Audrey's 2nd Birthday Party

On Saturday, October 12th, we celebrated Audrey's 2nd birthday with a wonderful party.  

We chose a One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish party theme because Audrey loves Dr. Seuss books and loves this one in particular.  

Grammy Patton really put a lot of her touches (and time, resources, money, and effort!) into this party.  We keep telling her she needs to be a party planner!  We really appreciate everything she did to make this such a special day for Audrey.  

Beautiful food display.  Decorations (including handmade wreath and banner)
courtesy of Grammy Patton.  We served pizza and salad on the crates.

On the left side of this picture is a Gack where the kids could play "Ring the Gack."
That's right, we have the only Gack in town.  Grammy Patton made that Gack
with her new saw and then hand painted all the details with a little help from
her brother, my Uncle Scott, who was visiting from TN.

Guests could sign the book and leave their wishes for the birthday girl.  Sign reads,
"Stop here you see, and write a very special message to Me!  A Birthday Wish
or just sign your name, So I will never forget you came.  On the front, on the back,
or any of the pages.  It is something I will treasure for all my ages! Love, Audrey 10-12-2013"  

Here is the beautiful dessert table.  Auntie Ashley made the "2" sprinkle cake and all
the delicious cupcakes.  The cake was funfetti and the cupcakes were a mixture
of funfetti with funfetti frosting (minus the sprinkles) and carrot cake with cream
cheese frosting.  So beautiful and, most importantly, so delicious!  The carrot cake
cupcakes were my (and a lot of guests') favorites!  

The dessert table also had fish cookies from Mariano's and
fish bowls of swedish fish, colored goldfish, fish sweet tarts.

 Audrey certainly had a lot of fun celebrating with all her friends and family.  What a great day it was!  Thank you to everyone who came!  (Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of everyone who came.)

And a special thank you to Grammy Patton and Auntie Ashley Patton for everything they did for the party!!  What a special party for a special girl.

Audrey and Maci Whetstone with the Cat in the Hat

Audrey and Maci sitting in Audrey's new chair/bed from Auntie Amber

Auntie Jennifer and cousin Ross Larson

Audrey and Maci playing with baby dolls

Audrey and Derek Carroll (neighbor) playing Ring the Gack.  I'm guessing Audrey won?

Ring the Gack:  Audrey, Colby Marr, Fiona Carroll

Audrey's new car from Grammy and Gramps

I think she likes it!

Audrey and Auntie Ash

Audrey with Grammy and Gramps

Crystal and Maci Whetstone, Abby and Audrey, Colby and Cynda Marr

with Katie and Frank Baio

Audrey and Auntie Amber

Audrey with Grandma and Grandpa Larson

Apple of Our Eye: Audrey's 1st Birthday Party

On October 20th, 2012, we invited friends and family over to celebrate Audrey's 1st birthday.

It was a wonderful day!  The weather was perfect, almost 60 degrees and sunny.  Beautiful Autumn day.  And better yet, we got to celebrate our Audrey Elizabeth's 1st year!  

 

Grandma & Gramps Patton

Grandma & Grandpa Larson

Grandma Patton, Aunt Faye, Great-Grandpa Hahn, and Uncle Jim

The party was the BEST birthday party I have ever been to.  My Mom outdid herself again!  We chose an "Apple of Our Eye" theme, but we wanted very girly colors, not the typical Autumn colors that go along with October and apples.  It turned out to be even better than I could have imagined.  Of course my Mom (Grandma Patton) took on the role of ultimate party-planner, and I can't thank her enough for all the work she did to make this party so memorable for us and for Audrey.

We set up tables in the garage and a tent with chairs/tables on the driveway for more seating.  Since it was such a beautiful day, a lot of people spent time outside.  

The food was set up inside in our kitchen/dining area.  Grandma Patton made a really cool frame that hung above the food table.  It was a collage of all of Audrey's monthly pictures through her first year with a 1-year-old birthday picture in the middle.  I don't have a good picture of the food table... best I can do is this blurry picture of the collage with pink and green balloons on the side.  As for the food, we served shredded BBQ chicken, bratwursts, coleslaw, and chips.  We had juice boxes, caramel apple cider, bottled water (with custom labels), and beer to drink. 

The main feature of the party was the dessert table.  Grandma Patton and Aunt Ashley really outdid themselves with this dessert table.  

A friend of mine has a side-business where she made cake pops and oreo balls, Pops n' Balls.  She made the Apple Cake Pops (spice cake and cream cheese frosting) for our dessert table.  Delicious!  We also had lollipops...

Apple Jacks and Caramel Corn (from Del's Popcorn Shop in Decatur)... Homemade Apple Pies baked in mason jars (believe it or not, I made those!)... 

Confetti Cupcakes with hot pink frosting (courtesy of Aunt Ashley)...Audrey's "smash" cake on a beautiful cake platter as the center piece for the dessert table...

Hot pink M&M's... Snickers Caramel Apple Salad with a pretzel and a candy lime for the stem and leaf...

Caramel Apples (from Del's Popcorn Shop in Decatur)...

and baskets of Granny Smith Apples...

The dessert table definitely added a "wow-factor" to the party.  And all the guests really loved the desserts.  I thought we were going to have tons of leftover candy, but there wasn't too much remaining after all guests had left.  

Audrey had 2 outfits for the party.  She wore a pretty pink tutu with this custom onesie that said "Audrey The Apple of Our Eye".  I loved this big pink flower headband, but that didn't last too long.  :)

After we ate dinner, we sang Happy Birthday to Audrey.  We left the candle unlit because I was a bit paranoid.  Next year, she can blow out her birthday candles.  :)  

Then we let her dig into her cake. 

Carl had to help her really dig in.  She wasn't as interested in this cake. 

But it certainly does look like she went crazy, doesn't it?  What a silly girl!  

After the cake, Audrey got a bath and a new outfit... her birthday dress.  I had a pillow case dress made with a hot pink apple decal and Audrey's name.  She had a blast opening all her presents...

 

Rocking horse from Grandma & Grandpa Larson

Handmade carousel horse made by Uncle Ross

We will never forget Audrey's 1st Birthday Party.  What a beautiful event for such a special girl!  Big, big thanks all who came and especially to my Mom for taking this party to the next level and making it so memorable!

Audrey is 1 year old!

They took her official weight and length at her 12-month wellness check (no shots!):
Weight:  22.6 lbs (~70th percentile)
Length:  31.5 in (~95th percentile!)

Clothes:  18 months
Diaper:  Size 4

Food:  We can officially start transitioning Audrey from formula over to whole (Vitamin D) milk.  We're transitioning gradually, starting off with 1 or 2 bottles per day of milk instead of formula.  Each week, we are going to switch out 1 more bottle a day until she is completely off the formula.  Can't wait until then!  Dr. Tess said that obviously Audrey is a good eater so he was pretty laid-back about her eating schedule/routine.  He told me that we could continue with our current routine, 3 solid food meals a day with 5 milk/formula bottles (or sippy cups) throughout the day, and test out new things to get her to eat more table and solid food than milk/formula so she gets the majority of her nutrients from solids.  We'll work up to that. Sometimes at dinner we feed her the solid food first and then follow with milk/formula.  We'll start doing that more regularly in the near future.

Sleep:  Audrey sure sleeps well at night.  It's all that moving around all day... that girl is on the go constantly!  She sleeps straight through from 8pm-6am (or later sometimes on the weekend).  She also has been consistently taking a 2 hour nap from 11am-1pm and snoozing for about 15 minutes on our way home from daycare.  Well, maybe I should clarify... she takes a good, consistent 2 hour nap at home on the weekends, and at daycare it's more like 90 minutes.

Teeth:  Audrey still has about the same # of teeth - 2 on top, 4 on bottom - and they are growing in a lot more.

It was an exciting month for Audrey!  She officially took her first steps on September 17th, 2012.  And now... watch out!  That girl can walk.  And quickly.  For about 1 week now, she's been walking the full length from the loft into our (Carl and my) bedroom.  She loves climbing into and on top of anything she can... diaper box, laundry basket, toy stroller, her toy box... anything.  She also loves pushing things... again, diaper box, laundry basket, toy stroller, and also a cool toy that Grandma & Gramps Patton got Audrey as an early birthday present.

Playing in the diaper box

Climbing in the laundry basket

Here is a video Gramps took of Audrey pushing that toy on 9/29/12 while we were visiting their house:

Audrey taking a couple steps, 9/23/12:

Doing "The Frankenstein", 10/4/12:

10/14/12:

This past month, we also did a lot to prepare for and celebrate Audrey's 1st birthday.  We took pictures with a professional photographer, Carl and I took her pictures at home with a "smash cake", and we also had a big party with friends and family!  I will post separate posts with her 1-year pictures and of the birthday party.

I cannot even believe it has been 1 year since Audrey was born.

I was looking at the clock on the morning of her 1st birthday at 5:56am on 10/15/12, and I got a little emotional thinking back.  Exactly 1 year ago at that exact time, Audrey was born.  That was such a special day... really, truly the happiest day of my life.  This first year has been a journey, and I would go back and do it all over again with our little Audrey Bear.  She is a joy and so laid-back and such a wonderful little girl.  What a blessing to Carl and me!  I love her to pieces!  And I know Carl feels the same way.

The birthday girl!
10/15/12

10/15/12

Our Birthday Girl!

Audrey opens her birthday presents from Mom & Dad:

Eating a Birthday Cupcake:

It was an exciting month, and our Audrey Bear is proving that she steals our heart more and more each day... if that's even possible.  There is so much laughter and joy in our house, and that little girl is usually the center of it.

Happy 1st Birthday, Audrey!