Look Who's One!

Are you surprised that Olivia loved her very first Birthday cake? Are you surprised that Olivia loved having one day that was all about her? Wait...every day seems to be all about her! Well, on this day we were celebrating one very special occasion...Olivia's 1st Birthday!

The theme was Elmo! Olivia has had an obsession with Elmo for quite a few months now...so we thought it was necessary that Elmo have a strong presence at the party. And that he did! From the Elmo plates, napkins and party hats, to the many adorable balloons and finally the amazing Elmo cake (made with lots of love and hard work by Olivia's godmother, Korrie), my Mom's house was turned into party central! And let's not forget the presents! Look at that pile of loot! This is one lucky little girl!

Olivia's Nana was kind enough to host the party at her house. I don't think I could have handled all of the stress of planning and hosting this party at my house, while still being able to enjoy Olivia's special day. She is a pro and truly enjoys entertaining. It was originally supposed to be a small family affair, but it grew into a much larger celebration. I was worried that Olivia may get a little overwhelmed with all of the attention...but of course she handled it like a champ! Here we are arriving at Olivia's party.

As you can tell Olivia was thrilled with the decorations. She was especially fascinated with the walking Elmo balloon given to her by her babysitter, Mama Kay. She spent most of her party crawling around and mingling with her many special guests. All of Olivia's aunts and uncles were there as well as most of her cousins. Olivia's Great Nana Cleo and Great Uncle John were also in attendance. They drove down from Michigan to celebrate with us.

Big Elmo balloon...

Livie & Great Nana Cleo...

After a fabulous Italian lunch, fixed entirely by my Mom, we decided it was time to sing "Happy Birthday" and let Olivia dig into her cake. This was by far the highlight of the day! I thought that Olivia would be the type of child that would have dove in, head first to her cake. I think she was in a little bit of shock as she looked around at all of her guests. I can't imagine what she must have been thinking.

All of the attention caused her to become slightly shy. She oh so gently swiped the icing off the top for her first taste. She quickly realized just how good the icing was and the finger started moving at a quicker pace. After a few minutes of that she got the courage to stab the cake with that finger, getting a taste of the chocolate goodness! From that point on she knew she had a good thing and became a little more aggressive. I knew this was the perfect time to sneak the cute little birthday crown on her head (thank you Kim!), that she had refused to wear at any point thus far. The wonderful taste of chocolate was the perfect distraction. Within minutes she was grabbing handfuls of cake and attempting to cram it in her mouth. The amount that actually made it into her mouth was minimal compared to the amount that was "caked" to her body when she was finished.

Testing the waters...

Getting adventurous...
Digging in...
Yeah...all done!

Olivia's front row audience consisted of her youngest cousins. They were making goofy faces and egging her on to make an even bigger mess. She could hardly contain her excitement between the cake and the entertainment from the boys. I was prepared to deal with a huge tantrum when it was time to take the cake away but surprisingly, she was easily distracted. I think she knew that the next task on the party agenda was opening presents!

Time for presents!

Livie loves books...
It's all about Elmo...

Olivia received some wonderful gifts...many of the Elmo variety. A few of her favorites were the Elmo books, the talking pizza Elmo from her G-Ma in Hawaii, and the giggle and shake Elmo chair from her Mommy & Daddy! She also received some beautiful clothes and very first wooden rocking chair...very cute! My Mom also opened a college fund in Olivia's name, which was very generous of her. Olivia is very blessed!

I cannot believe that we have just celebrated Baby O's first birthday! It was by far the fastest year of my life. In some ways we are sad that those baby days are behind us, but we are so very excited about Olivia becoming a toddler! Thank you to everyone who attended Olivia's birthday bash and showered her presents and lots of love! What a perfect party for a perfect little girl!