Claire's 1st Birthday!

January 10, 2008

We celebrated Claire's 1st birthday both yesterday and today! We had a party at our house yesterday, and today we celebrated with Pookie's family at Nana & Papa's house. She's finally starting to get the hang of this gift opening thing now that Christmas and her birthday are both over. I think she had a great time, and it's safe to say that we are set for awhile to come when it comes to toys and clothes. Thank you so much to everyone who made this weekend special for her and for us!

It's hard to believe that it's been a full year since the crazy day we had when Claire arrived. I said then, and I'll say it again, that she has been high maintenance from the beginning. She's a no bones about it kind of girl. She knows what she wants and usually will do whatever it takes to get it..quickly, hence all of her bruises! Even though she's pretty demanding; she is so much fun and already a little girly girl. Her favorite new thing to wear is below. She literally cries for it when she sees it and wants us to put it on her - love it!

She still doesn't sleep like I'd hope that a 1 year old would, but I know that surely that will get better at some point. She's walking (running) like a champ and starting to babble a little bit more. She doesn't say many words though, mainly just "ball, ball" over and over again. I really need to get that on video, huh?! She has no trouble getting her point across with her grunts and pointing. I've nicknamed her the mighty destructor over the past few months. Her favorite thing to do is go into Grant's room & pull each and every toy out and then go onto something else. She loves to dump everything out! I actually just heard something topple over in the background....more to do all the time! Grant and Claire are really starting to play together well. Although it probably isn't safe, I do find myself leaving them alone in one room or another for minutes at a time, and no one has been seriously injured as of yet.

Claire's birthday party was cupcake themed & if you haven't noticed, I love making cookies for everything. These are the ones I made to go with the pink & brown cupcake theme. I was really really proud of them, and they tasted fantastic if I do say so myself!

This is the table with the cookies all wrapped up and tied with a bow for everyone to take home with them, and the precious cupcakes on the servers. My friend Elisabeth made them & did an absolutely wonderful job. I found some similar on a website & emailed her the picture. They turned out EXACTLY like I wanted them too, and they tasted good too!
A close up of the cupcakes...
Claire cracked me up looking at her gifts. She got mostly toys for Christmas, and mostly clothes for her birthday - perfect! She actually hugged some of the clothes as she opened them. I'm teaching her well :-)!

Claire wasn't very into her cupcake which was a bit surprising. She loves sweets, but I think there was just too much going on for her to concentrate on eating. She was actually asleep when the majority of the partygoers arrived. She woke up to a crowd & lots of balloons, and I think she may have been a little overwhelmed by the whole thing.

This last picture is from today at Nana's & Papa's. She was really more into the gifts and the cake today.

This last year has been wonderful and crazy hard! I never imagined that adding 1 child to the family would change things so much. It's starting to get a little easier some days, and others I still feel like I might go crazy. Claire really is precious, and I am so thankful that I got my little girl! I always felt that I was destined to have all boys and would not totally believe that I was having a girl until I saw it with my own two eyes. I can't wait to have a shopping partner one day!

HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY BABY GIRL!!!