I can't believe it! Chris and I were watching the major league baseball all star game on Tuesday and talking about how little Marianne was when we watched the game last year. She has grown up so much! It is fun and exciting and sad all at the same time.
One year ago she was so little and could hardly open her eyes!
Now look her!
The celebration started on Friday night since that was her real birthday. We didn't have cake but we had plenty of presents!
This ball is one of her new favorite toys. Also that purple ball in the background. She has one upstairs and one downstairs and she never gets tired of rolling them around.
Check out the rocking chair. She is still a bit young for it since she would rock herself right off onto the floor if we let her but she loves it! It is fun to see her rocking herself. Today she spent a lot of time sitting on the floor and rocking the chair against the wall...
Saturday was the party!
(Note: I have been struggling recently about taking pictures versus living out the experiences. I find that I cannot both engage in a situation and take pictures at the same time. I am either observing or being actively involved. Thankfully other people took these pictures for me and allowed me to be somewhat engaged with Marianne and our friends and family during the party. Thanks to everyone who snapped some pictures with my camera!)
A few years ago I taught two sweet boys whose moms now own a business that personalizes party supplies. We went with the Peter Rabbit theme but they have tons! You can check it out at:
makeitmineparites.com! I thought it was a nice touch. Now we are going to hang this sweet banner in her room.
Since we had so many more adults than kids at the party we thought it would be fun to have goody bags for them. Here is the candy bar we had set up. I think more candy got eaten during the party than actually got taken home but I think it was a success.
My friend, Casey, reminded me about the hats and suggested that we take a picture of all the kids wearing them. They weren't a huge hit but it was fun to try.
Marianne worked very hard to get her hat off! It said "It is my birthday!" on it. All the other hats said "Marianne is 1!" Check out her adorable outfit! It is seersucker (from Charleston) and has a cupcake with 1 candle on it. Thanks, Wes and Lysa!
We planned on having bubbles out on the deck but the rain got in the way. Our dear friend Gary ran out in the rain to save the bubbles and the kids enjoyed them on the front porch. Here Marianne is watching the bubbles with Uncle Craig while still holding her hat!
No fancy cake here but it is hard to think of a way to decorate with cream cheese icing! All the cupcakes had these toothpicks so we took a few extras to put on the cake. The plate is from a Peter Rabbit set that someone gave me when I was a baby.
I was afraid all the singing might scare Marianne but she did great as always! She did need a little help to blow out her candle.
She loved the carrot cake! I think she would have eaten the whole thing if we had let her but once she started to slide it around and it almost hit the floor we decided it was time to take it away...
We had more presents to open on Saturday. Zoe was so sweet to help Marianne.
We had a wonderful time celebrating Marianne's birthday with family and friends. Thank you to everyone who made it so fun and special. We love you!
Almost a month ago now our friends Justin, Raluca, Alina, and Nathanael spent the night at our house on their way home from Nashville. It was great to see them since they are moving to Colorado. Hopefully we will make it out to visit them and go skiing! The girls had a slumber party in which they both slept in the same room but since they went to bed a different times we did not realize they were wearing the same pajamas until the next morning! (The picture is a little blurry, sorry!)
Marianne is still learning to be gentle with a new baby but she had fun playing with Nathanael!
We had a lot of fun while Sandie and my dad were here. Here we are at the Coke museum where Marianne could not take her eyes off the polar bear!
Marianne is so happy to have her Aunt Sandie here with her! It was a very special treat to have her here for Marianne's birthday!
It is so fun to see how much Marianne and Zoe love each other. Here Zoe is helping Marianne drink her bottle. While she held her Zoe said: "My sweet Marianne" and gave her a kiss on the head. How precious is that!
This picture is right before we went to Matt and Julie's annual Bastille Day party. To get in the French spirit Chris and Marianne wore their berets. The dress looks great with the hat but it is Hungarian, not French!
Marianne's Gigi, Granddaddy, and Great-Grandma sent her some money for her birthday. Chris and I went to Target and got her this wagon! She likes to ride around the house and the neighborhood in it. It has two seats so that Marianne and her friends can ride together and the seats fold down so you can use it like a regular wagon. As you can see she loves it!
Chris let Marianne help him open his presents and read his cards too!
