You Only Turn One Once

Allison truly had the BEST day of her life on October 17. She woke up to grandparents, good friends and pancakes; she had no idea that would only be the tip of the ice berg on the fun scale for the day!
I'm still in shock that our baby girl is one! It goes by incredibly fast. We are truly blessed that grandparents and Allison's Godparents (Brett and Alesha) all spent October 17 in the panhandle with us. I mean that is a sacrifice for Sooners, but of course we watched the game.
While Alesha and I ran around setting up for the party, Allison ate lunch and took it all in. Her party did not start until 3:00, so that gave us lots of time to prep. Here she is in her cute onesie Carrie sent to her!


Finally, it was time for the party to start and guests to arrive. The party was a cupcake and lollipop theme. The invitations were really cute, they had a little poem that said, "Come and join us for some birthday fun our little cupcake is turning one!" With the cupcake invitation, we had to find a cupcake cake to go along with it all. My sweet friend Tiffany gave me a lesson in cake baking. She made this not only beautiful, but delicious cake. I was there for every bit of it, but I am going to use the term "help" loosely, she did it and she did a great job!


Of course, Allison had to have a smash cake....so cute!



Here is the rest of the spread. We had a festive carmel apple dip and pumpkin dip with ginger snaps. We also had some pub mix in cupcake cups and candy corn. Here are the cute cupcake plates and the lollipops for party favors.







And the baby of the day (in her cupcake dress)....







We are so fortunate. Nick's dad, Ed, made it up for the party and so did my sweet parents. Also, Allison's Godparents, Brett and Alesha.





We are truly blessed with the best friends and family, here are some of the sweet people who came to help celebrate Allison's milestone! I feel awful because in all the hundreds of pictures, I did not get a picture of everyone there! I wish I had...






Not only do we have the sweetest friends, our friends have the BEST kids. Here are some of the sweet older kids who came to the party. They were great!







When we put Allison in her chair to eat her cake, we did not know what to expect. She LOVES food, so I assumed that she would dive right in. We sang "Happy Birthday" to her and she LOVED that! She squealed when she heard her name! It took her a bit to decide that she liked the cake, but she got the hang of it and ate a lot of it!







And really...she did not do too bad! Check out the dent she made in that double layer cake!


After cake, we headed outside for the piñata. It was a big hit with all of the kids, especially Allison. She loved watching the older kids hit the piñata. She laughed hysterically! I have no idea why it was so funny, but she thought it was almost as great as Elmo!







After the excitement and piñata entertainment, Allison opened presents. She loved every moment of it and had tons of helpers! We have the most GENEROUS friends and family! Thank you all! She loves EVERY BIT of her presents! She is still playing NON STOP with all of her new toys!









After everyone left, I really expected Allison to crash. She had only had a morning nap (she typically takes a morning and an afternoon one) and it was after 5:00 in the evening. My assumption was completely wrong. She played and played with her new toys. At about 7:30, Nick, his dad, my parents, the Leemasters, Allison and myself all went to the Country Club for dinner. Allison was a trooper! She split my turkey burger with me and hammed it up for all the people at the Country Club. She typically goes to sleep around 8:00 on a normal night. We got home from dinner at 9:30 or so. Once again, I expected her to crash and once again, I was wrong! She put on her pj's and played some more with her new toys. I told her she could stay up as late as she wanted (expecting her to only last a few more minutes). Ed (Nick's father) kept saying, "I just wonder when she is going to crash, she does not want to quit playing!" Finally at 11:00, I had to retract my statement and put her to bed. Allison stayed up until 11:00! She did not have any meltdowns and she was as sweet as she could be! Nick and I feel that she realizes, she had the best day of her life thus far! She had people she loves, friends, family, cake, attention and new toys...honestly, in Allison's world, that is the BEST DAY EVER! It was truly magical and I can't thank all of our sweet family and friends who made the effort to help us celebrate precious Allison!

She continued playing on Sunday! She thought maybe she could keep the birthday celebration going! She gave me a little gift on Sunday, October 18 when she said, "Momma" for the first time! Talk about making your heart melt! I LOVE IT!

I think I burst her bubble on Monday though. We went to Allison's 12 month check up. Allison weighs 19lbs 2oz (twentieth percentile) and is 29 inches long (fiftieth percentile). She is growing proportionately and right on track! She is right on track with all of her developmental markers too. The only downfall...the four shots and finger prick she received while we were at the doctor! OUCH! It was definitely my most trying moment as a mother. I could not get her calmed down! After about 30 minutes of very awful crying, she returned to herself again. Sorry, sweet girl!

Nick and I are extremely proud of our sweet baby. We are so incredibly blessed. I am so thankful she had such a magical first birthday! Here's to being one!