iPod Dump!

A whole bunch of photos and a couple of videos for you!

Took this one while she was playing outside.  Yes, that's cornmeal in her hair. ;)

Here she is studying the drinks menu at SALT.

Mom and Dad at Salt.

Devyn is the best alarm clock.  Luckily, Pop didn't seem to mind.

This was so funny.  She was clearly telling us a story.  She went on like this for easily five minutes before I grabbed the video camera.  

This was two weekends ago at the Yellow Scene Super Kids Expo.  Devyn LOVED the petting zoo.

She kept saying, "dog! dog! dog!"

I don't remember what she was doing that I thought I was going to video here, but the result is pretty funny anyway! 

Birthday Party!

We had such a great time for Devyn's party. Huge thanks to my mom and dad and to Larry and Zana for their help making it look exactly how I had imagined. 

The party was circus themed. I got the idea for the curtain and the candy decorations from Pinterest, and I found the free printables for the cake toppers there as well.

We hung Devyn's month photos in order across the window there, and hung red pom poms over the table. The tablecloth was a fabric remnant I picked up that was sheer white with little black stars.  We had hot dogs, popcorn, peanuts, fruit salad and a veggie tray.  And my mom and I successfully made soft pretzel bites, which were pretty easy and very delicious. 

There was an elephant, a seal and a trapeze girl for the cake.  The cake was lemon with lemon curd filling and a marshmallow frosting from Kim and Jake's Cakes, and it was OUTSTANDING!

Here is the little ringmaster in her birthday getup with Grandma Zana.  She had sparkly shoes, too, but the shoes and the bow didn't last very long, and it was really too hot for the sweater.  Oh well!  She looked cute regardless.

We sang and had a candle for Devyn on one of the cupcakes I made—which were really carrot muffins with cream cheese frosting.

She definitely liked the frosting...

But the cake was almost as good!  She ate the entire cupcake this way.  It was pretty cute.  As Brandon said, she liked it way too much to smash it.

Then we went outside to play in the sand table that was her gift from me and her dad.  We filled it with cornmeal since she still tries to eat everything.

Turns out, that was a pretty smart idea, because cornmeal is DELICIOUS!

All in all, it was pretty much perfect.  It lasted just long enough for everyone to have a good time, but not so long that anyone got grumpy.  I couldn't have been any happier with the way things turned out. 

1 Year Old

Dearest Devyn,

Happy birthday, my sweet one!  What an exciting time for all of us! I can't believe you are already a year old.  It has passed in the blink of an eye.

You know, I make my living finding the right words for things, and so I can tell you with some authority that there are no words to describe how much I love you.  "Love" just doesn't seem big enough for this feeling I have when I look at you, my baby.

This is just the first of all the birthdays we have ahead of us to celebrate, and I hope each and every one is happier than the last.  I know that, in 12 or 15 years' time, you and I will have a very different relationship—and that's OK, that's the way it's supposed to be; but I hope that you will keep these letters somewhere near you always, and if ever we are at odds, not seeing things eye-to-eye, please come back to these words and be reminded of where we started, and where we will always be in our hearts.

You are beloved, my sweet child, more than you will ever, ever know.  I love you with every single particle of my being more than I knew it was possible to love.  Your daddy and I could not be any happier with you, with everything you are, everything you are not, everything you may be and everything you will never be.  I know it may be hard to remember sometimes, but you will never be anything less than perfect in our eyes.

I love you when you are sweet and bubbly.  I love you when you are screaming and angry.  And I love you every moment in between.

That awe I felt in the first moments I saw you, the first days we got to know you, has not diminished.  You are beautiful, brilliant, strong-willed, curious, brave, and friendly.  You are everything I ever wanted in a daughter, and everything I never knew I wanted.

It was so wonderful to be able to celebrate you this weekend with all of your grandparents and our friends.  Although I know you won't remember this birthday, sweet one, I always will.

Happy, happy birthday to the greatest gift we've ever gotten.

I love you always, my sweet baby.
~Mommy

51 weeks, 6 days: Fun and Games

Inspired by some things I've seen on different websites, we've been having "activities" here and there.

First, a little sensory play, and what I'm calling, "very brave, or very stupid, Mommy."

Playing with cornmeal. 

She thought it was pretty darned fun.  And tasty.

Then, we put some finger paints in a zip-top bag and taped it to the window.  She's been playing with this on and off for a couple of days now and still thinks it's pretty nifty.

More soon!  Gran and Pop arrive tonight, Grandma and Grandpa get here tomorrow, and then: WE PARTY. 

Some Easter Photos!

Belated Easter photos for you!

Once Daddy showed her that there were exciting freeze-dried bananas inside one of the eggs, she wasn't very interested in finding the rest of them!  She did, however, very much enjoy playing with the packet of cheddar bunnies she got and she really likes the little garden rake and spade the bunny brought.

The Easter bunny brought Daddy some Cadbury creme eggs and Mommy some fancy truffles, so we were all happy.