Adeline turned 1 last month and we did plenty of celebrating. I have not done the best job of documenting all of her firsts and big moments over the past year and I'm hoping this blog helps with some of that. I have given myself considerable grief for not being "that" mom who takes 1,000 pictures a day, writes everything down, or makes a scrapbook for each month of baby's first year. I admire moms like that, but it is just not my strength. That being said, Adeline, if you ever read this, rest assured that I am 100% in love with you and have loved {nearly} every moment of the past year with you. Being your mom has brought me greater joy than anything else in life.
We started celebrating the weekend before Adeline's birthday. Adam's parents came into town to help us kick things off. On Saturday we headed to Maymont Park. The weather was beautiful and while many of the big animals in the wildlife exhibit were hiding that morning, it was great to walk around and enjoy the day. We also walked through the Japanese gardens - Adam and I had never been in that section before and we loved it.
{Adeline and me in the Japanese Gardens - Maymont}
That afternoon we let Adeline open her gifts from her grandparents and she also got her first bites of cake. She really hadn't had very many sweet things ever before this other than a small bite of a cookie once or twice. I made her a Strawberry Lemon Bundt cake from a recipe I found on Pinterest. She LOVES both fruits, so I figured it would go over well. She did like it. Coincidentally, I had Adam take the leftovers into work the following Monday. He did so very reluctantly and then brought the empty container home that evening. Apparently it was a huge hit at work :) After having cake, we took Adeline for a test drive in her new wagon.
On Adeline's actual birthday, Adam took the day off of work and the three of us set out for a trip to the Metro Richmond Zoo. It was a bit rustic as far as zoos go (Adam and I both had the benefit of growing up near very polished zoos), but overall we were very pleased with it. There were so many baby animals all over the place and many opportunities to feed the animals - as you will soon see. After the zoo we took Adeline out to lunch and then spent the rest of the day as usual - naps, taking a walk before dinner, and hanging out with our sweet girl.
{Daddy and Adeline feeding a giraffe - I was totally grossed out by this. I think we went through almost a whole package of wipes and some hand sanitizer.}
{Out to lunch with Mommy & Daddy}
The following weekend we hosted a birthday brunch with all of Adeline's little friends. Some of you in the blogging world put me to shame with the grand parties you throw for your children, but again, I knew the best way for me to pull this off was to keep it simple. We figured a brunch would accommodate most of the kids naps, so we kept it simple with fruit, quiche from Ukrop's Bakery (yum!), muffins and pastries, and mimosas for the adults. Oh, and cupcakes and cake of course! Adeline was so fussy that morning as we were getting things ready, but the second our first guests walked through the door she turned on the charm - BIG time! It was so fun to watch her. She can be shy at times and very clingy, but when she is in her element she just has the best time. So no, I didn't go all out on decorations and I made her cake myself, but she had a good time and that is what matters most to me. Maybe next year I will put something together with more of a theme...maybe!
{Trying on her new tutu - hilarious!}
{Cake: Strawberry with vanilla pudding frosting - so yummy!}
{I wasn't in control of the camera and don't have any good "smash" pics, but she did get into it. And it got in her hair and all over her clothes, just as it should be!}
A few hours after her birthday brunch wrapped up, my parents arrived into town. We figured we would give her a day to come off of her sugar high. So the next afternoon we took her to Sweet Frog for frozen yogurt. Again, she had never had anything like this, and she LOVED it! She ate it so fast that her little lips turned blue because they were so cold. And she kept wanting bites off of other people's spoons. We are definitely going to have to take her back soon (I sure won't mind!). That day we had also gone to our church picnic after church. I let Adeline have a small chocolate chip cookie - again, she has had very few treats like this. As soon as she finished eating it she looked at me and did the sign for "more". Nice try girlfriend! I don't have a picture of it, but my parents got her a personalized stool for her birthday that she can use to get up to the bathroom sink, or any other high reaching place. She is napping right now so I can't sneak in there to take a picture. The funny thing about the stool though is that Adam and I kept teasing my mom that instead of a stool, we were going to use it as her "time out" chair and that we would tell her that for her 1st birthday her grandparents got her a time out chair. Just kidding mom!
So that about sums up our week(s) long celebration. We had a lot of fun and find it hard to believe Adeline Mae is 1 already! Time flies, but we are still loving watching our little girl grow and learn new things on a daily basis. We have been so very blessed over the past year to have the support of family and friends. We wish we could celebrate with everyone. Adam and I are so thankful for all of you who have celebrated with us over the past year and who have also given us encouragement and advice as we navigated our first year of parenthood. Now I leave you with a picture from memory lane...
{Adeline Mae - May17, 2011}
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