Ellie's 1st Birthday Celebration

Pete arrived home late Friday night after a week-long conference in Miami.  I prepped during the day so that we could enjoy cake and presents Saturday afternoon.  Ellie was in charge of Frosting Quality Control. 

Ellie and I met Pete at the airport, even though it was almost 2 hours past Ellie's bedtime (I put her to bed for about 45 min and then woke her up).  She was SO EXCITED to see her Daddy!  She was kicking her legs and had the biggest grin on her face.

Audrey and Andrew arrived shortly before Ellie woke up from her morning nap.  We ate a quick lunch and then it was time for the big reveal!  What a lucky girl to receive so many nice gifts.

 

Ellie took a break from opening presents to play us a little serenade - this girl loves the piano!  She gets really excited if I sit her on the bench because then she can reach the black keys, too!!

 

After presents we took the new wagon for a spin - she loved it!!  If we stopped for too long to chat or take a picture, she would start squawking.  We wheeled it in the backyard to give her an opportunity to push it around herself.  I'm not sure what she likes more - riding in it, or pushing it around herself.

Then it was time for cake.  I modified a recipe I tore out of Martha Stewart Living a few years ago, I mean, who has a use for 75 mini cupcakes?!?  Certainly not us and our party of four plus a baby.  It's supposed to be a sunflower.  (if you squint it might help)  Ellie was so into the cake that we didn't make it through singing Happy Birthday before she'd grabbed a cupcake off the stand and eaten one - paper and all, I fear.

After cake Ellie went down for her 2nd nap and we watched the videos I had made - 52 weeks of Ellie and a photo retrospective of her first year.  So that was it - nothing too big - just family, cake, and presents - but we had fun!

April 25, 2012

Pete was out of town on Ellie's actual birthday so the plan was to wait until Saturday to do cake and presents.  However, I didn't want her day to go completely unrecognized, so I managed to squeeze a few special things into our busy day.  When we came down in the morning (at her new wake-up time of 6:30am - eek!) there was a giant butterfly balloon waiting to greet her.

I finished her birthday banner the night before - just in time!

Evie came over in the afternoon and we walked down to the local cupcake shop where Ellie chose her first-ever cuppy cake:  vanilla and chocolate marble with vanilla buttercream frosting.  Seemed like a wise choice to me!  Evie seemed to know that moderation is the best policy when it comes to baked goods, but Ellie must take after her mommy - she dove right in!

Ellie wanted it all - down to the last crumb!

We had a 'Skype date' with Ellie's daddy at 5:00pm.  Unfortunately, she took an uncommon third nap at 4:30pm (probably crashing from her sugar high).  Luckily, she woke up the 2nd time I checked on her, shortly after her birth time of 5:09pm and Pete and I sang to her.  Then I took a still picture of us to commemorate the official anniversary of her birth.

sleepy head

Then at six, Joanne and Jerry took us out to Rincon so I wouldn't get sad reminiscing at home alone.  Joanne and Jerry were the first people to come see us at the hospital - when Ellie was just a few hours old!

who doesn't love birthday beans?!?

J + J gave Ellie two great things for her first birthday: Luis the Lamb and a lilac bush

big cheesers

Ellie and the real Luis, Rincon's manager

not too keen on wearing the birthday sombrero

 We arrived home not too late after Ellie's usual bedtime and I read her On the Night You Were Born before laying her down in her crib.  It was a busy day for us (we had swim lessons and pilates in the morning as well) and I was glad not to have too much down time during which I might get weepy.  So that's what we did on Ellie's actual birthday, wait until you see the fun we had on Saturday once her Daddy was home!

52 weeks of ellie

Ellie's birthday weekend is coming to a close and I have tons of pictures and videos that I will eventually edit down and post.  But for now, here's a slideshow of Ellie's weekly photos - enjoy!  I'll post a still collage of all of them once I can figure out my free 30 day trial of Photoshop Elements.

Swim Class Success!

I have been taking Ellie to parent/child swim class at the Y twice a week for the last three weeks. It has been really fun watching her learn to splash in the water and jump off the side. She hasn't gotten the hang of blowing bubbles or kicking yet, but we still have two more classes to go, so who knows what she will learn next week.

Wednesday Pete was able to come to class - so I snapped some pictures while they played in the water. Look at all the fun they had!

meeting ellie's classmates and their moms

'swimming' for the rubber ducky

kick kick kick!

blow bubbles!
singing songs
and her favorite - SPLASHING!!

51 weeks. say it ain't so!!

No, I'm not ready for my baby girl to turn one. No, I've not planned a huge party for her. No, I don't want to talk about it.

Yes, I am still taking a picture of her every Monday morning. Yes, it is becoming a more and more difficult task. Yes, I will show you some examples.

last week

this week

I am, however, pretty excited that I have stuck with this project for the whole year. Sometime this spring/summer I will post a collage of all 52 weeks :)

Ellie's Chubby Bunny

I started on Ellie's bunny when I was still pregnant - probably January of 2011. Somehow, with working full time at my rotation, studying for comps, and decorating a nursery it never got finished.

Plus, it was knit using 5 teeny tiny needles and had a stitch I had to look up and try a million different times before I could master it. Note to self: if the pattern is 4 pages long, single-spaced, maybe think twice before tackling it.


But I finally got back to knitting him a few weeks ago and and am so glad I finished it in time to give it to Ellie. She really loves it! A thin strand of mohair is used along with the cotton yarn and makes it SO soft! Whenever we get him out, she grabs his face and chomps down on his little ears.