Birthday girl!

It is unbelievable to me that Sophia is one year old. I suppose every parent feels that way, which is why I have heard "It goes so fast!" or some variation thereof about 5,000 times over the last year.

I remember bringing our tiny bundle home from the hospital, and telling John that I wished she would just stay little. (At least I wished that until she started in with colic . . . ) Yet every stage has been better than the last, which I also have been told many times from other parents. I really couldn't have imagined how wonderful motherhood is, and am so glad my plans of no children EVER have not come true!

So we had a first birthday party. And what a fun party it was! Sophia was a very happy birthday girl, bouncing from one grandparent/auntie/friend to another, eating lots of yummy food, and playing Pin the Bow Tie on the Bear with just a little help from Mommy.

The weather was absolutely beautiful for Sophia's birthday; clear blue skies, warm but not too warm, and no humidity. We spent much of the day preparing for the party, and Sophia tried to help as best she could. She helped blow up balloons, with her version of blowing raspberries into them. Not very effective, but she enjoyed it!

She also wanted to help tie ribbons, although that mostly ended in a baby wrapped in ribbon instead of ribbon tied on balloons. Note the cute birthday girl t-shirt, thanks Auntie Helene!

After the second nap of the day, it was time to get dressed up, which involved wearing a pink diaper to go with the pink shirt, and top those with the tutu of course!

Like everything else Sophia comes into contact with, the tutu is for eating . . . when you are teething is there anything that is not good for eating???

Check out those cute little top teeth!!!

What would a teddy bear themed first birthday party be without lots of teddy bears?!

Sophia had so many teddy bear friends come to her party, old and new, big and little.

And Sophia was not the only one to enjoy the teddies . . .

Carson in particular had fun playing with the teddy bears, though I think here he is plotting how best to go about destructing this one!

Ramsey won the prize for biggest (scariest?!) bear of them all.

Sophia got to try some new foods for her birthday . . . hot dog, raspberries, and pasta! What do you know, she likes them all.

"Do you want some of my hot dog?"

Let the games begin! And may I say, how I WISH I had pictures of the grown-ups doing the clothing relay race. I think I would pay to have permanent evidence of Ramsey, Dad, and Ryan tripping down the lawn in their getups, heels included!

Next it was time for Sophia to open her gifts. Well, Mama to open gifts and show Sophia what she got . . . if the Snuggler had opened her gifts we would still be sitting there working away at them!

Here's Sophia meeting her as-yet unnamed teddy. I made him for her, and we also bought her the book "Courderoy," what a classic! Just by my left elbow you can see my old teddy, Bartholomew. He was made from a towel by my great grandmother, and if Sophia loves her teddy half as much as I have loved Bartholomew that will be a well-loved bear!

Next up: time for cake! The cake alone could be a blog post, but you don't want to hear the whole story, trust me. It was delicious, I'll say that: Apple Cinnamon cake with Brown Sugar Buttercream frosting. I have never made such complicated frosting, but it was worth the look on Sophia's face when she tasted it!

I'm afraid Sophia is going to be a sugar bug like her mama, though we will be holding off on giving her any more such concentrated doses!

By the end of her party, Sophia was a worn out little baby in a sugar coma. What a fun time we had celebrating her young life with so many family and friends! Thank you all, we are truly blessed.