :) What comes around, goes around, I guess.

Then Brenley and I went to my work so I could show her off, headed to daycare to have cupcakes with her friends, and then had lunch with Dad. Finally it was home for a nap and party prep.

We celebrated Brenley's birthday with Brian's family at our house that evening. She got lots of great toys and super cute clothes. We got her a sterling silver ring, a pink and brown beaded bracelet, and a Cabbage Patch doll named Armida Merilyn! Yes, yes, those are all Mama's favorites!

Then on Saturday we headed to Oklahoma to celebrate with my family. Wow. Good times all around. Beau got to ride a horse for the first time. Sister got lots of lovin' and more cute clothes and trinkets. Me Ma and Pa Pa got her a beautiful bookcase that Pa Pa handcrafted. It's gorgeous. And I think she might like it too!

Between last month and this month, sister has gotten so big. She is diggin' her food more and more, although veggies are out. And she violently shakes her head no at the veggies. She loves meat and starch and dairy. We are working hard on getting her to transition to the sippy cup full time, and she is doing really well. She walks around everything and can stand on her own for a quick few seconds and then she realizes what she has done and falls to her butt. The funniest things she does besides the big "no" head shakes we get is when she is done eating or drinking, she says, "ah dun." C-U-T-E! That's about all the words she has added to her vocabulary, but let the record show she wanted me today and she said, Mum Ma. First time the name and me went together! Yeah.

To recap the month, her first year, and my feelings right now.........I have to tell you, this time went by so fast and has been a blur. I'm so glad I have been able to capture a lot of it in this blog. She is the light of my life (along with her brother) and it makes me very sad to see my baby move into the toddler world. Yes, I am so happy and proud to watch her grow and so blessed that she is healthy and happy. But it hurts a little. But I'll get over it, just like every other mother does. I guess the saying goes.........they'll ALWAYS be our babies, right?