Tuesday, April 12, 2011

pea turned one

These poor photos of Pea's 1st birthday celebration have been all ready to post for weeks now. The motivation to actually write the post alluded me, but tonight I am kicking myself into gear and saving these photos from wasting away in the recesses of Photobucket.

I posted about the boys' bug collecting adventures on our way to Idaho, and that (Idaho) is also where we celebrated our little gal turning one. My aunt and uncle that live in Idaho (Kim and Ken) are truly some of my closest and best friends (they lived with us on and off when I was growing up, and I still talk to Kim on the phone multiple times a week), and John and George love them as well (George is borderline obsessed with "Big Jake"), so it was easy for us to want to be with them on Pearlie's big day.

There is something really sweet about going in to pick up your baby from her crib on the morning of her very first birthday. It is a swelling feeling of equal parts overflowing joy and overwhelming love, mixed up with a twinge of bitter that her life really is whirling and swirling by, that she will not ever be this little bundle of one-year-old happiness ever again. How can you measure the heaven that is watching your very own baby become One over the course of 12 glorious, soul-bonding months? There is nothing else like that first year of new life.

John and I both wanted to go get her when she woke up, so we both did. We hugged her and squished her and went into the bathroom for a second (can't remember why) where we took this picture in which I look so awkward and creepy that I should not be posting it. But Pearl was just so smiley and happy and sweet that I am going to take one for the team and let you guys see her. Just try not to look left.
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We made our way downstairs to the mantle where Pearl's birthday banner hung and my jammied babies sat for a few pictures. In the second photo Pearl is proudly waving her one little finger around for everyone to see how old she is.
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Emma got to hug the kids before she left for school, and insisted on bringing Pearlie out to her bus stop to meet her friends :). There is a picture of me on my first birthday where I am sitting on the kitchen counter in my pajamas (a blue gown), holding one little finger up. We wanted to re-create that with Pearl, but we didn't have a gown and she wouldn't hold her one finger still (she likes to bounce it up and down while we sing, "One one one one one one one! Pearl is wuh-uhn!"), so this was as good as we could do. I'll have to hunt down the picture of me sometime and post them side by side.
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Josh is gonna be a good daddy. He loves Pearl and she adores him.
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Kim and I went to the store to pick up a few things for Pearl's cake and while we were there I had the fancy idea to make her cake into a little bathtub. I saw a package of yellow Peeps and imagined it being a little rubber ducky, so we went with it. So the outside was covered with plenty of refined sugar, but on the inside there was some serious health. It was mostly just applesauce, spelt flour, some spices, and a little sucanat. If you know my husband at all you will not wonder why Kim has a huge glob of frosting on her nose and doesn't look too thrilled about it.
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While the cake baked and cooled and got bathtub-ized Pearl chilled in her birthday skirt, mostly looking out the sliding glass door and wanting to go outside to see the dog, who she insisted was called, "Gah." (My parents' dog's name is "Garth" so that is the word she uses for any and all dogs.)
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We've established by now that I am clearly not an awesome party planner/giver, right? I don't really do cute themes or elaborate invitations (or, let's be honest, any of those things at all). Maybe one day I will, but I just haven't really wanted the pressure of a big birthday bash before my kids are old enough to request one on their own. Anyway, I really am not a good party thrower at all. I also am not good at getting gifts for babies who are turning one. Really. She didn't have one single present until the day of her birthday when my aunt and I went out and found some really great clothes for her at a few second hand shops in town. I figured the actual having of a present, wrapped and ready to be opened, was more important than Pearl being interested in what was in the present, so we wrapped up a few of the outfits and called it good. I am seriously not awesome, am I? Don't tell Pearl, she didn't care :). In fact, she really wasn't interested in the presents very much at all. She just kind of held them for a second and then dropped them so she could turn around and grab the balloons (much more exciting).
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See?
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We let George take over in the present-opening department because he, on the other hand, was very interested in the gifts.
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He even feigned some excitement over the articles of clothing for his little sister that he found inside the packages: "Look Peng! Some new pretty clothes for you!" She still didn't care.
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So, the bathtub cake did not turn out to be everything I ever dreamed of. It was totally makeshift, and a little messy. Next time it might be a good idea to, oh I don't know, maybe have a plan or picture or something other than just making it up as you go. This is what I ended up with-- it sort of resembles a bathtub, right? Sort of?
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I love that she is holding up her one finger in the background of this first picture. And I love the second one because she kept doing that with her hands. She would hold her hands up like, "Really? What is this for? You really want me to just touch that food?"
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Haha, see this picture on the right? She had just touched the cake for the first time and she was like, "Seriously? I just get to do this? What is going on here?!" So cute.
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She discovered the Peep and had a little nibble. She wasn't so sure about it-- look at her suspicious eyes checking it out. I feel the same way about those icky little creatures.
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Eventually she got more into it. This was pure torture for George. He was highly disturbed that we were letting Pearl ruin a perfectly good cake that he could have eaten.
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She was very precise about licking her fingers off. It was cracking us up.
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Her sweet little frosting face. (And is it just me or does she look like she has a mullet in this picture? Please be honest because I will get out the scissors real fast if I need to.)
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Mama and Dada with the birthday baby.
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Every good cake demolition ends with a party in the tub, am I right?
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And a fresh clean baby for a mama to hug.
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So happy and so grateful that this fresh clean baby came to this mama. Oh I just love her.
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She got to play with her balloons again (seriously, skip the gifts and just get balloons) before bed, and then, just like that, the huge rite of passage that is turning one was in the books.
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I think it should be a rule that people get to have a perpetually-one-year-old child forever.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lizzie - So precious! The one of the two of you is very special. gma

Mama Janet said...

ONE of my favorite posts on ONE of my favorite girls. Love it, you make kids feel so special...I love that about you.

Lauren said...

She is so cute! I love almond milk..but the thought never crossed my mind to make IT! I am going to have to give it a try. Ok Liz so I know we are all busy moms but I was thinking of creating a blog place for healthy recipes? I want to have lots of contributors. Does this interest you at all?