It’s a Party!

Ok, here’s a first birthday party post with more pictures than is really reasonable… but, oh well! :)

Corey & Andrea, some of the youth leaders from church, got married this past weekend, so Josh was coming into town for their wedding.  Since next weekend is Young Christians’ Weekend, and Josh wouldn’t be here for Audrey’s actual birthday, we figured that we better make the party the weekend before!  So we decided to have it Sunday afternoon, after church.  We were slightly complicated by the fact that we had a showing Sunday morning (of course), so we couldn’t decorate or anything beforehand.  But we came running home from church, tossed the birthday girl in her swing for a quick nap, and got to business!  And, by 1:00 or so, we were pretty much ready to go!

I actually forgot the wake up the birthday girl for awhile, but finally noticed someone important was missing from the party! :)  So I gently woke her up…

“Mommy, I was sleeping!”

And it took some snuggling in the middle of the living room floor…

 

But eventually she woke up… particularly when the food came out!

Since we were doing lunch right after church we kept the menu pretty simple- pork roast in the crock pot for shredded pork sandwiches, potato salad, cheesy potatoes, chips, cole slaw, and deviled eggs.  Simple, but absolutely delicious!

And, of course, there was Yaya’s famous orange kool aid, which Audrey POUNDED! :)

Love Hyvee bakery… great cakes (taste and look), and they give you a free 5 inch round for the baby cake!

P.S. isn’t the banner on the cake cute?!  Courtesy of Ellen, of course!

 

This picture looks a lot like the other picture of the cake, but I liked that the flowers were in focus instead of the cake… thanks, Ruth, for being the photographer for the day!

After lunch, it was present time!  As with most 1 year olds, Audrey had quite the haul!  Thankfully, Miss E got a few presents, too, to keep her occupied! 

Miss A. was at least a little interested in opening presents! :)

But mostly was interested in playing with her new toys!

And trying out her new chair from Grandma & Grandpa Looten!

When presents were opened (and assembled, and played with a little) it was CAKE TIME!  I’ll admit, I was interested to see what Audrey did with her cake.  Laney just kind of picked at her’s, and mostly ate icing.  But Miss A has always been a little more interested in eating than Laney was at her age (probably because I’ve been a little more relaxed with her and let her try food earlier, and eat more of it sooner).  Anyway, she definitely has shown a penchant for sweets, so I figured she would enjoy her cake.  She did not disappoint…

She reached out and snagged a piece of icing while we were singing, before I moved the cake farther away!  She was definitely a fan, and immediately started saying “More, more.”  Translated, that means, “HAND IT OVER, MOMMY, BEFORE THINGS GET UGLY!”

Which I eventually did… she started off slow:

 

but she got the hang of it pretty quick…

She hit the actual cake (they put a lot of icing on those cakes!)…

And started really going at it! :)

Mmmm, a sugar coma is moments away!

 

She did some serious damage to that  cake!

 

And some good damage to herself, too! :)

So we took Audrey to the sink and hosed her down, and then everyone else got to enjoy dessert- cake, ice cream, and Mom’s banana pudding, yum!!

Despite having eaten almost an entire cake, Audrey still managed to find room for some banana pudding she suckered from Aunt Ruthie!  :)

Audrey and Grandpa Looten!  She’s obviously working on a good sugar crash here! :)

Mommy made her wear the hat!  Notice I’m holding her hands down! :)

And it wouldn’t be a party without a family picture!  Unfortunately, it was the end of the party, so Miss E. was in desperate need of a nap, and Daddy wasn’t much happier about taking a picture, so I wasn’t sure we were ever going to get a good one!  But, hey, it makes the outtakes even funnier!

Grandma Price was the photographer’s assistant for this round!

Daddy and Laney, definitely the cranky ones!

It took everything in me not to pop that stupid balloon!

And finally, a mostly good one! :)

   

So, there it is… Audrey’s first birthday party… absolutely crazy to think that she is turning one already.  But we sure had fun hanging out, talking and telling stories with family, and celebrating Miss A’s first year of life.  She is developing such personality, it’s going to be interesting to see where she what kind of kid she is in another year!