A YEAR! our sweet girl has been with us an entire year. february was a fun and exhausting month for us all. wren’s birthday party was a blast {if you couldn’t tell from the photos}. it took us awhile to recover, mainly because we have been so sick the entire month. we’re all better now and enjoying this new chapter with wren. there are so many new and exciting developments that we see in her daily. i wish i could capture every single one on camera or video. impossible. instead i’ve been trying to tuck them away in my memory. we love our little wrennie and cannot imagine our lives without her.
THE TURNOUT FOR THE PARTY was overwhelming and an absolute blast! little wren had no clue what was going on but enjoyed every minute. such a gracious little hostess, she was a delight and riot, even missing her afternoon nap without a fuss. we had so much fun and cannot wait to do it again next year – who knew throwing kid birthday parties would be so much fun?!
I SHOULD HAVE TAKEN BEFORE AND AFTER PICTURES because the transformation of that dark and dated clubhouse was a miracle. tommy and i were up well into the early morning hours decorating with paper birds, colorful paper chains, and my favorite piece, the happy birthday banner. my mom even joined in and quickly made a ridiculous amount of paper chains when we realized that we hadn’t made enough. i wish i had a picture of her doing it, she’s so cute and nimble. i also wish there were more pictures of the setup, but too much was going on before the party for me to capture all of our hard work.
if you couldn’t already tell, the theme is BIRDS, of course! if there was more time i was going hang paper birds from the ceiling, but i’m only human and that idea died at 3am when i could no longer keep my eyes open while sticking pictures of wren’s first year on the wall. we had so much fun decorating with the paper chains that i’m thinking of keeping up with the tradition every year. i spent five dollars on a stack of construction paper and was able to use it for all the paper birds, the chains, the flower arrangement covers, and the happy birthday banner.
wren’s party was a huge group effort, friends and family pitched in, making it special and very fun. one family let us borrow their large, round kid table. a friend went out of her way across town just to bring all the balloons. two other friends made two cakes the night before. the grandmas brought tons of food and prepared all my food when i realized there wasn’t enough time for me to get it all done! wren’s grandpa brought eight costco pizzas {and carried them by himself – his poor back – have you ever tried carrying just one?}. everyone loves wren and this party shows it!
LOOK WHO JUST TURNED ONE! wren had so much fun on her first birthday – just look at her with her birthday balloon. tommy stayed home from work and we played all day. i’d say that wren’s highlight of the day was being pushed on the swing by dad. my highlight was seeing her gag on her birthday cupcake. she hated every moment of it. the video of her trying to get rid of it is hilarious. tommy and i spent most of the day reflecting on the first year. we might have gotten a little teary-eyed too. it’s been a wonderful year and i wish we could go back to the very beginning and do it all over again.
STANDING! i found wren standing in her crib this month. she was shouting for me after her afternoon nap. when i walked into the room, the biggest, proudest smile was beaming right back at me. from that moment she’s been crawling faster and pulling up on all the furniture. she has so much more confidence in everything she does now {well, except in that last photo}.
WHILE AT THE PARK ONE AFTERNOON in early december, attempting poorly to take our own christmas photo, a nice photographer named jason stepped in and offered to take the photo for us. we said YES! what a relief because i was exhausted from running back and forth to reset the timer on the camera. jason asked to borrow wren for a few test shots before a family session. the little one happily obliged.
HER FIRST DECEMBER many chilly outings dressed in the cutest layers, first christmas tree, first stocking, first christmas presents! no pictures with santa though {too scary}. funny and true, she cut her two top front teeth on christmas eve. christmas was everything we expected it to be for wren and more. she loved every single moment.
she looks huge in her chair now – look at her! i’ve been standing her up in her crib in hopes that she’ll start pulling herself up to stand. as you can she in the photos she’s pretty excited about it. the one challenge this month has been disciplining her. she is a very curious and determined baby. i absolutely do not mind her exploring, but there are a few restrictions, one being the cat’s food and water. it’s been exhausting telling her ‘no’ repeatedly while redirecting her attention elsewhere. the worst part is she finds it all hysterical. it usually ends with me laughing and giving up.
i think it’s funny that almost all the pictures taken for this month are of her wearing those polka dot pajamas.
MANY FIRSTS… first thanksgiving, first time eating a ‘puff’ without gagging, first time eating chicken {gagged, of course} and the first realization that crawling forward is so much easier than scooting backwards.
wren caught her first cold and naturally came the discovery and thrill of all things associated – the panda humidifier, nasal aspirator, sucking on sweet clementines, waking up at the bottom of a propped mattress, sometimes upside down face first into the bumper {horrible, but funny!}. the top two photos are from thanksgiving. she was so happy to have daddy home that morning. i bought her the most adorable outfit for thanksgiving and completely forgot to take a picture. i also had plans of dressing her like a pilgrim but managed to forget about that too amid the last minute scurry to get food prepared for thanksgiving dinner.
