Hayley and Kate Minter

Since Kate’s 1st birthday fell on a Thursday this year, we kept things low-key on that day. Mommy videotaped portions of her daily activities (eating, playing, eating, did I mention eating?) and we made impressions of her hand and foot for a special frame we got her.

We celebrated Kate’s birthday on Saturday, November 3. Scheduling conflicts prevented some of our immediate family from joining us, but Grandma and Granddaddy Estes, Nana, Grandpa, and Lele were all here to wish our little girl a happy 1st.

Kate had a good party. She played with balloons, opened presents, ate the frosting off her cupcake, and spent a good portion of the time entertaining her guests. She loves to grin and make others smile with her. She’s turning out to be as big a ham as the rest of the family.

On Monday, Nov. 5, I took the girls to Sears for Kate’s one-year portraits and also got a few poses of Hayley and Kate together. We got some very cute shots, though it took a lot of coaxing to get a smile out of Kate. She just didn’t seem to know what to think of the photographer at first, but by the time I was looking at the images to select portraits for purchase, she was sitting in the photographer’s lap and playing with her.