Fairy Princess Party

Our sweet niece celebrated her first birthday today.

First birthdays are so special. I have always been amazed at the development in the first year but now that I have truly witnessed it first hand with Ayden, I've gained a whole new respect. A baby starts out as this tiny being who sleeps a lot, can only see about a foot in front of them and doesn't even realize that their hands are their own. Then, by their first birthday, they have more than doubled their size, and are a little person full of personality who can walk (or close to it) and even talk a little. It is truly amazing.

Only 4 months until we'll be celebrating for this little man!

Our niece is the only girl out of my parent's 6 grandchildren and is our little princess, hence the theme of the party. It was a beautiful day and my parents' garden is always the most amazing backdrop for any occasion. The Fairy Princess enjoyed opening her gifts (well, at least the first few) and came away with a stroller, purse, baby dolls, plenty of clothes and books. She was so cute pushing her stroller around everywhere after the party.

Ayden enjoyed watching all of the other kids playing. He was the youngest and couldn't take his eyes off of any kid (or dog) who ran by. We think he was taking notes because he was practicing his standing a whole lot when we got home.

"Is this how they were doing it?"

We borrowed a push toy from my parents' house and Ayden is already a fan. We have to be with him when he uses it, though, because it can get away from him and could result in a pretty bad face plant. We think it will really help him strengthen those walking muscles. Ayden was a good sport letting several different people hold him and was giving out smiles left and right. Our little cutie!

We always assume the responsibility of photographer and videographer at family functions and our gift is usually a video/photo mantage of the event. It saves us from spending money on a toy that usually just gets lost in the shuffle and helps everyone have a keepsake to keep the memories alive. I am just hoping my sisters will return the favor for Ayden's birthday so we won't have to worry about it. We did get a few family pictures that I think are pretty frame worthy:

David and I are so tired after a pretty busy weekend. Our only downtime was when we were sleeping so now that Ayden is asleep we are going to veg for a while before going to bed ourselves. We have a big week ahead of us with preparations for another weekend out of town (Jess and Adam's wedding!!) and plenty of household to do's.

~Sarah