Anna's 1st Birthday

I can't quite believe it, but our little baby girl turned 1!
This called for a party of course! We had all of our in-town family come over to celebrate. Anna had an "A" Birthday Party. I was so excited to throw her a birthday party and I got carried away with this little theme. I started about 20 projects and with just getting home from our trip, getting over our colds, and Dave being gone (he got home in time for the party), I only finished about 2! Oh well, most of it wasn't necessary anyway, and it probably turned out better to keep it simple so I could enjoy it. I'll have to keep this in mind for her future birthdays too since whenever I say I'm going to keep it simple, I try to do too much. I loved this day and I think Anna did too!

So what do you do at a 1st birthday party?

1. Eat!

The "A" Menu

• "A" cup of soup
• Asparagus
• Artichoke dip
• Apple cider
• Almonds
• Apple Pie
• "A" cake
• And "Anna" cookies for favors (those yummy ones from IKEA)

And I forgot to get the Animal Crackers. Oh well!

2. Open Presents!

I thought that Anna would not really get the whole present thing this year. Boy was I wrong! When we gave her the first present to open, she did not want to let go of it for anything! I was trying to take the bow off for her and it was an all out battle of tug-o-war! It was good entertainment for the rest of us. Her cousins showed her how to open the presents and once she realized how to rip the paper, she got really into it. I was so surprised. She scored some fun presents: a cute keepsake box from Aunt Sue; a new book, a cute 1st year dolly (even named Anna), and a walker toy from Grandma G and Papa; a musical walker from Uncle Colin; a pretty bow from Aunt Amy and Uncle Wes, and a book and wagon from GrandMary and Grandpa. The best part is that it seemed like she truly was so excited about each present. She got so happy when she saw what it was and wanted to play with each one.

3. Make a Birthday Cake Mess!

Anna got out of her clothes and into her birthday suit for her first taste of cake. She wasn't so sure at first, and just dipped her finger in the frosting. She became more curious as time went on and you know how the rest goes...one birthday girl covered in frosting! She didn't like it when it got stuck on her hands though and would try and flick it off. A few innocent bystanders got hit in the line of her frosting fire.

4. And lastly, and most important, Be Together!

Although we had lots of fun with the food, presents, and cake, the best part is just being together with our family. Anna absolutely loves being with everyone and getting to play with her cousins. She is pretty lucky to have fun cousins that love her as much as she loves them. Anna loved getting pushed and pulled around in her new wagon by her cousins. I thought it might be kind of chaotic to have so many people crammed into our small house, but it actually seemed to be kind of cozy and I am glad that everyone could be there together. Especially since this will probably be our last year home for 5-7 years!

Anna's party was actually the day before her real birthday. (which still seems to count as her birthday to me since I was in labor for all of that day too!) On her actual birthday, we spent the day together with just our little family. We had fun with just the 3 of us!

Good Morning Birthday Girl!

We took Anna to the Cheesecake Factory for her 1st Birthday lunch.

I think she loved it as much as we do!

She had her own plate of bread and bananas. Her favorite!

They brought this little sundae just for me?
They sing too? This place is awesome!

Happy Birthday Sweet Anna!