Party Pooped

We were officially 'party pooped' after last weekend.

Sweet little Luke turns one tomorrow and we went to his party this past Sunday. (Just a day after Savannah's party.)

Two separate one year old birthday parties back to back:  hmmm....you think there's a connection to my child's challenging behavior?

It sure doesn't take much to entertain her.

Luke lives out in the county - and they've got beautiful animals out there.

This DELIGHTED Gianna.

Watching horses run is just magical.

Luke's cousin, Catherine, played with Gianna so Mommy and Daddy could actually sit down and eat and visit.  She was wonderful with her and Gianna had a ball.  We asked Catherine's mom if she might consider loaning her out.  She said, "No dice!" ;)

The Elmo cake was made by the bakery at Sam's.  Adorable AND affordable. Can't go wrong there.

And I'm so happy they now make Pinatas with the ribbon pulls, so we're not encouraging little ones to beat the tar out of their favorite cartoon characters.

Happy Birthday, Lil Man Luke.  We love you.

Jekyll and Hyde

Um.....I have a question:

Man, what's up with my munchkin?  Last couple of days she's just not herself. Pretty sure it's not physical...although I never really know when new teeth are coming (I usually only figure it out after they appear.)  Every now and then, my mild-mannered, funny, sunshiny little girl morphs into a fussy little whiny, weepy, clingy, cantankerous creature. And sometimes she goes back and forth between the two within moments. 

She plum wore me out today with her volleying between Jekyll and Hyde.  It's really quite amazing to watch those little wheels turning in the pretty little head of hers.  She finds things that she knows is wrong and will do them right in front of me just to watch my reaction.  Sometimes I feel like I handle the challenge well and sometimes I feel like I'm failing miserably. I guess that's ebb and flow of parenting.

These little episodes seem to arise unexpectedly and disappear the same way. I'm happily awaiting the disappearance of this one.

Princess Party

We were invited to the 1st Birthday Party of a new little friend of ours, Savannah. 

She's actually a friend of a friend and they were kind enough to extend the invitation to us.

Gianna and I headed over to Oogles n Googles today for the Princess themed party. Can I just say, "Holy Cannoli!"  Apparently, Oogles n Googles is a franchise party place that takes care of A to Z for your party planning needs.

They typically do parties for kidlets who are 3 yrs and older, but today was their first One Year Old party.

My head is STILL spinning.  There were a lot of pre-schoolers and elementary aged kids in addition to toddlers and babies....must've been about 65 people (felt like 165!) They sorta catered to the older kids (understandably so) and did arts and crafts,

 dress up for the girls (princesses) and boys (knights) - {they opted out of make-up since they had to take pics of all the kids individually -- thank heavens!},

games, scavenger hunt, birthday cake, gifts, etc.

You can imagine how I spent my time -- chasing, wrangling, coralling, re-directing, saying 'excuse us' etc.
Parenting, in other words. ;)

I wish I would have taken a picture of all the gifts sweet Savannah got. Geez...the girl got some serious loot. One of the memorable comments I heard as gifts were opened was,

"Wow, has Savannah ever worn an outfit twice?" 

The mom shook her head.

The dad's response: "Yeah, her pajamas." 
Wow, I think maybe she really IS a princess. :)

Oh - and check out this princess cake:

Princess or not, the sweet birthday girl melted down half way through and she wasn't the only one.  I'm guessing that as overstimulated as I was, those little tiny ones must have been reeling.

This sweet little princess above managed to still my sweet little bulldozer dressed as a princess for a quick pic.

I'm so glad she did. They are so precious together. They almost look like sisters.

Well, the princess party managed tot fill up our afternoon, allowed Daddy to get some yardwork done, and effectively wore us all out. 

Now we just have to gear up for little man Luke's first birthday party tomorrow. Whew.

Bit by bit...

"Bit by bit, putting it together...
Piece by piece, only way to make a work of art.
Every moment makes a contribution,
Every little detail plays a part.
Having just the vision's no solution,
Everything depends on execution,
Putting it together, that's what counts."
— Stephen Sondheim (Sunday in the Park with George)

Gotta love a good Sondheim hit. 

Making memories is easy...like going to the park with friends.

Recording memories is a little more challenging and time consuming but, bit by bit I'm putting it together:  memories into photo books.

Here's Gianna's First Year - Volume II:

Click here to view this photo book larger

For Gianna's First Year - Volume I - CLICK HERE

When Daddy comes home...

When Daddy comes home - it's Happy Hour in our house!  I'm not sure who is most excited.  Daddy? Gianna?  Max? or Mommy? (Most days, I'd have to vote: Mommy.) 

Sometimes, Daddy finds us on the floor when he gets home and he comes down to join us.

On this day, Gianna was super excited to play with her Daddy.  He's the best playground around.

The Approach

The Mount

The Lean

The Hug

The Adoration

(both ways)

I sure love those two.