Happy Birthday to...

Katie Anne! She is all of one year today! One year ago last night I had all the Christmas presents wrapped, all the neighbor gifts ready, and had a good nights sleep before heading to the hospital the next day to be induced. The day went pretty normal until John went out to the car to get something. By the time he came back in I was ready to go. It was at this point that no one paid any attention to me.

"Shut the door!" I wailed, not wanting my good friend Rachel to hear me, for she had given birth just the day before to little Matthew (that's him in the blessing picture). I think the door got shut, Katie Anne made a fantastic entrance, and all was right with the world.

Katie Anne (with an E!) has been such a joy to our family. She is almost always smiling, has always known just what she wanted, and has been a good sport about being ignored while her mom takes care of other people and their needs. She broke her leg and kept right on moving! She can blow kisses, bubbles with her spit (very inventive), and wave bye-bye. She also can say "Mom" and "Da" and sometimes a whole string of other things too sophisticated for us to understand. AND!!! She took a step, just one, the other night. Wow.

I am thankful for my Katie Anne.