Oh, the shoes.....

Carys LOVES shoes. She is obsessive about shoes. In her cute little voice, I will never forget one of her first words...."shooos Mammmeee". Her favorites are Daddy's huge shoes, which I still have yet to get a photo of. Her latest is wearing around her 'five sizes too big' rain boots. She can barely walk in them, but that doesn't stop her! Every time I hear that clomping around the house, it brings a big smile to my face. Love my girl(s)!

Big Sister had to get in on the action and put hers on too.  A little break for a hug. 

Keep on truckin' Carys!

Smooch.

She looks like she is 3 in this picture! AH!

Someone LOVES the snow

and it takes an army to get all their snow gear on and off! This is Carys' real "taste" of snow.....the first time she saw it snowing she kept pointing out the window saying "NO, NO!" (her way of saying SNOW) Once I let her experience playing in it, there was no turning back. She was afraid to walk on it, but was in awe of the beauty. She loved riding in the sled and trying to eat it. There were lots of tears when we had to come in. She definitely loves the outdoors and snow is no exception!

Yes, don't mind the ugly purple snowsuit...it was all we had.

Aria pulled her around the yard

She could have sat there all day! My kind of girl!

Yep, she's brilliant....

We always brag  talk about how smart Carys is.....it only takes her one time to learn something (even in an unfamiliar language). I'm serious.  One sign and she knows sign language, she can repeat anything she hears, one time I showed her how to get up and down the stairs and she does it like a champ. I tell her to go brush her teeth and she goes upstairs and gets her toothbrush. Seriously smart. I've been noticing her bm patterns (ha!) in the mornings and since she's pretty obvious about it, I've been running her to the potty. And wouldn't you believe, this 14 month old has been pooping on the potty the entire week!

There's no denying....

that this girl is a Nieuwenhuis baby! Seriously, no pacifier for her 1st year of life and she picks it right up. More fun than a necessity, but oh so cute!

One nap a day?

Yeah, she decided if Mama wasn't going to put her to sleep, then she would have to take matters into her own hands. This little miss climbed TWO flights of stairs, found her OWN room, shut the door, pulled down her big cozy blanket from her crib, covered herself up and went to sleep right on the floor with NO bottle. I'm thinking I have a pretty independent Diva on my hands. Needless to say, we are still trying to get the hang of this one nap a day thing.

After frantically searching the house for her, I finally found her here.

Oh sweet Carys. You are scaring me with your independence already!

Happy 1st Birthday Carys!

It's hard to believe our baby is ONE. As I reflect on that hard day last year, it brings about a mix of emotions. Both joy and sorrow. The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be your Name. Ironically, that is your favorite song. You try and try to sing that song every time you hear it. I just look at you and can't help but shed a tear. Someday you will truly understand that meaning. We are so happy to be the recipients of God's gift of YOU.

 Although I'm sad to have missed most of your first year Carys, we are so excited to see what this next year together brings! You are one sassy little girl and fit into our family so perfectly. Your Daddy & I often ask ourselves how in the world could we have gotten a child via adoption that is SO much like our biological children. That's because God KNEW what He was doing and He knew you were ours before we ever did. He created you for our family and it is so evident. We are so happy that you are home now and that we could celebrate this special day with YOU. We love you baby C!

Here are a few things that you're up to right now at ONE:
1. You are walking/running all over the place!
2. You LOVE to tease your big brother Becket
3. You have a squeal/high pitched scream that will break anyone's ear drums
4. You LOVE your bottle- you call it "ba-ba"
5. You are saying words like "Mama, Dada, Eye-ya (Aria! go figure!), B, Papa, Ba-ba(bye bye)
6. We put you in nursery at church for the first time last week and when Mommy left, you waved bye bye and said "ba-ba" with a smile. You love people AND new toys.
7. You live and breath music. Mark my words, I think you're going to be the next Beyonce. If that's the case, I'm sure you'll be changing your name back to Tsehay. You will dance and bop your neck, head and shoulders to any tune. You try mouthing the words to every song. It is the cutest thing.
8. Your favorite movies are Praise Baby. You try to sing along.
9. You sleep like a champ! You take 2 nice naps and sleep 12 hrs at night. Praise God!
10. You're not the best eater. You really like salty, spicy, cheesy, greasey foods. Your favorites by far are Mac N Cheese, Pizza & Spaghetti (pretty much anything with red sauce) Your brother despises the nights I make the dinner to your liking(-:
11. You drink from a sippy cup like you had one your whole life. In reality you were just introduced to one a few weeks ago.
12. You are extremely bright! You have met all of your milestones well before you were expected to and you totally understand us crazy English speaking people.
13. Mom is a total believer in Immersion programs....after being home for only ONE month, you understood all of our commands, turn your head when we'd call your new name and get exactly what we say to you. You're even beginning to speak some English!
14. You like to pretend to talk on the phone. You put it up to your ear and say "Hi-yo". So cute.
15. You are in love with your sister Aria and she is in love with you. Still.
16. Pretty sure you are Kai's favorite sister at the moment. He is smitten.
17. You are 50th% for weight, 60th for height and 90th% for your noggin! You weigh 21lbs at age 1.
18. You love anything soft and cuddly-especially your new pillow pet, lovie and owl.
19. You like to get into the cupboards and if Mommy looks at you and says "Naughty!" you smile at me.
20. You are usually sitting in your high chair when Daddy comes home from work. You hear his voice at the door and before you can even see him you are kicking your feet and reaching your little head as far over the high chair as you can with a HUGE smile waiting for him to appear. For sure you are already a Daddy's girl.
21. You haven't quite figured out the stairs yet....all these new things!
22. You don't like your car seat, but seeing as you're in it for around 2hrs a day (carting Aria back and forth to preschool) you are getting a little better about it. Again, Praise Baby is a lifesaver!
23. You are toddling around now as if you have always lived in our home and you love to explore.
24. You love to have something soft over your head while you sleep.
25. We can't imagine our family without you Carys Tsehay!

Here's how we celebrated.....all weekend long....Nieuwenhuis style(-:

You got to see your orphanage BFF, Eden, for the very first time since Ethiopia.

We celebrated with lots of balloons!

You were intrigued by Daddy taking video of you(-:

Our little family party

Help from brothers and sister opening your gifts

Typical screetch- you wanted to open them YOURSELF!

You loved your new Ethiopian dolly

This is the dress that Mommy & Daddy bought you in Ethiopia. You LOVED the sparkly material

Oooooh yes!! More Praise Baby videos!

Every girl needs a stroller to push around

We had your favorite meal......PIZZA!

I'm SO ready to turn ONE!

Little piggy cake for our little chunker!

EEEEWWWW!!!! Cake is the WORST thing I have ever tasted. WHO would do that to me!?

Ahhhh, much better if Mommy is feeding it to me and there is no frosting. (See, I told ya she prefers spicy over sweet)

Couldn't wait to watch my new Praise Baby DVD- even brothers & sister joined me

Princess Carys celebrating in her Ethiopian gown at Grammy & Papas

How CUTE are you!?

Grammy & Papa put on a cute little family party.

Of course everyone needed to get in on the action of blowing out the candle

This is me....being real....she is such a ham.

Loving all of her new pillow pets and stuffed animals....she wants them all in her bed.
LOVE YOU CARYS TSEHAY! HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!

The Beloved Sisters (aka: BS Girls)

Last night, my sweet sisters in Christ (bible study group) gave me a gift for Carys. An adorable little personalized owl (which she just ADORES and is carrying all over the place) and a precious personalized Princess bible with bling on it. You girls sure know me well(-: Inside the bible they wrote words that touched my heart so deeply that I just had to share:

"We witness a miracle every time a child enters into life.  But those who make their journey home across time and miles, growing within the hearts of those who wait to love them, are carried on the wings of destiny and placed among us by God's very own hands."

You girls are truly a blessing from God. Your love and support over these past several months have been a true gift. I'm so happy to do life with you and look forward to continuing our journey as we all grow in Christ together. Love you girls!

oh my goodness, how sweet is this owl!?

Blingy Princess Bible....right up her alley

Pretty sure this will bring me to tears every time we open this bible.

And last but not least, a little smile and thank you from Carys!