First Birthday

I love birthdays, so I was so excited to celebrate my daughter's first birthday. We started out the day by giving Lottie her first present, a play kitchen, which Chris and I had stayed up late the night before assembling. It was our first late night toy assembly experience but probably not our last. 

She loved it--totally worth all the time.

Daddy teaching Lottie how to drink her tea properly

Taking birthday calls

Then, we enjoyed a pancake breakfast, Lottie's first pancakes ever. They were a huge hit, especially with the syrup added.

After lunch, we skyped with Paw-Paw, so he could see her open her gift from him. He gave Lottie a swing, which still makes her giggle every time.

That evening, we did a group Google Hangout with Poppa, Gigi, Uncle Brian, Aunt Sarah, Luke, Aunt Carrie, & Uncle Jeremy while Lottie opened her other presents.

We gave Lottie some books and a water table with tons of water toys for it. We had a great day goofing around with the goose, playing in a tutu, opening gifts, and just celebrating our precious girl. 

Well, and let's be honest, celebrating that we made it a year!

Lottie is Walking!

The goose is walking. After several weeks of toying with the idea, she finally did it.

Lottie took her first steps April 28th. She was just playing after dinner, and we happened to glance over at her in the kitchen as she decided to take her first steps. Of course, our independent girl did it on her own in a separate room with no one around. She only took a couple sets of 2-3 steps.

Two days later Lottie came down with her first ear infection and all walking was put on hold. Finally, this Friday, she just upped and started walking all over. If she falls over, she will even stand back up and continue walking instead of just crawling like she did before. It is almost her default way to get around.

That's my sweetie pie--walking for Mother's Day!

First Birthday Party

We were blessed to celebrate Lottie's 1st birthday with our family at the best place in the world, the Aero-Bee Ranch. We decided to do a Giraffe themed party since Lottie has shown a love of giraffes. I had a blast coming up with ideas on Pinterest and making them.

A special thanks to Sarah for making the giraffe streamers

As I mentioned here, the cake was quite an ordeal,but I was very happy with how it turned out. 

After decorating, we dressed Lottie in her special birthday outfit.

We started with presents while the goose was still clean. She was getting pretty good at opening them.

She received so many fun toys and several great outfits. We are so thankful to everyone!

Then, it was time for cake.

First bite

Lottie kept smiling like this at Uncle Brian--she was enamored with him.

The aftermath

It doesn't look so bad from afar, but cake was every where, including caked in her hair.

Getting clean while enjoying her new bath toys from Poppa & Gigi

Here is a 3 minute video of clips of Lottie eating her cake. She didn't go crazy (after all she is a lady), but she definitely enjoyed herself.

Fun Feeding the Ducks

We went to feed the ducks today. We met Megan and her Charlotte. It was great getting out of the house and into the beautiful sunshine with a friend.

A sweet bonus, there were a whole bunch of sweet ducklings that came right up to us.

Check out that red hair

Finn (the sweet baby I watch) watching the ducks

I put the poor guy in a little girl hat

Chris surprised by showing up during his lunch break. He has been working so hard preparing for boards, so we treasured this unexpected time with him.

Could I have a more beautiful family?

Afterwards, Megan & I took the kids to Chick-fil-a for lunch.

It was a very fun day with Daddy and friend time, ducklings, ducks, geese, turtles and Chick-fil-a. What more could you want?

First Birthday/Easter Texas Visit

April was an absolutely crazy month for us, so of course, I got behind. As May should be much slower for us, I hope to use it to catch up on our busy, but awesome April.

We spent Easter weekend in Texas. Poppa and Gigi used their vouchers to fly us down to celebrate Lottie’s 1^st birthday and Easter together. And, of course, to get the obligatory baby bluebonnet pictures.

Texas, or I should say God, did not disappoint. It is a banner bluebonnet year.  There are very few things in the world as beautiful as a field of solid Texas wildflowers or as sweet smelling.

We flew in Thursday night and began the weekend by eating Tex-Mex to get into the true Texas spirit. Friday morning we left early for the Aero-Bee Ranch, my family’s lake house on Lake Buchanan. The whole drive was graced with Texas wildflowers. 

My heart was so happy. As beautiful as South Carolina’s spring is, my heart misses the awe-inspiring Texas wildflower season. At the ranch, we were joined by Paw-paw & Nana (Chris’ parents), Great Gran & Great Papa, Uncle Brian, Aunt Sarah, Luke, Uncle Chuck, Aunt Karen, and Uncle Chris. Friday, we hung out, baked, crafted, played, and just enjoyed each other’s company. They also sweetly gave me a cake for my birthday that night.

The pics on the right are what you get when Chris cuts the cake.

Saturday, we celebrated Lottie’s birthday in the afternoon, so Sarah and I spent the morning prepping. I had a lot of stuff ready, but it took a shocking amount of time to finish things. The hardest part was decorating the cake. It took twice as long because of my runny nose (thanks Texas pollen), which made me stop about every 5 minutes to wash my hands, wipe my dripping nose, and wash  my hands again, as well as, the broken A/C unit in the kitchen, which caused my icing to melt. I never understood why the Cake Boss freaked out over the cake melting until trying to ice a cake in a hot kitchen. It is next to impossible. Despite all the set-backs, everything came together for a wonderful party, which I will share in another post.

That night we enjoyed the traditional ranch meal of pork ribs, pork tenderloin, and Uncle Chuck’s beans. We always eat like kings at the ranch.

Sunday, we celebrated Easter as I shared on Easter here. We also took baby bluebonnet pictures.

My fellow Texans, is there anything in the world sweeter than a baby in bluebonnets?

 Poor Lukey didn't know what to do with all the activity and flowers and such

It looks like Lottie is throwing down a mad rap in these

After all of that, we started the crazy process of packing up, which is a much more difficult and long process with a 1 year-old. It was an incredible weekend with a lot of quality family time. We could not have asked for a better first birthday weekend.

Chris & Paw-Paw enjoyed some relaxing Father/Son hunting

Luke had his first sink bath. He just lounged away.

Sharing a lens cap--sharing is caring after all.

All tuckered out