This past Saturday we celebrated Cora’s 1st Birthday.  It was so much fun. Of course Cora was oblivious to what was going on…as far as she’s concerned everything is about her so it was just another day of attention.

I decided to have her party at 2:30.  That way I would not have the pressure of making a meal and so I served light food.

I made a banner and pom-poms.  I really wanted it to look girly and colorful.  I made sure flowers from our garden were placed throughout the house.

There was such an age difference between the kids at the party that I thought candy treat bags were the best choice.  (I don’t know if parents would have agreed with me)

The cupcakes were from a local bakery.  I wish I could take credit for making them. I made cupcake toppers to place on each one but unfortunately was one short.

I made sure to salvage as many toppers as possible and plan on using them for something…they were so much work I just don’t have the heart the throw them away.

Cora had her own jumbo cupcake and she loved it.  Her first taste of cake!

Cora also received beautiful gifts.  (thanks again to everyone!)

She so “ooohhhh!!!!”  every time I handed her a new book to look at.  She was most excited by the gift bags and cards.

There were sweet babies everywhere.

Poor Will kept getting attacked by the baby girls.

And our only family picture is terrible but at least we have one.  Justin was still holding on to Will…so it’s a family picture plus Cora’s baby cousin.

We had so much fun celebrating our little girl turning one year old.

I am never going to pretend I am one of those very self disciplined parents who never puts their kid in front of the TV…because that would be a lie.  Cora watches her share of Baby Einstein.  Baby Einstein is my means of cooking dinner.  Baby Einstein is like organic food…who knows if it’s really all it’s cracked up to be but it makes me feel better as a mother.  I convince myself the classical music cancels out the fact that she is zoned out in front of the TV.  Maybe she is going to be a musical prodigy hearing so much Mozart or possibly she’ll be able to say mama/dada in 4 different languages…maybe, but probably not.

Now that she is always on the go she has lost most of her interest in Baby Einstein unless she can watch it like this:

Oh, and did you know that toes and fingers could be so fat? (In case you were worried, my child does not have hairy limbs…that would be daddy’s arm)

Too bad she’s slimming down with all her movement.

Another random tidbit.  I went thrift store shopping with my sister yesterday.  I found these Pottery Barn plates for Cora.  They were $1.90.  I also bought myself a brand new pair of jeans for $5.  When I looked them up online I found discover they retail for $260.00.

I have taken my expensive jeans snobbery to a whole new level.

This is going to be a long post.  I thought I might warn you in advance.  First of all, I thought I might share how I made the cupcake toppers and the banner for Joanna.  It’s not like it takes a genius to figure it out but if you’re like me it’s helpful to see how something is done.

First I took brown card stock paper and punched it out with this handy guy (or girl):

I then punched out the the same shape with scrap book paper.  I took a toothpick and hot glued the two pieces of paper together.

I  stuck on whatever sticker would work…of course they all had to do with a baby girl or her name. After that, they were done. Each one took about a minute.

The banner was also easy to make.  I took a cup and I traced a circle on card stock.

I cut out the circles. Used the same scrap book paper and punched out the same shape as the cupcake toppers and glued it to the card stock.   I then added the lettered sticker.

Next I punched holes on either side of the circle and put a push pin through the ribbon and the paper.

In no time at all the banner was finished!

I also have to give my sister credit for the party favors. It was all her idea. I kept all Cora’s used baby food jars, cleaned them out, peeled the stickers off, filled them with m&ms and tied a ribbon around each one.  Wasn’t that a great idea?

Anyhow, enough about crafts. I also wanted to share some pictures of my baby.  My sweet, sweet baby.  She is crawling around now.  Well, crawling and creeping.  That is the way she is.  She does everything all at once.  I’ve noticed it affects how she sleeps.  Anyone else notice when their child reaches milestones it makes them all hyper?  Maybe I’m just imagining that’s the cause?  But when she learns new things she wants to do them non-stop.  The past couple days her naps have been non-existent.  She will stay in bed for over and hour sitting, crawling and standing.  Silly baby.  She is so wiped out by the end of the day.  She has been sleeping about 13 hours at night…so I really can’t complain.

My church has put me in charge of organizing wedding and baby showers.  We have a small church and this has recently become my responsibility.  Saturday I hosted my very first baby shower…and it was so much fun!  In order to save money I made the decorations, cupcake toppers…and snipped flowers from our garden.  Any extra decorations I found at the Dollar Tree. I decided we should have it at our church fellowship hall…not the prettiest place but the most practical. I ordered cupcakes from a bakery my sister-in-law recommended called Piece-A-Cake.  They make the most beautiful cakes and they have very reasonable prices.

ignore the crooked table cloth…I fixed it after I took this picture.

Party Favors

They are naming their baby Joanna…as you may have guessed. Thus all the J’s on the cupcake toppers.

I still can’t get over how cute these cupcakes were.  Apparently they tasted amazing as well. ( I don’t like cupcakes)

Center pieces.  All the Hydrangea was from our garden.

We all had such a fun time and I realized that I love hosting showers.  I can’t wait for the next one!

I’m a little obsessed…

with bringing the outside in.  The flowers keep on blooming and I keep on snipping, sticking in water and admiring.  I just realized last night that the roses have bloomed!  Sorry little rose bush…you are about to be left with only a few buds because this crazy woman is coming to snip you bald.

I love Martha Stewart’s craft supplies and can often find her stuff on sale at Walmart.  Here are some things I picked up a couple months ago.  I especially love the little animals!

They’ll be fun to use for cards…or whatever else I can think of!

I have always loved sending cards and letters in the mail.  When my grandmother passed away, my mom found a pile of letters I had written her…full of misspellings and random facts…but also full of love.  I believe everyone has their way of showing others how they love them.  My sisters and sister-in-laws, they are gift givers…always thoughtful and always fun to open.  My mother and father..they will spend time with you..listening for hours.  My father-in-law and mother-in-law, always ready to help and meet your needs!  Always a step ahead…

Every Christmas I like to make my own cards. Unfortunately with a brand new baby it was not possible this year.  However, with Valentine’s Day just around the corner and Cora sleeping through the night…I had the energy to make cards.  Cora will be sending all her cousins Valentine’s this year.  I’m glad she is far too little to have an opinion on such things…I’ll enjoy sending these because four years from now I’ll be forced to buy cards with Barbie or Disney princesses.