T-Tiny turns ONE!

Warning: This post contains an obsessive amount of pictures.

Carly turned ONE (holy cow!) on March 13th. I remember when we first found out we were pregnant, other parents would tell us, "The grow up so fast". I thought, "Yeah, yeah. Whatever." I really thought, "yeah, yeah. Whatever." during those 6 weeks of colic! But now I totally get what they were saying.

I planned a polka dot party for the super-special occasion.

During the entire planning process I kept asking myself if I was going overboard.

When it all came together I thought that it was perfect - not too much, not too little.

Then I checked out the blog The Small Town Soiree. These parties put mine to shame! I got some great ideas that I wish I would have seen before the party. Oh, well. There is always next year.

Freddy was so proud of his contribution...the colorful cups. They did match perfectly!

My pride and joy - the polka dot chandelier. It was a take off of some Martha Stewart hand-made streamers.

Baby cake or cupcake for Carly? Baby cake, of course!

Oh, my cupcake toppers. I am also very proud of these!

High-Chair name banner.

The give-aways:

polka dot pinwheels

bubbles

not pictured: candy necklaces.



Rolled plastic utensils. Why didn't I think of this years ago?!

We hung these in the garage (Hobby Lobby - I heart you!)

Photo board FULL of cuteness!

Carly had lots of friends and family that came to celebrate with her.

Emily is a few months older than Carly, so she is a pro at gift-unwrapping.

She showed Carly how it is done!

Ahhh...Mickey Mouse. Carly's one tv love.

And so began the meltdown.

We had a wardrobe change. Doesn't everyone?

Frosting was NOT getting on that cute dress. Not on my watch.

The meltdown continued.

Poor T-Tiny. She was tired, over-stimulated and TEETHING!

It took 30 minutes of rocking (and two failed attempts at laying her down) before she finally fell asleep for her afternoon nap.

Lola was over the party and under the table.

She fell in love with the polka dot rugs I borrowed from the playroom at work.

Guess I need to get her one. Where does one find a polka dot rug?

One three hour nap later and Carly was ready for round two of birthday cake.

She didn't like having all of that mush between her fingers, so she wanted me to wipe her hands. That was a first.

Daddy tried to illustrate the art of eating cake without hands, but Carly didn't want any of that.

Shockingly, her bow stayed in her hair for a whopping TWO MINUTES before it was out of her hair, in her mouth and covered in frosting.

And then came the clean-up crew. Lola.

Thanks to everyone who celebrated Carly's first birthday with us and to everyone who sent birthday wishes.

Now to start planning the 2nd birthday party...

Cowtown

I ran the Cowtown 10K! And I did it in 58:32! When I ran it two years ago I ran a 1:02:something.

It was freezing that morning, but that is perfect distance-running weather!

I have to admit, I felt slightly inadequate with my white 10K bib amid all of those purple half-marathon bibs and the whatever-color full marathon bibs.

Of course, I dragged Freddy, Sara, Austin and many others from my work along with me.

Freddy doesn't like to run, but he ran the 5K because I asked him.

He did, however, love the free beer they served after the race.

I even got a metal!

Sara and I after the race. Please excuse the poor picture quality.

As we were leaving, a man was handing out some XL shirts, so Freddy and Austin each took one.

Look what it says.

He did NOT run a half marathon!

Conversation on the ride home:

C: I don't know if I can run a half marathon.

F: Sure you can. I did.

I plan to run the half marathon at the Hills and Heels run in Irving on Sunday, May 2nd. Proceeds benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters. They also have a 5K and 1 mile fun run, so if you are interested in participating, please let me know.

Moneky See, Monkey Do

Book Club

Last week was a productive one - at least as far as my 30 by 30 List was concerned.

On Tuesday I hosted the first of what I hope to be many Book Club Discussions.

The book that I chose was The Help by Kathryn Stockett. It was AMAZING! The conversation between us was so wonderful and diverse. I can't wait until our next discussion.

Caramel cake is mentioned a few times in the book, so I thought that I would try my hand at Paula Dean's recipe. The instructions in the recipe didn't include letting the cakes cool before stacking and frosting.

Anyone who bakes knows where this one is going...

The cake crumbled. It crumbled even more when I tried to frost it.

It was ugly. UGLY.

But the girls said it tasted delicious, so the homemade mess I made in my kitchen wasn't for nothing.

Here is a picture of the UGLIEST side of the cake.

Looks delicious, doesn't it?

Diving In

We all know that Carly likes to play in Lola's water bowl.

With one hand...

Or two...

But the other day...

She dove right in.

Good thing I pulled her hair back.

When I showed these pictures to Freddy he said, "You let her drink out of Lola's bowl?"

To which I said, "Lola licks her in the mouth. I don't think it matters."