Happy Birthday Harliegh!

Sniff, sniff...well, it's official, Harliegh is a year old! I wonder if it's normal for a mom to wake up and realize suddenly that her baby is not so much a baby any more. It happened for me this morning. I heard Harliegh talking to herself in her crib and went in to get her. When she saw me she smiled and then scrambled to get her teddy bear(which I let her keep in her crib) so that she could take her bear out of the crib with her, for some reason, this did it for me. I suddenly realized, my baby is a toddler now. She can entertain herself, she shows preference and chooses certain toys to play with, she knows how to answer yes or no. It really is amazing, I put her to bed last night thinking "she is still my little baby" and woke up knowing that she is headed into toddler-hood and this will bring a whole new year of changes! She will start talking more and more (right now she only says a few words randomly) Her personality will show more and more everyday. She will test her limits ( and mine, hahaha). She will stop using her bottle (hopefully sooner rather than later, she only uses it to fall asleep so any suggestions on taking that away will be greatly appreciated) she might even start potty training!
Her birthday party went great for the most part! She got lots of fun presents and really enjoyed opening them for the most part. She had help fom her friend, Finn, who is 8 months older than she is, and she didn't really welcome the help at all. A few times I was scared whe was going to start fighting him! She has always been Little Miss Independent, and Finn really didn't mean any harm! She did get very fussy about cake time. I think it was because she was overwhelmed, and everyone was staring at her, Tyler thinks it may have been teething (maybe a little of both?) After everyone started eating their cake she seemed to calm a little and started eating. Though she didn't shove it in like is typical for first birthdays! After everyone had left Harliegh was in a fantastic mood and enjoyed playing with all her new things. So far her favorite toy is a piggy bank, given to her by Tyler's cousin, CJ. We have it on the coffee table and everytime she passes it she stops to give it a kiss. Her least favorite toy had to be the big one from Tyler and me. She LOVES Elmo, so we bought her a Tickle me Elmo....and she HATES it....we turn it on and for some rreason it scared her and she starts crying! Oh well....maybe in a few months she will like him better....or not...to tell the truth it is kinda frightening to see a furry red monster fall to the fall in hysterics!
Yesterday was also Tyler's birthday, which unfortunately was a bit overshadowed by Harliegh's birthday. I made him cupcakes and we ordered pizza (his choice) and today he is going fishing with my brother, so hopefully that will make up for it.
On other news, I am OFICIALLY enrolled in college for the fall! I have completed all the paperwork and my schedule and start on September 11th. I will be taking Religion and P.E. (yikes!) every other weekend, and a Realism to Romanticism Literature class every Friday night, which I am really excited for. Tyler is also considering starting school in the spring.


So here are a few pictures from Harliegh's Birthday. We got her a beautiful cake for free! Lund's (the grocery store near us) gives away free cakes for first Birthdays, I love a great deal!