First Birthday, First Mother's Day!

This past week has felt like a whirlwind of celebration!  Evelyn's actual birthday on Thursday was quiet, although we picked her up early from my parents' house and went to Buttered Noodles for some fun at Club Noodle.  We had great intentions of going to the park, but the lovely Vermont weather had other plans.  Evelyn loved playing with all the toys, and it was strange for her birthday to feel like such a normal day, compared to how we felt last year just after she was born. 

We took Evelyn to The Backstage bar to see some IBM friends.  Mother of the year!

She opened a couple gifts in the morning, although she was super crabby.  Here she is in her new rain coat!

Birthday Girl at Club Noodle

Peek-a-boo Mommy!

She kept trying to chew on the trains.  Kind of gross.

We are considering getting one of these backpacks, but this one was really uncomfortable.  Any parents out there have recommendations for good kid carrying backpacks?

Friday was Evie's birthday party at our house.  We tried to "keep it small" by only inviting family, but it turned out to be close to 20 people.  It was a really nice time, and everyone generously helped out.  Of course, I managed to be that mom that was up until midnight frosting cupcakes the night before.  Oh well, she's worth it!  Evie was a little overwhelmed at first at the party, but she ended up having fun and eating her cake very delicately!  Matt put a tarp on the floor expecting a huge mess, but Evie was a little lady about it.  She hated having dirty hands, and she liked the ice cream better than the cake!  Here are some highlights from the party:

Cousin CoCo arrives at the party

So big!

Reading books from Shannon and Dave.  Thank you!!

She didn't love having all the attention on her when we sang "Happy Birthday"

Delicately eating cake

Getting a little more messy

Ice cream!

Much happier now that she's using a spoon instead of fingers

The sugar has kicked in!

DONE!

In case cupcakes weren't enough, Carly demonstrates how to eat a cookie grinder!

Post-party, I took it upon myself to finish the wine!

Matt put together a beautiful slideshow of pictures from Evie's first year that we showed at her party, but I will have to have him put it up on the blog for everyone to see.  Check back later for that.

UPDATE!  Here's the slideshow we made for Evie's first birthday that, we think, appropriately chronicles her first year of life.  Enjoy!

Saturday kind of felt like my mother's day celebration.  Evelyn has been sleeping in a lot lately (somewhere betwen 9 and 10am!), so we started the day by sleeping in until almost 9.  I made pancakes, and we had a nice family day, going for a walk, to the park, and taking Evie for her first Creemee.  She LOVED it and so did we!

I had a very nice First Mother's Day on Sunday thanks to my sweet hubby, complete with breakfast in bed and going to church as a family!  Happy Mother's Day to all of you moms out there, and a special thanks to both of our moms who are so helpful and caring whenever we need a break.  We love you!

Happy Mother's Day to my mom!

Last but not least, here's a video of Evelyn being such a big girl.  We decided to let her try some fish at dinner last night, and she loved it.  Of course, now that she's a big girl, she wanted to eat it with a fork!  We have her 1-year doctor's visit on Friday, so we'll have all her latest growth stats next week.