Ducky turns 1!!!

This Wednesday, our bright, smiley, spitfire Ducky turned 1 year old!!!  It's so hard to believe it's been a year since she arrived in a big surprise.  Here is the first picture of my ONE YEAR OLD on the morning of her birthday.

I couldn't help it.  I just had to take a picture of the big girl walking out of the same bathroom she was born in.  Much different this year from last year!

It turned out to be a beautiful day, warm and sunny, as well as being Jilly's last day of school.  We went  down to the playground early before the bus so the kids could play.  Kayla walked all over the grass and explored the wood chips, even fell down in the dirt and scraped her knees slightly.  Perfect for a one-year-old!

While she was napping, I set out to make her birthday treat.  I had originally planned to make a 3D duck cake, but I never got around to buying the pan.  Plus we were working around some dietary restrictions of someone coming to her party.  Steve suggested Rice Krispy Treats.   I took the idea and ran with it.  My super amazing friend makes the most delicious caramel Rice Krispy Treats ever and I've been intending to make them for a long time.  So I decided to make a double batch and make a duck out of it.

Lemme tell you.  That blue bowl is a BIG one and it is FULL of the yummiest rice krispy treats.  It filled up two 9x13 glass pans.  I cooled them and then used one pan to sculpt the duck.  The other pan I used a cookie cutter to cut out ducks, put them on popsicle sticks, and drizzled chocolate on some.

We had a yummy dinner.  Kayla got sugar snap peas and Kix.  The adults got meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and broccoli.  The kids got chicken nuggets and broccoli.  Our wonderful friends the Schwartzes came over to celebrate with us.  We always love having them over and are totally going to miss them when they move this weekend!

After dinner, the kids played with toys for a few minutes, then it was time to open presents!

First up was the present from the Schwartzes.  Funny story.  So this red gift bag I bought a few years ago.  We have a plethora of wedding and baby girl bags, but pretty much no bags that would be suitable for a boy and/or birthday.  We've been passing it around my family since then.  A couple weeks ago, the Schwartzes invited us to come over for their little guy Z's birthday.  We brought him a present and took it in this red bag.  After we left, I told Steve, "Well, I guess that's the end of the red bag for us."  I laughed a lot when I opened the door and they walked in with this bag for Kayla's birthday!  Hehehe.  Guess it has a few more years in our family after all.

They gave her a very cool Little People SUV with blocks.  Perfect size for her and her favorite pink and blue colors. :-)

Next up were her presents from the Ziegenhorns.  They had been shipped from Amazon along with Jason's presents.  I started helping her open up the first one and looking at the box, under the wrapping paper, it just didn't look right.  I had looked at the packing slip, so I knew what she was supposed to be getting and the box was not it.  So we figured out two of the boxes had had the labels switched.  Good thing we were able to figure it out before opening it entirely.  Now Jason will still have a wrapped present to open on his birthday.  ;-)  The Ziegs gave her the cutest Skip Hop ladybug lunch bag and backpack.  Just adorable!  We're looking forward to using them this summer on our many adventures.

Lastly, we had the present from Mama & Daddy.  This box was another that was given to us as a baby present with Jilly and it was so cute we've saved it.  You can't see it very well, but on the side it has a duck and says "just duckie".  How could we not wrap her present in it?!

A super cute baby doll!  The doll's face lights up and it sings "Go To Sleep" when you squeeze it's tummy.  She LOVES this doll!!!  She fell in love with it in the store and since she opened it, she's kept it close by, even sleeping with it.  When I lay her down for a nap or for the night, she'll cuddle up with her.

After presents it was time for dessert!  The actual eating was delayed several minutes so we could take (many) pictures of the duck.  It turned out pretty cute!  Blue M&Ms for eyes and candy orange slices for the beak.  I did have to put it in the freezer to get it to firm up, but it held up well when I took it out to warm back up so we could eat it.

Here are the ducks-on-a-stick.  Really cute!  And the chocolate made them super yummy.

The big duck and one of the little ones.

All lit up and ready to be blown out!  (She needed a little help actually accomplishing that though. ;-))

The birthday girl loved the rice krispy treats!  She may have gotten more on her dress than in her mouth, but she enjoyed it nonetheless.

Brian helped the big kids figure out how to play with the SUV.

I was taking a picture of Amanda & Kayla, when Jason and Z insisted on being in there too.  All three of the kiddos have June birthdays.

The last little while of the party, Kayla just wanted to snuggle with Amanda.  She was perfectly content on Amanda's lap, playing with her baby.  It was adorable.

To review the last year of Kayla's life:

• Was born with lots of hair and had her first pigtails done at 4 months old!
• First tooth popped through at 4 1/2 months, with a second close behind.  Now at 1 year old, has a total of 8 teeth, with four molars pushing their way through.
• Started crawling at 5 1/2 months old.
• Sat unsupported on Christmas Day at 6 months old. (Yes, she crawled before she could sit on her own.)
• Started pulling herself up around 8-9 months.
• Started taking cruising at 9 months.
• Started talking a step here and there at 9 months.
• Started walking full time (and FAST!!!) at 11 months.
• Has blue eyes and auburn (reddish-brown) hair.  
• Has a very cute, silly smile.
• LOVES electronics and will chew on anything she can: phones, remotes, computers, etc.
• Loves to tease her brother and sister and mess with her parents.
• Is mostly an easy going, sweet girl, but when she gets irritated she is VERY expressive about it!
• Is our first baby to be 100% breastfed!  She has never had any formula, only breastmilk either direct from the source or in a bottle when I'm at work.  
• Is a very adored, very loved, very well taken care of little girl.

Happy Birthday to our beautiful, amazing, sweet, spunky, crazy Kayla!