Milestones

Two big ones in the past couple of weeks.

Emily turned one, and Taylor is now a teenager!
Time flies.
When I look back 15 years I never imagined I would be doing teenagers and toddlers at the same time.
Of course I never imagined I would pop out 9 kids either.  I never imagined it, but I wouldn't change it for the world.
Amazing how when you let it, sometimes life can bring you everything that you need, even though you never knew you needed it.

Since Emily's birthday fell during Memorial Day weekend, we started her party with trips to visit family graves.  I do believe that both of her great grandmothers would have adored this little spitfire!

my family minus my two brothers

Once we got to the actual party, this girl was all about her cake.  

Obviously we were not getting it to her fast enough!  

 She started out daintily enough....

 And then decided it was time to get down to business.

This is much more like her.  A huge appetite for everything in life!
This little girl never sits still.
Now that she has been walking for almost 4 months, she has really picked up in speed and does everything she can to keep up with the rest of the kids!

I love her face in this picture-she was so fascinated by this doll she couldn't wait to get it out of the box!

And hasn't let it go since that day.

Emily is such a funny kid-she is so spunky.  Her personality is so much bigger than you could possibly imagine would fit in this tiny body!  At her one year check up she weighed in at a whopping 17lbs 8oz, and is now all of 28 inches long.  Shrimpy child!  Although that is kind of nice, as it means she is still wearing size two diapers and her 6-9mo clothes are getting a lot of use.

One week after Emily's birthday is Taylor's birthday.  It is a treat to be this kid's mom.  Though I can definitely see him started to push a little as he gets older and establishes more independence, he is really a great kid.  He is so good with our little ones, and sets a good example for our other kids.

Plus he puts up with an obnoxious mom who does things like photobomb his birthday pizza picture.

And likes his Captain America cake, even though it's crooked.

I find myself so torn as a mom between lamenting my kids growing up so fast and being excited for them as they learn new things and expand their horizons and start to experience the big things in life.