Richards' Reflections: Happy Birthday Isabella!!

Our precious little princess is ONE!! This year with her has been so much fun. She has been such a blessing to us and has brought so much joy into our lives. It has been amazing to watch her learn and grow and discover.

I love:
the way she smells
the way she pats me on the back when I pick her up
the way she pulls the ribbon on her paci ALL the way out before she puts the paci in her mouth
the way she smacks before she puts the paci in her mouth
the way she loves her daddy
the way she gives VERY slobbery kisses
the way she puts her rear in the air when she sleeps
the way she can make me laugh with her funny faces
the way she laughs when I kiss all over her face
the way she gets so excited when I go to pick her up in the afternoons
the way she fusses until we pick her up (then pats us on the back)
the way she plays with Gabby (our puppy)
the way she plays so intently with her toys
the way she has learned to get down off the couch
the way she wrinkles up her nose and pants like a puppy
the way she feels when she falls asleep in my arms
the way she loves
the way she expresses her dissatisfaction
the way she stops what she is doing and stares at the TV when dancing shows are on
the way she grins when we say "No, ma'am"
the way she shows excitement with her WHOLE body
the way she is so beautiful on the inside and out
the way she screams in delight (even in church :)
the way she can make my heart melt when she looks up at me with those eyes
the way she entertains herself
the way she sighs
the way she points at everything and shows us she is one
the way she jabbers on and on
the way she has brought so much joy to Terry and me.

The list could go on and on. We love this baby girl so very much and can't even imagine what we would do without her. I can hardly believe that it took us almost 7 years to get her here and she has now been with us for a whole year. I still have days where I look at her and am in awe that she is OUR little girl. It still feels surreal sometimes!! We love you so much Isabella Grace and can't wait to watch you continue you to grow.

So we took the day off so we could dedicate the day to our birthday girl. I was a little worried that we may not be able to leave the house because Bella had her first fever on Tuesday night. She was only running 100 degree temp but she really did not feel good. We gave her Tylenol and she insisted on sleeping with us. She woke up about 2:00am still had fever so we gave her more Tylenol. Luckily by morning the fever was gone!! She still didn't feel all that great but we decided to go ahead and take her to the zoo. The weather was nice and we could always leave if we needed too.