Lulie will be 1 year old!

I can not believe that in under 2 weeks, our baby, Lulie will be 1 year old. This year has gone by so fast and I am in shock that she is a year old. It is very true that the 2nd child brings so much more "work" and so much less time to stop and smell the roses. We wouldn't have it any other way! This child has been the icing on our family cake. I knew our family would become more than a family of 3, but I could have never imagined the love and happiness that another child could bring and not just to her parents, but to her sister as well.

I do feel guilty that I have not done a monthly update on Lulie or that I don't post 1,000 pictures of her, but I honestly don't have the time or the energy. Lulie if you read this in 16 years and think, "Gee Mom thanks a lot", just know that it is not because I love you less or that there is nothing to write about it, that is 100% wrong. You keep your Mommy so busy with your smile and your adventurous soul, that I can not take my eyes off you long enough to do a monthly update.

Lulie is a bright eyed, big grinning, giggling little ray of sunshine. She wakes up happy and 9 out of 10 days, she stays that way from start to finish. She is happy and she is content. She loves to play and try to figure out how things work, even the stairs. She wants to climb our stairs so bad, she gets so upset when you try to take her off of them. She studies toys and really tries to make all the moving parts work. She also loves to brush her hair, her teeth and wash her body by herself. She gets very serious when taking the comb and brushing her hair. She is independent already.

When sitting at the dinner table, she will quietly sit and close her hands when we say the prayer. Then, after Sallie Rose has so sweetly Graced our food, Lulie claps for her. If the 3 of us "older" people begin to laugh at something funny, Lulie will laugh with us, even though she has no idea what we are laughing at. Then, of course we all laugh harder at her and it makes her laugh harder. She loves to play copy cat. If you make a mouth noise, she will copy you.

Here are a few of our other Lulie highlights:
waves hello and bye bye, also say buh buh and ha
says mommma
answers her play phone and say ha
plays with the little people dollhouse and can put the baby in its bed
loves tearing down Sallie Rose's block towers
puts any and everything in her mouth, but spits back out anything green and good for her
She has been known to spit those green veggies down her shirt by holding her shirt out
She loves dogs. She loves to pet Casey and lay on her bed with her (very dirty bed)
She can do a little sign language: more, all done and book

Over all this beautiful baby girl has stolen our hearts and it has been one amazing year with her! I can't wait to watch her grow and expand her vocabulary. She is so close to walking right now, any day now. I love to see her and Sallie Rose play with each other and I am optimistic that the two of them will love each other and be best friends.

Happy Birthday Lulie Belle, we love you more than you can imagine.