~*~ Being One is Fun! ~*~

We celebrated Sophia's first birthday the day before Easter. Keeping with our Easter tradition of having a small family crawfish boil, we decided to double it up with Sophia's party and I had planned a large outdoor celebration. Got lots of outdoor toys for backyard fun. Invited many folks over - family, friends, and many of the mommies from my playgroup and their little ones - thinking we'd have plenty of room to let the little ones run around outside. Ha! We had this crazy winter weather blow through that day. We were in the 80's one day and the next, we had a nasty cold front. The high was only 38 degrees - in April! And In Central Texas! And 80% chance of rain. Needless to say, it rained. Of all days.

So, plans changed and with some rearranging of furniture, we squeezed (barely) in our living room. Mike enclosed our large patio with tarps and bought an outdoor heater. Those family members and friends who were sans child, opted to stay on the porch in the cold weather, instead of being inside with the toddler madness. I suppose it wasn't too bad since they had the crawdaddies and some brewskies to keep them company.

The theme was Baby Einstein. Ok, I don't play the videos, but I think the characters are the cutest. Her cake was my favorite. The Einstein Caterpillar. It even had antennas the stuck straight up. When I was growing up, and even when my boys turned one, the birthday baby didn't have their own cake to destroy, but it's the thing to do now. We didn't have a messy cake event since the caterpillar's icing was made from fondant, so things stayed tidy in that area.

Even though there was utter chaos with toddlers running around (and even a couple 4-year old siblings), to my relief, there weren't any crying episodes. Phew. I thought Sophia would start wailing as soon as we started singing Happy Birthday to her, since most one year olds do. I'm sure I would too if I was surrounded by strange people bellowing a song I had never heard, all while this cake with a lit candle is in front of me. I suppose I'm still traumatized by her horrific wailing during her baptism (that was 8 months ago, but I still get heart palpatations just thinking about it).

All in all, it was a fun party, even if we were cooped up inside like sardines. I just can't help but chuckle when I think about the look on my cousins' faces when they walked in. They got there after everyone else did (they are childless) and basically walked into full fledge toddler mania, with this look like...what the h*ll is going on in here??!! LOL.

Sophia's favorite part was playing with the envelopes off her cards, so Mommy had to open her gifts, which was fun.

Thanks to Yvonne for snapping some great pictures!