1st Birthday Weekend Craziness!!!

We officially have a one year old in this house!!! It has been a whirlwind weekend reminiscent of our wedding weekend! You know when it goes by way too fast and you hardly remember anything, but are soooo glad you took millions of pictures and videos! Reese suprised us and started walking that Thursday afternoon on March 31. It was the best gift she could have ever given me. I was so happy I got to be there to witness her first steps. I will never forget how magical it was! Nanny came to spend the night Thursday night. I was able to do all my grocery shopping for the party that night around 10 pm and it was glorious! I got to shop by myself which has not happened in a long time! We were also having a craigslisted couch delivered that night just in time for the new playroom which will be another post in itself! Friday morning my mom stayed at home with Reese while I ran a jillion last minute errands. That day was a marathon of baking, cleaning, cooking, and decorating! Reese kept herself busy by...

playing in the dishwasher,

and doing some naked walking with her walker.

That night after I gave her her last bath as an 11 month old I just had to have a picture after. I was very reminiscent of last year at this time when I was heading in to be induced!!! And now I'm bathing a chubby, sweet baby! What a year it's been!

Grampa came later that night to help out too. After Reese went to bed we had Pei Wei and then proceeded to bake 6 dozen red velvet cupcakes by scratch! The next morning Andrew and I went into her room once she woke up and sang Happy Birthday where she proceeded to cry b/c we did not have her bottle with us! Oops! After her bottle she played with her first puzzle ever! Her daddy got it for her! She loved taking the pieces in and out.

Auntie Babs and Unkie WiiWii got there soon after and Reese got another present! A tea set from Auntie Babs!

We took a break from party prep to take the birthday girl to McDonald's for her birthday lunch. Reese had never been to McDonald's before. That is where my parents took me for my first birthday lunch. I guess that's why I wanted to take her there. Kind of like a rite of passage to get her first Happy Meal on her first birthday. She did not even touch the nuggets but LOVED the fries! We were sitting near the bathroom and she actually was much more interested in watching the people come in and out the bathroom door. Silly girl!

Nanny and Grampa went to go pick up the balloons and the smashcake while Reese took her afternoon nap. The smash cake turned out sooo cute!

With the birthday girl right before her party!!!! Her party was a cupcake theme with lots of pink, purple, yellow, and teal. I have been planning this since early February and everything turned out better than I imagined!

Kisses for the birthday girl!

Grammee and Nanny

Reese LOVES balloons, so I knew we had to have lots at her party. She immediatly zoned in on them and said "BOON!" She pointed at every single balloon over and over! It was so cute!

Her front door sign!

Cute cupcake toppers from the tomkat studio on etsy with our homeade cupcakes!

Highchair/cake area

I put my mom to work and she made all the poms for me. I made the Happy Birthday banner myself and loved how it turned out. We tried to have a good mix of adult/kid food. We received her one year photo's just in time so I framed them and used them to decorate as well!

Better shot of the cake table

Treat bags for the pinata

I made cake pops and had another pic on display with the invite on this table.

Adult drinks & kiddie drinks

We got this water table right before the party for Reese and all the kids to play with and it was hands down the best purchase! Everybody loved it! Several of the kids stuck their faces right in to drink the water and many shirts took a turn in the dryer!

Reese and Carson playing

This craigslisted swingset was Reese's big gift from us. There is a little playhouse underneath the slide with a door that she loves going in and out of. The kids all had fun playing on it.

Mommy and Daddy with the birthday girl!

Auntie Babs came all the way from Oklahoma to celebrate!

Reese seriously had a FUN time at her party! She didn't cry once or even get overwhelmed! She screamed her happy scream when the attention was on her! I love that my girl was so happy to be at her party! It's like she knew it was about her and hammed it up every minute she could! She loved just hanging out with everyone and eating whatever I gave her from my plate! Here she is "hanging out" with her sweet friends Carson and Alyssa and cousin Mack.

She held onto that pig in a blanket for dear life!

Mack got Reese this cute chair! She thought it was so fun to sit in!

Grammee and Papa got Reese the Whisper Ride Step 2 buggy! She took it for a spin at her party with Papa!

We had lots of great helpers when it was present time. Reese was very blessed with lots of toys, books, and clothes! Nanny and Grampa got Reese a table and chairs to grow into.

Then it was on to the pinata! I thought it would be smart to do one of those little pull string ones rather than have a bunch of one year olds beating us up with a giant stick. :)

The kids seriously loved it! They were so curious as to what these strings would do. Once it opened they couldn't believe they got to pick prizes! Look at Reese standing there looking down at all the prizes!

She enjoyed her first sucker before putting an entire Reese's (get it?) peanut butter cup including the wrapper in her mouth!

She was so cute playing with the prizes!

Stripped down and ready for cake!

Look how happy she is to have everyone stare at her!

This was right after we sang to her and everyone started clapping. She has never clapped before and picked that moment to start clapping for herself! It was so cute! I'm so glad we have it on video!

She wasted no time in digging in!

Sharing with daddy

She had it everywhere! In her hair even!

She got a quick bath and then back to the water table to play some more!

Watching everyone with daddy

I had mixed emotions as I gave her her bottle that night. Happy b/c I was so proud of my baby and excited for the year to come, and sad b/c I know that the days of her being my tiny baby are drawing to a close. She is such an amazing child. The past year has been without a doubt the best one of our lives! What did we do before we had Reese?

We read one last book before bed.

For the mantle I made a picture banner of each month of her life.

We were very lazy the next day. Reese spent MUCH of the day in and out of her new car. She loves it so much! We did many laps around the house and neighborhood!

She sat at her table too and played with a new puzzle! She loves all her new stuff!

We are so thankful to each and everyone who came out to help us celebrate the first year of Reese's life! I know I stressed the details alot, but the party was special b/c of WHO was there!

Happy First Birthday Reese!!!