The Party!

It's 2am, and I'm trying to stay awake long enough to get this post written because we have so many friends and family who live far away who would have loved to be here today. I'm going to have to save my feelings about Abby turning one today (yesterday) for another post, because you know that one is going to be lengthy....

So let me tell you about Abigail's 1st Birthday party. For those of you who couldn't be here today, let me show you our party.

All day, Michael and Jennifer and Kyle helped me get things ready. The party started at three, and by then we were all set. Abby's Winter ONEderland theme came with decorations and themed food and all. So, here are some of the things we had...

cupcakes, of course!

penguins!

snowflake and snowmen sandwiches

hot chocolate station with candy canes too

Abby made hot chocolate party favors for everyone!

The cake :)

chair decor

its a winter ONEderland

another cupcake shot

As the guest started to arrive, we all snacked on food for a bit and then got Abby settled in to open presents. Goodness gracious did she have a lot of things! Kyle and I think Abby got more presents today than our entire family gets on Christmas. All of you out of towners took the spoiling of my child quite seriously, didn't you?

Abby was a little bit overwhelmed by the room full of people and the copious amounts of tissue and wrapping paper around her and spent most of the gift opening time, being very still and rather silent. She looked at things and sat with us, but wasn't so intrested in the unwrapping process.

part of the loot (yes PART)

opening things

who doesn't love a sparkly party hat?

Abby got lots and lots of books - and, if you missed it, we loooove books. I'm very excited about all the new things we have to read now - and Abby is too. She also got some seriously cute clothes and some much needed winter-wear - and of course, Toys! I want everyone to know, that even though Abby may not have the attention span for unwrapping 700 gifts - Kyle and I were truly touched by the generosity of everyone. We were prepared to have a wonderful day with Abby without many gifts, if any, and - we were just stunned at how much she got. So, again, another big thank you to everyone who was so generous.

Abby listening to her Little Einstein card from mommy & daddy. She listened to it over and over and over...

And when we took the card away - hilarious.

silly daddy

After we opened allll the presents, we took a little break and regrouped for a bit. Then, it was cake time! We lit the candle, sang happy birthday, and let Abby have at it. She turned out to be rather dainty about the whole cake smashing. She took her time, in true Abby fashion, studied it bit by bit and slowly got more comfortable with it. She actually ate very little of it - but she did manage to get icing all of me and Kyle. By the way, I have a video of the singing that I'll post later.

Here are some of the cake pictures

yum!

After cake and clean up, we all played and visited and took pictures for a while. Eventually, it was time for everyone to leave. It was then that Abby decided that she felt comfortable enough to turn into her normal chatty self. Once everyone left, Abby crawled over to her pile of new things and "read" each book by herself. She just sat there, surrounded by books, picking them up one at a time, exploring them. It was fun to watch her.

reading a new book

sitting and sorting through everything by herself

So, again, things were great. I couldn't have asked for more (well, except that all our families could have been here) But it was SO wonderful to have Michael and Jennifer with me today. It meant a lot - and it made the day extra extra special.

Here are Abby's friends that came to the party. Reese in the middle, and Emma on the right.

And finally - this is the least blurry of a million pictures we tried to take of the 3 of us. It just wasn't happening - but, here we are - our little family of three.

After the party, we cleaned up and put Abs to bed. Once she was down, Kyle stayed home so Michael, Jennifer and I could go gallivanting around the city. We walked around the commons, looked at lights, and saw Up In The Air (cute movie). It's been a long day. A long, wonderful, memorable, and lovely day.

more later. for now - goodnight. <3

for those of you on facebook, there are more pictures on there.