Elaina Turns ONE !!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO OUR SWEET ANGEL !!

Can you really believe how fast one year can go by ? Our beautiful, bundle of joy turns one year old today. Undisputed, this has been the very best year of our entire lives. There has not been one single day that has gone by that I haven't felt like the luckiest mom in the entire world. Along with that, not a day has passed without me thanking God for the most amzing gift ever created especially for us. Elaina is the best of everything we could ever dream of having and probably more than we deserve in her sweet temperament and gentle nature. What a blessing !

I have to admit that we (and by that, I mean "I" ) have been looking forward to planning a first-birthday party for alot of years now. Our day has arrived and we celebrated Elaina's special day with more than 30 of our closest friends and family members. With the rain pounding on the rooftop first thing in the morning, and booms of thunder and lightning, I worried that our day might not turn out so lovely. By the time 1:00 rolled around and our guests began to arrive, the sun was shining bright and it turned into a perfect day - although a little hot, about 90 degrees, but no complaints here !

Aunt Cindy and Uncle Ben had brought their bounce house for the kids to enjoy and my parents had gotten Elaina a water table which was set up for the kids to play and splash in before Elaina began to open her gifts. And about the gifts .... Oh my did this girl get spoiled !! She got some fabulous gifts from everyone and even took an interest in helping to pull them out of gift bags and investigate her new toys before moving on the next one. She did great ! I can't wait to see her at Christmastime !

Grandma and Grandpa W. provided the cake. And, as always, it was the best ever. Looking back months from now, we'll remember the funny story of Elaina's 2 birthday cakes ! ( the first one didn't make it out of the box ! ) Elaina had her very own smash cake to celebrate in her own special way. She was leery at first, probably wondering why mommy and daddy were coaxing her to make a mess, but she dug into the frosting with both hands and enjoyed her very first birthday cake ! In the end, our pink, frosting girl had smeared some frosting into her eyes and began to express her dislike for the mess she had created. Along with Aunt Cindy's help, we cleaned up the birthday girl and sent her off running, revved up with sugar and smelling deliciously sweet !

Elaina's birthday was everything I had hoped it would be - a beautiful day to celebrate our beautiful girl along with the people who mean the most to us. That's all I ever wanted. It was a success ! After nearly 4 hours, our guests began to filter out and head home. At this point, Elaina was running on empty and crashed on her sofa bed from her Grandma & Grandpa W. for a well deserved nap.

Sweet dreams to my sugary, sweet BabyDoll and a happy birthday to you !