August 6, 2012

We love Joe's Donuts in Sandy, and I'm not above admitting that we look for any excuse/celebration to go find out if they have buttermilk bars that morning.

Piper's birthday was just the excuse we needed! We had a party to celebrate her second birthday, but first we went to Joe's. And it was totally worth it.

Beautiful Miss Hazel B., living it up on the Oregon Coast.

Bum to the sky, fingers in the sand.

I have a lot of these self-portraits. I say very loosely that we're kind of figuring out how to take them.

On a treasure hunt. She wouldn't slow down!

Celebrated 7 years of marriage together this year. Love him.

See? This self-portrait is almost better than the first one! Shadow portraits are the best!

She's flirting with the guy in the coffee shop.

Couldn't get a "sisterly" picture for the life of me...unless this counts in your book.

In heaven, enjoying my coffee flavored foam.

Tuckered after her treasure hunt, so what's she do? She sits down in the sand.

Whatever it was, it was amazing.

mae wright photography 2011

(She peed on me.)

Photos taken July 3, 2011

Photographer: mae wright

Location: Breck Farms

Hazel, 32-months-old

Piper, 11-months-old

Ah, Piper Sue...

Piper turned one on August 6th, and I can hardly believe it! Where oh where did the last year go? Seriously. I'm lost. The ten months we've lived in the Great Room have indeed flown by, praise God. And now it's time to move on - or, as my MIL Karen put it the other day, we're way beyond that time. Moving is going to be just the thing our little family needs!

So Piper's first birthday party was on Sunday the 7th. I worked Friday night, Saturday morning (followed closely by my ten year high school reunion - crap, I'm old), and Sunday morning. My weekend was packed, so as we got closer to the party, I worked hardest at maintaining my reason and logic: If the chocolate covered pretzels didn't materialize, the end of the world was not near.

With the oatmeal intolerance that came to light the week before (read on - I'll fill in that little detail at the end of this post), we decided that Piper would have a gluten-free cupcake, even though we already had a beautiful, gluten-full birthday cake in the process of being made.

The morning of the party, I finished work around 11a.m., and then whizzed home to change and box up all the stuff I would need to take over to Mom and Dad's for the party. Nate had the girls lunched, dressed for naps, and in the car before I could even say, "See you in a bit." He took them to Mom and Dad's to nap while we finished setting up for the party. I ran a couple errands, and then Nate called and convinced me to get to the house so that he could finish the errands.

When I got to Mom and Dad's, I began working on the cheeseball, veggie tray, etc. A co-worker from Starbucks came over and put the cake layers together and decorated the cake per the picture I had found in a Martha Stewart party book. The cake concept fit unbelievably well with the birds/nests theme I seem to always carry throughout my home and celebrations.

People began arriving exactly on time! I was late. Totally. I kept racing things out to the table on the back deck and then dodging back into the kitchen for more last minute touches. So not cool. I felt terrible. While I was doing that, Nate got the girls up and dressed and party presentable. (He even remembered their headbands - I have the best husband in the whole world!)

Piper took a look at all the people looking back at her and she began to cry. It was too funny. Hazel is such a little entertainer; Piper seems to be more modest, or timid maybe. I'm not sure. It took some time, but eventually she chippered up and began to chat with people.

When it was time for her to eat her cake, we stuck her in her bumbo chair, attached the tray, and presented her with her GF red velvet cupcake from New Seasons. She immediately pinched some frosting between her fingers and stuck it in her mouth very thoughtfully. It took .09 seconds for her to realize the cupcake was like a dream come true. She began shoveling it into her mouth with fervor.

Her sugar high carried for her a bit, and then she needed her bottle to cool down. Tutu took care of that. Tutu also gave her a bath to clean off all the red velvet (thank you, red dye #40).

Piper's first birthday was such a wonderful celebration! And so timely! She kicked C.diff's butt to the curb (with the help of her 10-day antibiotic & probiotic regimens); she began to focus on her motor skills, army crawling and scooting everywhere, pulling herself up on things; her weight skyrocketed up by two pounds in just under two weeks; she's chatting up a storm, pointing her little fingers and asking something akin to, "Whazzat?!" about everything. We had so much to celebrate with her.

And today I put her in some 12-month clothing. It fit! She is lengthening, and we see her chunking out in her face. Miss Pumpkin Pie is doing some serious growing!

A day after we got the news that she was over her C.diff, totally in the clear, I fed her some oatmeal (about 1.5 Tablespoons worth mixed with formula) and she threw it up about three hours later (same time frame as when she threw up awhile back). It was her first oatmeal since the ER visit. A little light went on in my head: "AHH! Oatmeal is a problem for her!" I called her pediatrician as soon as she tossed up her food and we decided that she's at least intolerant of oatmeal. We have no idea how far that extends, but we'll begin investigating when she's a little older. In the meantime, she won't be getting any food with flour in it. I make all her foods (fruits, veggies, proteins), so I'm able to be careful with her diet.

With the move about four weeks away, we have so much hope, joy, and anticipation. And gratefulness. I look back over where we've been, and at what God has carried us through, and I'm filled with an acute awareness of His daily presence in our lives. He steadily and surely walks with our little family.

 

We're headed over to house-sit for Uncle Richard in about two weeks - and then we begin to pack up our Great Room! This next month is going to fly by, I think.