The Birthday Bash...

Well, I am proud to say that I officially survived my first child's first birthday party yesterday! How many more to go? In all seriousness, it actually turned out to be a really enjoyable day....a lot of that is due to the fact that my sister-in-law graciously offered to host the party and the 25 people that came with it. Lucky me! My brother, Chris, and his wife, Natalee, have twins whose birthday is just three days after Lia. Since some of Natalee's family was going to be in town this past weekend, she offered to host a joint birthday party so that her sister and family could attend. I jumped on that offer. So, after church, we trapsed out to Port Orchard to celebrate Lia's 1st and Brynn's and Garrett's 8th birthdays!

One of my "assignments" for the party was to make the cake. Since one of my goals for 2009 is to be more "domesticy" (now that I am enjoying the extra time and freedom that comes with being a part-time homemaker for the first time in my adult career), I decided to bake a cake and make lemon curd filling and frosting ALL from scratch. I also attempted to decorate it with my brandnew cake decorating set (thank you, Kristina). As amateur as the end product turned out, it sure was good. My cake is pictured on the right and the little one was for Lia to attack is on the left (that I got for free from Albertsons since it was her first birthday).

When we first arrived at Chris' and Natalee's home, food preparations were still in full swing. So, there was some time to play with cousins and Grandma. Here is the birthday girl on the floor with daddy and Grandma and two silly cousins, Brynn and Callie.

We enjoyed a delicious dinner of pasta and meatballs (and all the different sauces and toppings you could think of), toss salad, homemade rolls, and cut fruit. Pictured is my brothers Eric and Chris, my sister-in-law, Rebecca, and my mother.

The four darling girls that insisted I take their picture! Pictured are my three nieces, Brynn, Vivi, and Callie and Brynn's and Callie's cousin, Anna (in the brown t-shirt).

The Real Men. My dad on the right, Ron in the back, and Natalee's father, Jordan, on the left.

After dinner, we opened gifts. Lia took turns with Brynn and Garrett. Here I am with Lia opening a gift from one of our neighbors with the help of Miss Callie. Lia was showered on by many and received several "big girl" toys that she was badly in need of. Apparently, she was outgrowing her rattles and such. How did that happen?!

After all was said and done, Lia still prefered Riley's cars and the tissue paper from the gift bags. Ugh. I can't win. :-)

Last, but not least, was dessert time! After singing "Happy Birthday" with the cousins surrounding her in the high chair, Lia daintily approached her first birthday cake. However, she quickly got the swing of things, and............

DOVE IN FINGERS FIRST! She was one sticky, messy girl when she was done!

Happy 1st Birthday Baby Girl!