Party Prep

So, you'll have to bear with me.  This first birthday thing was a pretty big deal around this house.  No matter how much I'm trying to hold back I just can't help but share all of the wonderful pictures we have from that special day.  I posted the link to the online album, I posted some of my favs to Facebook, and now I'm blogging about them.  It's too bad my only readers are my Facebook friends and family because they have been, and will continue to be, bombarded with the same fabulous photos again and again.  But really... Can you BLAME ME??

So.  This post is all about the party prep. 

A month before the party Pinterest became my new best friend.  I probed all the great ideas other mothers had posted and made them my own.  I began with a gigantic one made from red and black cupcake wrappers for the door.  One night while my parents were visiting I plugged in the glue gun and got gluing!  The grip-it-and-rip-it in me was saved by the skin of my teeth that I had enough cupcake wrappers to make alternating rows.  Towards the end it was touch and go...


The next project was a banner that displayed all of Audrey's month-old pictures throughout the past year.  I had some FAB help from my brother and his friend Sarah getting it strung and ready for display.  It was so fun to watch Audrey grow next to her little ladybug.  She made quite the adorable decoration in my opinion. 


Next up was the birthday banner we made and displayed behind Audrey's high chair.  As we were getting the house ready we put Audrey in her high chair under her banner and took her picture.  Although she seems so big in our eyes it's amazing how tiny she still is compared to normal sized things. 


Last up, as far as decorations go was the banner for Audrey's high chair.  We had to get creative finding a way to make it stick since Audrey was able to blow through different amounts of tape.  In the end We went with hot glue.  By the time We had Audrey officially in the chair she was distracted by cake so the label lasted for a while! 

Audrey is one lucky girl because I spent MYYYY birthday working on the perfect ladybug cake.  I got the idea from a post on Pinterest but made it my own with the help of a cake mold from Sara (yes, there were 2 additional sarah's involved in this project.  We were one heck of a trifecta if you ask me...) I made a prototype the week before to make sure it was even possible to make a ladybug cake so we were a happy household full of cake and yummy treats. 

I can't take credit for the following party prep, but it sure did turn out great.  Scott sent flowers to my school for my birthday and the looked beautiful on Audrey's special day.  We ordered the most delicious food from our favorite restaurant for lunch, and the guests provided quite the display of presents!  
           

Happy Birthday to ME (and Audrey...)

30th Birthday Cake

It's been a busy weekend around Ward-Ward manor.  Audrey and I both celebrated big birthdays.  I turned 30 (gulp!) and Audrey turned 1 (gulp again!).  We were so lucky to have our family and friends here to celebrate Audrey's special birthday and Scott did a great job reminding people that I"m his "older" woman.

Everyone's Here to see ME of course!

Grandpa and Audrey

Audrey has had a great time being the center of attention (she gets that from her father I'm sure...).  Even with all the people in and out of the house and having a mixed up schedule she's been so pleasant and sweet.











She's such an easy flexible little girl.  Her uncle Brian and his friend Sarah were her babysitters on Wednesday and her Grandma and Grandpa from Florida were her babysitters on Thursday and Friday and she wooed their pants off :)

Three Generations of Big-Headed Wards

Scott's dad (Don) and Maria came all the way from Florida to celebrate with us.  Don has decided that Audrey's birthday will now be in July since visiting in January has become an annual event and it's a smidgen colder here compared to Florida.  He won't hear any complaining from me since I made sure everyone knew how gracious I was being as I was preparing for peanut's birthday on MY actual birthday.  Not only did she steal my birthmonth she also stole my day as I was baking and decorating for HER party.

Tebow Time with Grandmpa!

It's a goooood thing she's cute or else we would have some serious issues!

I think my headgear is slightly more appealing...

I don't know how Scott got lucky enough to have such a wonderful wife.  I spent my birthday at a BASKETBALL game cheering on the Bears in style.  It was the night of the slightly disappointing Broncos game so I made sure Audrey was there to represent.   

Tebow Time with Claws!

Audrey is such an easy going baby she doesn't even blink when she meets gigantic Tebow mascots.  She was just wishing he would have a conversation with her about the intricacies of the game. 

Taking a walk around the court.

Stopping to check-in with daddy.

Um.. Mother?  Did you say CAKE?

Happy Birthday!

The next day it was time to PARTY!  It was so much fun setting up the house for Audrey's first birthday.  She was so complacent (taking naps, smiling as each guest arrived...).  We had a friend of ours who is a professional photographer come over to document the event (so be prepared for another posting with probably a FEW more pictures...) but I just can't help myself posting some of the candids we got.  I made Audrey her very own cake knowing she would want nothing to do with it.  When we put it on her tray she barely touched the icing and then looked up at me like "GET THIS THING AWAY FROM ME!"  Scott and I did our best to convince her that the cake was fabulous and at one point she was a centimeter away from face planting but she caught herself and thought better of that choice.  I ended up putting a slice on her tray while we served the cake to the rest of the guests.  She managed to mangle that slice pretty nicely but was still able to get her birthday clothes back on with only a quick wipe down.

Oh My!  A PRESENT!

OOOOOOH!

Audrey is really into reading her cards. 

Presents!  HOORAY!

We were so lucky to have so many friends and family over.  A first birthday is the perfect excuse for this present hog to open lots of gifts.  She opened one, got distracted, and let me do the rest.  She was so cute looking at each toy and making a cute face and then got back to work playing with the paper wrappings.  It was a dream come true for me because I got to pretend the day was all about Audrey while I opened all the presents :) 























We had such a great day.  It's something I will always remember.  I give her a very hard time about taking all my birthday attention away from me but in all honesty I can't imagine it any other way.  This little girl may look a lot like her father but her personality is allll mommy.  There's no better way to teach her the importance of birthdays than to model it for her year after year.  I've already checked, and the year Audrey turns 21 I'll turn 50 (but it's in the middle of a week, so we'll have to work on that ...).  I'm already telling her how much fun she'll have celebrating that monumental occasion with her mother.  Just like my mom did for me, telling me how great it would be when she was my college roommate.

It's amazing to think that we've been parents for a year.  It's gone by so quickly and at the same time each day just gets better and better.  Only 363 more days until the next birthday extravaganza.  I think Scott's already stressed... :)

Birthday Girl!

A New Trend...

Audrey has started a new trend around this house.  Parents of other almost one-year-olds I'm sure you are very familiar with this very popular game.  It's called:  Empty Everything and Anything I Can Get My Hands On.  Each room in our house has a container of toys and books for Audrey to empty and spread about each day.  After she goes to bed "we" (meaning me most of the time since Scott works nights... CONVENIENTLY...) clean up the toys so the process can be repeated.  No one is safe.  We went to my mom's house for Christmas and Audrey found her stack of magazines...

 

 As we were attempting to pack for said Christmas trip Audrey also found my drawer full of tights and long underwear (my legs are always cold...).  She was mighty proud of the way that she unpacked the drawere and wrapped herself up in my garments.

 

 Happy New Year everyone!

11 Months Old

Laying next to the ladybug is a thing of the past.

 Our little peanut is 11 months old.  It's amazing.  This time last year as we were getting ready for the holidays we could only imagine what this year would look like.    We started off with such a tiny little baby and now we have an almost walking almost talking person in our house! Our house has become a walking disaster zone full of rolling toys, gates, blocks, noise makers, bottles, cups, and clothes.

Even though Audrey is completely oblivious to Christmas it's been such a fun time doing holiday activities with her.  We made ornaments, we've made cookies and cupcakes, we've bought all the presents, shipped packages, and bought holiday clothes.  The only thing she's interested in is turning on the Christmas tree every morning with her dad.  She smiles in anticipation and then squeals as it lights up.  We may have a new permanent fixture in our house because Scott is a softy and I don't think he'll be able to pack up the tree when it makes her so happy.

Something interesting is over the

 The days go by so quickly with an almost one-year-old.  We wake up, have a bottle, have breakfast, play a little and then it's nap time.  After nap it's lunch, a 2-3 hour window to leave the house without taking an additional trailer or supplies, then it's back home for afternoon nap, dinner, and bedtime.  

Happiest girl!

 Audrey brings out the best in our family.  She's helped Scott relax about clutter and she's motivated me to be better about cooking and laundry.  I think I've loaded/unloaded the dishwasher more with Audrey being born than I have my entire life.  I used to work all day and think "I'm so tired!  How can I possibly unload the dishwasher?" and now I find myself thinking "Unloading the dishwasher will take a whopping 5 minutes and then I won't have to wash all those bottles by hand..."

 

  

Buckets are SO funny.

 As Audrey gets older and learns more and more new sounds she's surprised us with some silly accidental responses.  Yesterday I asked her if she wanted a diaper changed and her random conglomeration of babble turned into a  "Ummm...Yep".  Even though it's completely accidental it makes me so excited for when she actually is talking to us.  Such a tiny little bop with her own voice will just be incredibly, ridiculously cute. 

"OH MY GOSH I LOVE READING THIS BOOK!"

"Oh parents, you're so silly..."

"Skini-a-bunny"

This is how Tober supervises bath time.

I find myself being nostalgic of last year, whenever I see a baby bump but then I look in the rear-view mirror of my car and see a little hand flinging a sock up and down over the back of the car seat and I remind myself to appreciate these times, because this time next year I'll be nostalgic for one-year-olds.  I'm not sure I'll be nostalgic for the sleepless nights that one-year-olds present, but one never knows... 

Making Ornaments

Getting my "workout" on

 Today our family set out to accomplish the first of many Christmas traditions - making ornaments.  Each year our plan is to make a new type of ornament to adorn our tree.  Since Audrey's not proficient with scissors or a glue gun we went a more practical route this year and went with an idea I found here.

Mixing Some Ingredients

It's a good thing that I'm so very strong because kneading the dough was probably the best workout I've had since... well... ever!  I had some great sous chefs in the kitchen.

Tip Toes!

DELICIOUS

Audrey is such a trouper.  All of these holiday traditions can wear a girl out!  She was really enjoying her alphabet letters, helping me spell out the directions on the fridge.

Hand Prints

Daddy Tries...

Audrey was NOT  fan of allowing us to have her hand for hand prints so the indentions are pretty weak.  With her foot she was a tad more obliging, but only because we could distract her with extra dough.

Perfect!

In the end the ornaments actually came out looking more like baby hands and feet than I thought they would!  They kind of perked up in the oven. 

It's been so much fun forcing helping Audrey enjoy the holidays.  It's also been fun to bring out all of her holiday attire. 

The dress she's wearing today was one of the FIRST things I bought for her when I was pregnant. I picked it out thinking she would wear it in July... but December is the next best month!  Long sleeves under short sleeves is very 'in' this year.

Great Success

Tonight, it's on to Audrey's first Christmas party.  We've already discussed taking it easy on the eggnog...

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas!

 

Merry Christmas Audrey Bug!

Dear Little Audrey,

You were very helpful spreading out the branches.

Tonight your dad and I helped you prepare for your first Christmas. 

You were less than impressed.

You enjoyed touching the colored lights.

We tried very hard to get you to smile but you were too busy!

You are ALWAYS watching and learning new things!

Our house was filled with a variety of theatrics to get you to smile for the camera. 
We have video footage of when we turned on the Christmas tree and I'm pretty sure you turned away to look at the box the tree came in.

At one point you were wearing this hat the correct way...

But holding the had is much more funny!!!

Such a pretty Christmas girl!

I think the highlight of your evening was climbing in the Christmas Tupperware bin and finding some wrapped cupcake wrappers.  From then on you carried them wherever you were and when we tried to remove them from your tiny grasp you had strong words to share with us.

Your treasured possession - the cupcake wrappers!

Your dad was super excited to get things decorated and has garland going down the stairs to the basement, the kitchen decorated with all of our snowmen, and a variety of other Christmas items places well OUT of baby reach.  We haven't put any ornaments on the tree yet, we're hoping you're more in the Christmas spirit tomorrow and are more apt to help...  We'll have to keep the ornaments well out of your reach since everything goes into your mouth.

We found a Santa hat and couldn't resist!

I was worried you would try and pull yourself up by the unsteady tree but so far you are very timid about the branches.  Your babysitter, Miss Julia, has a gigantic real Christmas tree so in the next few weeks I predict you will get over your timidness and the tree will become your new best friend and my new worst enemy...

   

For a while you were interested in the cupcake pan itself...

But nothing can compare to the tried and true cupcake wrappers.

We love you and are so excited for your FIRST Christmas!  You're going to love it, even if we have to bribe you with Christmas cupcake wrappers the whole time...

P.S. Your dad is responsible for your lack-of-outfit.  He was tasked with changing your diaper when you were wearing a cute purple and grey dress and tights and you came out in just your onesie.  Oh Daddy...