Aunt Donna & Uncle Bobby

Today was a fun filled and busy day for Erika. Lets see, she got up at 3:30 this morning, had a bottle and went back to sleep till around 8:00. Thank goodness Daddy got up with her this morning so that I could sleep another 40 minutes. I had no idea how much of a difference that 40 minutes makes...A LOT!! I felt so much better. It was funny too, because I remember saying in my sleep to Peter that I will be downstairs with him in a minute!! So then Erika did her usual breakfast, playing, bath and then a morning nap. Her morning nap was really late though and happened at 10:30. She woke up by 11:00 for a diaper change and then I put her back down and she slept till 2:00!! I was getting worried that something was wrong. Then Aunt Donna and Uncle Bobby came over and brought Erika the balloon that is in the picture above. It says "Baby's first Birthday." Erika was very into the balloon being that it is the first time she has ever had a balloon!

I like the picture above because it shows how big Erika is. As chubby as her legs are though...she doesn't have those rolls that baby's get. Hmmm...I kinda wish she did, those are super cute! Anyway, there she is playing with her balloon, supervised of course!
This is Aunt Donna and Erika while we were outside playing on the swing set. Aunt Donna is great with Erika and spends a lot of time with children Erika's age when she is at work.
Of course then we had to do our usual of walking down to the water. When I say there is nothing else to do, I mean it! For everyone that we take down there, it is fun. But living by the water, no doubt that we take it for granted. Before we walked to the water we had some swing set time too and Erika gets so excited just going in the backyard from the anticipation of getting on her swing! I am telling you, that is one of the best purchases I have ever made in my life! Her smile on the swing is enough for me.
And there is Uncle Bobby...who enjoyed showing Erika how to toss rocks in the water. It was chilly to me and I was so surprised to actually see some kids in the water. They had to be frozen! Uncle Bobby even asked if they were cold and they said yes. I mean it was only about 60 - 65 today...too chilly for swimming!! You can tell by how Erika and I are dressed (not by Uncle Bobby and Daddy) how chilly it was.Daddy and Erika checking out the water. Erika loves coming down by the water. I have been doing it with her since she was very little...about a month old or so. I even remember sticking her feet in the water last summer when she was just a little one!
We had to stop and get a picture in front of the pretty flowers!! I wish they were ours...but they aren't!
On the way back from our walk, we all ran into our neighbor "Aunt Judy" who was showing us a really bad cut on her finger. Aunt Donna decided that it needed stitches and so to add to the excitement, Uncle Bobby and Daddy took Aunt Judy to the emergency room for some stitches! While they were out and we were playing with Erika, she decided to stand on her own for about 5 or six seconds. I was very excited. Here is the picture to prove it. Not the best picture because I had to be quick! She will be walking in no time. The picture above is Erika and one of her many birthday cakes. This kid has been celebrating her birthday for a week already!YEAH Erika...standing up without holding onto any thing! Big girl. Then we finally ending the night with Erika opening her birthday gift from Aunt Donna and Uncle Bobby. Erika was doing great considering it was 2 hours past her bed time. She LOVED her gift...THANK YOU!!!!