A Birthday Extravaganza!!!!!

We are home and settling in after a whirlwind week! Tula turned one just over a week ago and it feels like we JUST stopped celebrating it! She was lucky to have more than one party with more than one crowd, and of course got spoiled rotten everywhere she went. Tula is so loved by so many people, and her birthday and all the celebrations that came with it were a testament to that. To all of you who attended a party, wrote a card, send, gave, mailed a gift or even called to say you were thinking of us on Tula's birthday, thank you so much. It meant the world to me to know that my baby is so adored by so many people.

The festivities began here in AZ with a double birthday party with her friend Kayden who was born the day before Tula. We had the party on Saturday, June 28th at Kaisha's house. Kaisha is Kayden's Mommy, for those of you who don't know, and has become such a good friend of mine. At first, we were hesitant to do our party together, both of us wanted our Little One's birthday to be a special day just for them. but the more we thought and talked about it, the idea to celebrate them together really grew on us. First of all, we were both having celebrations with family the following week out of town, so it would really be just friends. And we have all the same friends, so we figured why not? Kayden and Tula love each other and I am pretty sure if they could talk they would have told us they wanted it to be together. Plus, who's kidding who, Kaisha offered to host it and that meant my pregnant butt would have a lot less work to do, so I agreed.

We had so much fun! My Mom was in town and she helped us make the cakes. She decorated a crown (prince and princess) cake for Tula and Kayden and did a fabulous job! Mom, you still got it after all those years. Dad always tells us about how "Your Mother made all your birthday cakes" and what a wonderful job she did. Not to see that I didn't believe him but I had no idea how good until I saw for myself. They looked professional. Thanks Grandma! My Mom also taught Kaisha and I how to decorate so we could each do our own smash cake for our kids. We had a tiny number one cake pan and Tula got a pink one and Kayden got a blue one. So I am proud to say that I too, made my baby's first birthday cake. And it wasn't even that hard. And I enjoyed it......I may actually even do it again.

Anyways, back to the party. We had 46 guests, 30 adults and 16 kids under the age of 2! Most of the crowd were Moms, Hubbies and Babies from our Playgroup, Kaisha had a few friends there, and our next door neighbors and neighbors from down the street came as well with all their kids. I felt so lucky to have all these people in my life. Moving to Arizona has been the hardest thing John and I have had to do as a couple and one thing we were both petrified of was the loneliness of holidays and special events and not being able to share them all with our loved ones. While nothing can take the place of family, to be surrounded by so many good friends made for such a fun day for us, and I can honestly say I didn't feel the least bit lonely. My Mommy friends that I have made through our playgroup have been such a blessing in my life (and Tula's) and I don't know what I would do without them. Again, we felt very loved and celebrated on Tula's big day and who could ask for more?

Tula loved the party and really was a champ. I thought she may get a little overwhelmed with so many babies around but she actually did great and seemed to just be taking in the attention. She wasn't quite walking on her own at the time of the party, but would take anyone by the hand who was willing and do loops around Kaisha's house stopping to say hi to everyone along the way. The cake smashing was fun for her as well. She seemed to like her cake too. It took a little while for her to get into the whole "smashing" part but she did eventually. I can't say she ate bunch, licked the icing mostly. She maybe lasted all of 10 minutes before she was reaching out to me to wipe her hands off. We plopped Tula and Kayden in the tub together to rinse off the icing and then it was back to the party. We opened all our presents afterwards and Tula had fun with that too. She got spoiled by her friends! She still loves the wrapping paper most of all, and of course books that she already has. This happened at her party in CT too, and I think it's hilarious that the gifts that get the most reaction out of her are books she owns already. I guess it's nice to know she really does like them.

Most everyone started clearing out during and right after presents it was naptime for sure. Daddy and Kyle took the kids out to Kayden's pool while the Mommies and my Mom cleaned up the house. Tula could hardly keep her eyes open and by the time we buckled her seatbelt to go home she was out like a light. She has a great day though and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. Thanks Kaisha for hosting and sharing Kayden's big day with us! We love you guys and loved celebrating with you!

The next day, Sunday, the 29th, was Tula's real birthday. I will say it wasn't as emotional for me as I had anticipated. I think the hardest part was the beginning of June and that i was going into the last month of her being a baby. I cried a lot during the beginning of the month, but as time went on and it started to sink in more, it become more of something exciting to look forward to. I had a few little cries thoughout the day, but for the most part, we just kept it really low key. Tula actually had a huge morning nap, so John and I slept as well. We went to Kona Grill for lunch and went home for another huge Birthday nap for Miss Belle. John and I took off and ran errands, it was the last day we had together before our trip to CT where Grandma was in town. It could have been our last time alone before baby #2 comes....eeek! We picked up groceries and had dinner at home. We prayed for Tula and thanked God for her. We had a quiet dinner and then sang Happy Birthday and let Tula play a little with the cake Grandma had as a spare to practice on. It was a fun night. Tula stayed up a little later with Daddy and her put her to sleep with a story and a sippy of milk. And a big long birthday snuggle, of course.

So we had Monday to recoup from the two days of celebrating and then Tuesday morning we flew out to CT. Tula did fabulous on the plane. Because we booked the tickets for 10 am, we caught both nap times and there was lunch and playtime in the middle to keep her entertained and happy. Grandpa Lee picked us up from the airport and Tula went to him right away. One thing I learned this trip, she is definitely not a shy girl. She loved seeing all her family in Connecticut and seemed to take to everyone right away. As long as you would get up and hold her hand and walk with her, she was okay to go with anyone. She did countless laps around the house and in the yard. It was fun to watch, she had such a good time exploring the different house and different yard. She loved looking at all the flowers and trees outside and finding new little trinkets or stuffed animals to hold around Nonnie's house.

We had a great week visiting. Tuesday night we had dinner at home with everyone, Wednesday John went out with friends and I shopped most of the day and met my friend Maria for lunch, we had dinner at home again. Thursday was a quiet day preparing for the fireworks that night down at the beach at Aunt Carmella's house. It was fun to see, Tula was not as interested as I thought she would be, but I think by the time they started to was just overtired and ready to sleep. The fireworks were really loud because we were so close to the water so my dad held her across his legs and covered her ears and bounced her a little. She was out like a light before the grand finale!

The next day was Friday, Fourth of July, and the day of her party. Grandma C, Great Aunt Gayle and Nonnie did a great job hosting, as usual. There was a big tent in the backyard and lots of balloons. A couple big tables filled with all sorts of wonderful things to eat. I think there was about 60 guests there. Of course, once again, Tula got completely spoiled with presents! She walked around all afternoon, the party started at one in the afternoon and I don't think she went down for a nap until 5 or 6ish. She walked around holding hands with whoever would take hers and wore herself out completely. By the time we were ready for cake she was ready for nap so down she went. I thought we were going to get a second round of smash cake pictures but no such luck! I went and laid down with Tula for awhile and had a big nap myself and came back down to the yard around 8 and there were still people there mingling. It was such a fun day, we miss being surrounded by so many people who know and love us. It was a great birthday party and a fun day!

Saturday was another low key and stay at home day, my Mom and Dad and Tiffany flew back to DC and we had a big afternoon nap a took advantage of having babysitters around. John and I went out for dinner by ourselves and left Tula with Grandpa and Grandma, and came home for a visit and then off to bed. Our flight left early Sunday morning (well, around 10, we had to be at the airport at 8) and we landed back in Phoenix around noon. The week really flew by and when we landed we felt like we had just left.

So that was our how we spent Tula's first birthday "week". We had so much fun and I constantly found myself looking at her entertaining everyone and thinking "She CANNOT be one! Where did the time go?". I think especially for us to be back in CT, where she was born a year ago, it just brought back so many memories of her being that little tiny baby she was and it still seems like yesterday... But, as hard as it is for me to believe (and accept), she is definitely one and no longer that little baby. And as much as I miss having that little tiny thing to hold, having a one year old is so much fun! It was so great to be able to share this week with all our family and friends and for them to see Tula at this fun and exciting age. Again, to everyone who helped us celebrate Tula's birthday, here in AZ or way out in CT, thanks so much. We loved seeing our little girl get so much love and were so proud to be Tula's Mommy and Daddy this week.

A few birthday shots:



I love cake!



Yum!



Family pic, party in CT.



Yes, she got an ipod for her birthday. She absolutely loves it. It has a speaker attached to the back and she cab listen t her own tunes all the time. It's one of the few toys that she freaks if you take it away from her...lol. Tula is one spoiled little girl!