Fern's 1st Birthday

On the eve of Fern's 1st birthday, I'm feeling happy.  My best friend emailed to check on me and make sure that I'm not breaking down.  I'm not.  I'm doing great.  We're coming off of a full weekend of family time.  We started with her party on Friday night and have ended the weekend with John taking today off.  We've had some sweet family times and lots of "remember this time last year, we ______"  {fill in the blank}  

Fern's party was great and here's the reason why: she seemed to really every aspect of it.  Here's how things went:

We invited family over for soup and cake on Friday night, so Thursday I got all the errands and cooking out of the way.  Friday, we took it slow, I cleaned during the naps, and we found ourselves relaxed the last 30 minutes before the party.  Planning ahead and not waiting til the last minute to do everything paid off-who knew?

We went outside for some family chill time as everyone arrived.  When Fern rested her had on the tricycle, I was sure that she wasn't going to make it through her party.  Oh, how I was wrong!

Once everyone was there, we served the soups and people ate everywhere.  I served cream of chicken and wild rice, cream of asparagus, and bean with bacon.  My mom was helpful and took Fern right away and got her some food while I made sure everyone had everything (or knew where to find it or ate some soup myself).  

The cousins love holding Fern.  Emily is the oldest and very capable, but the other ones need a little help.  I just love this little detail about cousins!

I ordered the cake and had it ready to go.  Somehow, Burl got his little fingers up there during the party and tasted the "ern" of Fern's name and now that I'm looking at it, it looks like he got some pink flower as well.  This happened with Burl's 1st cake as well, and for some reason I love it.  I think it's our version of a good luck sign.  

While Burl got shy during his "happy birthday" song and wouldn't eat his cake without a fork, Fern was the complete opposite.  We sang while she smiled and looked at everyone and clapped at the end.  It was so sweet.  We gave her the cake and she did the whole get-this-all-over-me thing that I love about 1st birthdays.  She loved it.  

Once she was completely full on cake, I swept her to the back for a quick bath and wardrobe change.  Up next: presents.  She was again opposite than Burl in this.  He was wild and all over the place and wanted the boxes and balloons than any of the toys.  Fern, she loved each thing she got.  A little tip for gifting to babies and toddlers: take everything out of the package and unclipped and ready to go.  It really gives the gift more impact.  You're welcome.

MY FAVORITE PICTURE:  

I explained to Burl that Fern was going to get a lot of presents and need his help opening them. He was great!  He was just excited about the toys as she was, which probably helped with her enjoyment of each one.  She loves what her brother loves.

My sister-in-law was great about taking pictures.  I handed her my camera and she got so many good shots!  Thanks, Melody.  You got so many good moments!

Fern got a set of puppets (she loves the puppets on Baby Einstein, so why not make them in person?)  and my brother quickly swept a pair of them and made them dance.  The whole room was laughing, but no one was laughing as hard as Joseph was at himself.  Perfect.

We barely got Burl still enough to grab a family picture at the end of the night, but here we are.  Watching Fern enjoy it all was by far the highlight of the night.  She was truly happy the entire time and the party seemed to fit her well.  She's our little girl and has brought so much sweetness to our household.    Happy Birthday, Ferny.