This past weekend we had Carrie's first birthday party celebration.  Surrounded by family and friends, my beautiful little girl had a great time.  Winnie the Pooh was all over the place and we played "Pin the Hunny Jar on the Pooh Bear".  She opened tons of great gifts from those who her including a wagon, a sand box, a bead maze, blocks, books, stuffed animals, and lots of fun things to play with outside this summer.  And the cake...she looooved the icing.  Not so much the actual cake (she spit it out) but she loved the icing.  We stripped her down and she dove in but did so in a relatively neat fashion.  I only cried when everyone sang Happy Birthday (we had to do it twice, that's my bad).  I can't believe a year has come and gone.  All I can think about was 8:44am on Thursday, April 21st these days.  I can't wait to see what the next year has in store...but at the same time, it doesn't have to come so damn quickly. :-)    

                        

There are so many things we take for granted in life.  God blessed Nathan and I with our beautiful baby girl with no issues or complications.  We have been unbelievably fortunate in all things.  I say this in relation to the TLC television show The Little Couple.  This show is about Bill and Jennifer Klein, two little people, married and living in Texas.  They have faced a great deal throughout their lives related to their physical condition.  But they are incredibly positive, funny, and caring people.  They have been successful in love and in their professions.  Over the past two seasons, the show has documented their attempts at having a baby of their own.  They have had to face the fact that it is too dangerous for Jennifer to bare a child and have now gone through two cycles of implanting embryos in a surrogate.  They have lost one pregnancy and the second time around they didn't even achieve that.  It's incredibly heartbreaking.  It makes me so thankful for how simple it was for me to conceive, carry, and deliver my precious baby girl.  I hope that all those who have been blessed with healthy pregnancies and healthy children to remember its not always the case for everyone.  Be grateful every day.  I know I am.

So April is here.  This is going to be crazy!  We'll be in DC for Passover and Easter, then my parents come to State College the next weekend, then Nate's parents come the next weekend.  And we even already have plans for that last weekend of April.  This will probably help with my neurosis over the fact my child is turning 1 in 3 threes.  I won't have much time to really sit and think about it too much.  I also have 3 papers to write over the next month (I think).  Summer will be here before I know it.  I can't wait to get Carrie out in the nice weather and at the pool this year.  Hopefully she'll do more than just sit and stare at the water like she did at 2 months old :-)  See as how much she enjoys bath time, I think we'll have a good time at the pool.

OH! And how could I forget to mention...Carrie's first hair cut was this weekend!  She did an awesome job.  She got to sit in a little red car in the salon and enjoyed every minute of it.  Tory was great with her.  Pictures soon.  And hopefully video.  I'm currently having a fight with my video camera and computer regarding the upload from the camera to the computer.  GRRRRR.