Stella's Fiesta

On October 8th we celebrated Stella's first birthday with a fiesta. Since the weather was horrible, we had everyone inside. It was so much fun and such a huge success! We had a lot of friends, delicious food, amazing cake, and margaritas. I'd almost venture to say those were my favorite part. Stella had so much fun playing with her friends and being the social butterfly that she is. She wasn't once overwhelmed or scared with people played with her, picked her up, or sang to her. She dove right into her cake without any hesitation and had a great time eating it. Lucy was a little jealous and pouty, but once she discovered there were also gifts for her she cheered right up. It was such a fun party and although I didn't have as much time to make decorations, everything still looked so great. 

Decorations. We had that old window pane that happened to have 12 spots perfect for her monthly photos

Monthly Photos

She wore a dress my mom brought home from Costa Rica. It was so cute and perfect!

This baby is months younger than her. There was like a day that she was bigger than him. 

Daddy had to hold her back from attacking the candle.  

Yum!

Cake makes everything better!

Welcome to my party!

Opening one of her presents, a Baby Stella doll. 

Stella is a Year Old!!

I I can't believe my little baby is a year old. She's such a little toddler already with the biggest personality stuffed into a tiny little body. She's fully mobile and so good at walking. I'm convinced she thinks she's a triplet with her sisters. She has no idea she's the "baby".

Climbing to the top of the big slide, just like her sisters. 

Splash pad fun 

New teeth!

first pony ride

Cake on her actual birthday. 

Birthday nap

Stella,

You're getting so big and smart! You are walking all over the place and have such great balance. You love doing "laps" around the house with your sisters and giggling with them. You're using the signs "more, all done, please, eat, milk" and say "dada, mama, doggie, woof". You're understanding so much and starting to follow simple directions. You don't sit long for anything except eating. You just love food and eating. You usually eat more than your sisters at most meals. Your favorite things to eat are mandarin oranges, grapes, and you love pretty much any and all meat. You are so different from your sisters in so many ways at this age. You love, love, love those big sisters of yours. You and Lucy have such a nice bond and will hold hands and snuggle all the time. You still love pulling hair and think it's so funny. It doesn't help that Clara also thinks it's funny. You love the dogs and will pet them and snuggle with them often. Togie (our big dog) is so tolerant of you and she's just so sweet and gentle with you. You're still nursing about 5 times a day but have been biting me a lot. Sometimes it's related to teething. Other times it's just becuase you're being a little stinker! Either way, it hurts like crazy! I've been telling you no, but I'm hoping it stops soon. It's honestly driving me a little crazy and making nursing less enjoyable. You love your bath but are such a wild child it's stressful worrying about you falling face first into the water. You also like to try to drink the water whenever possible. The sleeping is okay but not great. Your napping has finally taken a turn for the better and I love that you nap most days at the same time as your sisters. It's so nice to have a little break and some down time during the day. Night time is still not great. Depending on the night, you're usually up 2-5 times. Teething doesn't do good things for your sleep. You're finally decided your lovey is a good thing to snuggle with, but when you wake at night you want to nurse in order to go back to sleep. We try not to have you in our bed because you don't sleep as well that way. Most times, Daddy puts you back in your crib after you finished eating. You're so outgoing and happy and love meeting new people and going places. Last week at music class you spent almost the whole time walking around and checking out the other people. You're so social and rarely act shy or overwhelmed by people. Having twin big sisters must have something to do with that. You have starting dancing to music and think you can jump on the trampoline. You climb up there and bounce up and down while standing up. You love being able to roam around and do you own thing, but boy do you get upset when we go against that. If we try to take away something you aren't supposed to have or move you from climbing on things or the stairs you get so upset. We recently did family pictures and you were so mad when I wouldn't let you walk into the lake. It's funny at times but can be exaspering as well. You definietly are a girl that knows what she wants! Your play skills still aren't great because you're just so busy trying to be active and three. You follow your sisters and love the play kitchen, but have just started to do in and out type play. You don't really like to sit and play with things for long. If you can carry things around you're much happier. We got you a doll stroller for your birthday and you picked out a soft pink puppy stuffed animal. We celebrated your birthday by going out to dinner and then had a fiesta themed birthday party for yo that weekend. It was so much fun and you're didn't blink an eye at all of those people. You're such a sweet and fun little girl and I can't imagine this crazy life without you in it!