Happy 1st Birthday, Kiahna!

My little Kiahna Hope.

What a sweetheart you are.

My little I-will-eat-anything-and-everything-I-can-get-my-hands-on-even-if-it-came-out-of-the-trash girl.  My nothing-is-safe-from-me-and-I-believe-that-every-shelf-should-be-empty little pumpkin.


But you are just so darn cute that no one can get upset at you!  (You have this figured out, don't you?)

I'm so glad I finally have a Kiahna.  I had despaired of ever getting to name a daughter that name.  It took till number 3 for your Daddy to finally give in and let me pick the name.  But he agrees that it fits you.  It was just a little outside his realm of experience at the time.  And so he nicknamed you Kee-P right from the start.  He says it stands for Kiahna-Princess or Kiahna-Peanut.

Here is the last picture I have of you before we knew you were you!

Goodness, I was huge.

When you finally made up your mind to join us, you didn't waste any time in accomplishing it.  You said, "Now!", and I felt it!

We set a record in getting to town.  And there was no stopping to register once we got to the hospital.

Beautiful baby!  I love the way you're holding onto my finger.

And look at all that baby chub!

Your daddy and I were so happy!

It's hard to believe all that happened and how quickly it happened when you were only 1 day old!

This could have been the very last picture I ever took of you.  We are so incredibly thankful that God spared your life that night.

This is the next picture I took of you.  You were a few hours shy of being 2 days old.

If we'd have taken you home that day - and we easily could have! - things most likely would not have turned out well.  Or even if you'd have just been in the room with us, not on any monitors to alarm the second you stopped breathing, the situation could have been very dire.

I thank God every day for your life.

So we ended up with an extended hospital stay in which I took a gazillion pictures of you - what else was there for me to do?  You and I had lot of hours of bonding time that we certainly wouldn't have had if you'd have come right home.

It gives me a whole-new sympathy for families who have babies that have to stay long periods of time in the hospital!  Our stay was very short compared to that of many others.

And now?  A year later?

You are a very healthy, very busy baby.  You love to be held, but you don't like to snuggle.  You want to see everything that's going on.  

You don't mind playing independently, though I have to keep a constant eye on you because I never know what you're going to get into next!

You like to sleep (finally!) and have been known to take a 6.5 hour nap!

You are much-loved and much-spoiled by your parents and sisters.  Daddy likes to wake you up before he leaves for work in the morning just so he can start his day with a little Kiahna-time.  Kyla likes to pick you up and carry you around - and you put up with it very well!

We love you, our little Kee-P!  Happy 1st birthday!