Birthday party!

One year ago today, we were just one day away from meeting our baby girl. I had just been to my perinatologist appointment, where the doctors determined that Lucy's growth, which had been slow up to that point, had basically stopped. They proceeded to perform an amniocentesis on me (a charming little procedure where a five inch needle is thrust through your abdomen and into your uterus), which showed that Lucy's lungs were mature enough for delivery. So off I went to labor and delivery, scared and worried and thoroughly overwhelmed.

Today was SO much better than that day!

We had Lucy's party today (her actual birthday is tomorrow, but really, what good is a birthday if you can't spread it out for a few days?) I was pretty sure she would hate it, since she's not big on crowds, and since these one year old parties are really for the parents anyway, but she actually seemed to have a fabulous time.

Lucy in the little birthday hat I made for her. You can't see it in this picture, but there's a little number "1" on the top. She was amazingly good at leaving it on...

...except here, where's she's like, "waaaait a second! You've put a hat on me while I wasn't looking! I'll have none of that".


Playing with the creepy doll she fell in love with at Toys R Us. Really, I guess this was the least creepy doll they had, but they're all fairly nightmarish if you ask me. She loooooves it.


Lucy and her little mini-cake. (which I'm pretty sure is actually like eight full servings, sure to thrust her directly into diabetic shock).


She was so funny with it. She would dip one little delicate finger in at a time, and get a little glob of frosting to lick off. She still managed to make a pretty good mess though.

Lucy was beyond excited about all of her gifts- she was very nearly hyperventilating by the time she'd gotten through the pile of presents.


Opening a present from Bryan, Jeanie and Lander. Thank you guys!


Lucy, in the cute little moccasins that Grandma Pat and Ralph gave her! Thank you!

Lucy with Daddy at the end of the party.

Thanks to everyone for coming, and for spoiling our little Lucy even more than we do! I'm sure there will be more pictures of festivities on her actual birthday tomorrow!

I love Etsy!

Lucy's birthday party is tomorrow, and we got her these cute little invitations off Etsy from story by mia:


I blurred out the address, because, people, there are crazies out there. But you get the idea.

One of the best things about ordering from Etsy is how fabulous the packaging is. Here's how the invites arrived:

Don't you just love that?

Not to mention, she included some extra goodies!

Anyway, so my point is: Etsy is awesome, my baby is turning one, and we're having a party. Which you're totally invited to if you're not a crazy. So if I missed you, and you are dying to come watch Lucy perhaps make a giant mess of her tiny adorable cake (or perhaps just stare at it blankly), let me know and I'll get you something more helpful than a blurred out address.

Giant picture-filled posts of the birthday festivities are sure to follow shortly!

Crawling the hard way

Here's a little video of how Lucy is getting around these days. No wonder she's got such rockin' arm muscles! I've started calling her Lieutenant Dan.

Back!

So we're back from Omaha, and despite some teething and a couple of long nights, Lucy and I had a fabulous time with Bekah and her cute kids. Lucy was an angel on the plane both ways (as were the ladies who sat next to me and didn't mind that Lucy kicked them nearly the entire time she was nursing), and she had lots of fun learning new tricks from Allison, who happens to be nearly walking at 8 months. (So advanced! I'm pretty sure Harvard is just around the corner for her)

We arrived home on Monday, and I've been swamped since then with some new freelance work that I'm trying desperately to squeeze in during Lucy's naps. So this is as much of an update as I might be doing for a little while, but there are lots of things I need to write about. Like the fact that Lucy is saying actual, real words. And that she is finally moving around a little (using only her arms to pull her, and only with a lot of coaxing). And how she is turing a year old in 3 weeks, and could someone please slow down time, because HOLY CRAP, my baby is turning a year old in 3 weeks.

Until we get to all of that though, here are some pictures from the trip. Sorry Evan, I didn't mean to leave you out-it's just that the little girls were a lot more likely to stay put when the camera was out.




So. Stinking. Cute.

Vacation

Lucy and I are headed out of town tomorrow to visit my good friend Bekah in Omaha. I'm sure to return next week with enormous amounts of pictures of her and her ridiculously cute kids, but until then, here are a couple recent ones of the Lucy.

Oh, by the way! On Saturday we finally witnessed the grand appearance of Lucy's first tooth. No pictures, as it's not much to look at quite yet. And also, at least for the purposes of teeth gazin', it's pretty much impossible to wrangle that little mouth in to an open postion.

Happy Mother's Day!

My first Mother's Day was fantastic. I woke up to roses and a tear-inducing letter from Sterling, and also this...


...which is simultaneously the coolest and cutest thing I've ever owned. I kind of want to scratch it behind its ears and get it a bowl of water. And then watch 12 straight hours of The Office on its tiny, adorable screen.

Anyway, best husband EVER. We mostly just hung out a lot today with Lucy, which was fabulous, since she is the reason I get to have a Mother's Day this year. Hurray for Lucy! It still seems surreal that she's here, and she's mine, and I'm really and truly a mom. I just feel insanely, incredibly lucky, every single day.

I've actually been sitting here for a while, thinking about what to write about my first Mother's Day as a mom, and about Mother's Day in general. Ultimately, it all seems to come out a little too personal or a lot too sappy or just really lame in general. I'm aware (to a ridiculous degree) that Mother's Day pretty much sucks for a lot of women, and I hate that. I hope that everyone out there had a great day, but if you didn't, hopefully next year will be better.

A lot can happen in a year.

Pigtails

I was looking at some pictures of Lucy from a couple of months ago, and suddenly I noticed how long her hair has gotten since then. I'm not sure when it finally started being anything more than fluff, but it's fun to be able to start doing things with it now. (well, fun for me...I'm not sure how much fun Lucy really thinks it is). And by "doing things", I mean fastening two tufts on the top of her head. We're not quite to the french braid stage yet.