Rainbow Jubilee

We celebrated Molly's first year on Sunday.

Invitations:

Sweet gifts:

The Jubilee:

The birthday girl:

Her cake:

She might have gotten a taste of frosting...but our little

sweetie didn't dig into her little rainbow cake.

The big cake:

She has mastered the straw and will drink anything through it.

So at least she got a drink of her birthday punch.

The inspiration for the Rainbow Jubliee theme:

When my parents moved a couple of years ago, I snagged this from mom's stash of fabric that she was giving away. The selvedge said "1977" on it...the year I was born. So, even though my mom has no memory of purchasing it or for what it was originally intended, I turned it into a table decoration for the party and now it can be used as a baby blanket.

The backside has cute rainbow fabric, too.

Other Jubilee items to note: My left eye was oddly crazy-swollen until moments before the jubilee began...which meant no make-up for me. I made the cakes and the cake bunting topper, all the ceiling decorations, the heart rainbow blanket, used miscellaneous crystal pieces that were wedding gifts, inherited from our grandparents, or collected through the years, and my mom made the delicious punch. Molly's adorably precious outfit was from my mom and dad, and Molly received amazing gifts that she plays with constantly. My favorite thing she is doing now is carrying a gift bag and filling it with all the tea set pieces. Then she takes it everywhere she goes. I find saucers and cups and plates and lids everywhere...and I love it. The teapot made an appearance in all the family photos to help the birthday girl be still long enough for a photo.

We sure missed those of you who couldn't come!

Last year...

March 28, 2010 was Molly's due date. I simply can't believe that a year has gone by. I never truly thought our baby would be born on her due date, but I never imagined she would come 9 days after the due date. The longest 9 days of my life (and Aaron's). I've heard that once you hit your due date, you enter a new level of pregnancy. I sure did. I'm feeling a sort of a melancholy joy. Life is passing so quickly, and although I have made a tremendous and conscious effort to savor every moment, time still slips by like water through a fork. My baby girl turns one in 9 days. Last year the 9 days seemed like an eternity and now, I feel like they are speeding by.

*We've been sick around here which has NOT been fun.

*The two teams I picked for the NCAA Championship game are out. (Arizona and Kansas)

*In my opinion, they picked a lousy cast for Dancing with the Stars this season.

Cousins

Becca, Brody, and Baby B came to see us this week. I've never had so much fun watching two kiddos play together. I've never had so many mommy talks. I've never seen Molly quite so tired before! So much fun!

Tidbits

1) I filled in my NCAA bracket at 1:00 a.m. this morning.

2) I met Regis in my dream last night.

3) I love Verne Lundquist. Always have.

Wedding/Wheat/Wednesday

*First, click here to see more of the wedding in which Molly was a flower girl. You can see the awesomeness that it was. Make sure to watch the video at the end of the post.

*Secondly, Gary England taught me that wheat can be found in toothpaste & mouthwash.

*Thirdly, my baby girl likes to make messes. Everywhere. She leaves one behind on her way to make another. She adores outlets (has even taken the outlet covers off), delights in opening any drawer or cabinet door she can reach and emptying the contents onto the floor (some drawers and doors can't be babyproofed, but I'm thinking hot glue?), finds my sewing supplies completely irresistible, and will open the shower door and climb right in with me if I'd let her. Every moment that she is awake is an adventure. I now know what it means to have a busy baby. A few photos as proof:

My mom gave me the great book, In Praise of Stay-at-Home Moms, by Dr. Laura Schlessinger, and she writes, "I considered the house a giant toy box with food and just didn't worry about how it looked. I concerned myself only with clean." Sometimes I have trouble with the clean part too. Chances are really high that if you come by our house there will be Cheerios smashed into bits on the floor, paper towels ripped into shreds, toys everywhere, and sippy cups all around...but we're having fun and enjoying life...and that is what it is all about here in our house.

Pretty Amazing Stuff Going On...Part 3...Walking

Molly is walking. She took her first couple of steps on her own last Friday, did a few more on her own last night, and then today, she took off and really hasn't stopped. It is adorable and precious and makes us want to cry. How is our little baby growing so rapidly?!?

10 months & 9 days.

She's so proud of herself!

Go darling!

Pretty Amazing Stuff Going On...Part 2...Anniversary

Sunday, we celebrated my grandparents' 65th wedding anniversary. Folks, that is a BIG deal. They have quite a story...he was wounded in WWII, awarded a Purple Heart, returned to the States (Oklahoma) to have surgery, decided to look up an Army buddy's family while he was there, and that buddy's sister turned out to be my grandmother. I love that era, and I love to hear their stories. I love my grandpa's drive and ambition and my grandma's love of entertaining and all things homemaking. I love both of their generosity and loving hearts. Aren't they a lovely couple? They will both say they don't deserve the nice things I say about them, but they do. I have been blessed abundantly in the grandparents department - my dad's parents were amazing - my Grandma Kusch being one of my biggest fans in life, and both sets of Aaron's grandparents still influence our lives on a daily basis. We have quite a legacy and heritage.

Grandma asked Aaron and I to be in charge of the photography (mainly Aaron), and I am so proud of how the pictures turned out - he did a great job!