Lucy's 1st Birthday Party

I had so much fun planning Lucy's birthday party. It had to be pink (with a little gold, no brainer) with sparkles and all of her favorite treats. Never did I think throwing a birthday party could be so dang fun! I just loved it.

I ordered a FREE smash cake from Macey's. WHAT!? When I found this out I about died. I was so sad thinking I would make a masterpiece cake only for it to be smashed and beaten. They did a great job! I was so darn happy about that.

I made a non-smash cake for everyone else. I decided a wasn't going to make a cake because I've never made a fancy, cute cake before and I didn't want my first attempt to be one that was going to be eaten by a bunch of people. BUT, my sweet mother-in-law gave me some tips and tricks and motivated me to do it. And I am so glad I did! It was a simple cake, but it was just what I wanted and I was so proud I made it! High five.

We had a Lucy meal served with all of Lucy's favorites. Applesauce, apricots, fruit (especially pineapple, grapes, and clementines), hummus, crackers, and cheese. I was impressed that her taste choices at this age were well rounded enough to make a meal out of! Haha.

We had a small group of people to our house and it all was so sweet. Because it was so intimate Lucy got lots of love from grandparents and great grandparents as well as from aunts and uncles. It was sweet and our home was filled with so many loved ones!

Lucy LOVED her smashcake! She grabbed herself handfuls of goodness, even let me try some, and delicately finished her cake by tipping it over onto the floor.

 "Mmmm, guys! This is good!"

 Action shot right before the cake went on the floor!

I put together a video montage of Lucy's first year. It was so rewarding going over all the videos I took of our sweet baby over this last year. After it was finished, I cried the first 50 times I watched it. Having her in our lives has made it the best year we've ever had. She brings so much light and happiness into our home and showed us what it means to really, really love. You can watch the video here:


Lucy's First Birthday! - Large from Madelyne McKee on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday to our sweet girl! We love you so!

Lucy's Birthday

My baby is ONE! Where has the time gone?! I've had mixed emotions filling up my week. Part of my heart just aches realizing how fast time went this past year and hoping that I can remember all of the incredibly hard and beautifully sweet moments it brought. The other part of me is so darn proud to have raised a baby to a year old! She's healthy and beautiful and that is something to celebrate and in that way I feel like there is no reason to feel sad by any means. I'm emotional and sappy, but hey, I just love this little babe of mine.

To celebrate, Jordan and I took Miss Lu to get her first happy meal on her birthday! It's just kind of silly and I hope it'll be a tradition we do with all of our kids. She played in the play place for just a second. She's not really an adventurer as of yet (other than dumping out my kitchen drawers). She loved her chicken nuggets and fries, but especially loved her kids meal drink!

A few days later we had some close friends and family over for a little birthday party (that''ll get it's own post).

Happy Birthday, sweet girl! We love you so.

She lights up our life in every way possible. Happy Birthday sweet girl!

Spontaneity

I am SO grateful for friends who let us call them up last minute on a Friday asking to go camping, and happily tell us "yes!"

We packed up a tent, grabbed some quick groceries, blankies, and wood and were on our way.

I should NOT have been in charge of wood. Because apparently a few pieces of wood wasn't enough. How have I not learned before that wood burns freakishly fast?? If we hadn't had some manly men who went out and found some wood in the forrest we would have frozen our little behinds off! Lesson learned.

The Daley's are just the best and we talked each others ears off next to an incredibly warm fire till late in the night. We had hot dogs and smores, and an amazing breakfast complete with eggs, bacon, orange juice, and fruit. What a good life we live.

 It's dark and fuzzy, but I love selfies with this little babe.

 Gooood mornin'! Lucy did great sleeping in a tent with us! She woke up a few times and I reached over to feel that her hands were ice cold. I warmed them up in mine, tucked them back into her blankets, and repeated a couple hours later.

 We wanted a picture with all of us. Ha!

Peaches for days

One of my grandpa's lives in Brigham City and is a fruit farmer. Everything he grows is the yummiest, but I will openly admit that no fruit beats his peaches. If you tried one of his special peaches, there would be no question that it was your new favorite fruit. YUM.

This year grandma brought me down my own box of peaches. I felt like such an adult for getting my OWN box. And let me tell you, every peach from that box was used and loved.

I borrowed my parents dehydrator and made dried peaches, smashed some up all yummy for freezer jam, but we mostly just cut them up and enjoyed them all ourselves (peaches, milk, and sugar anyone?). Except for Miss Lu, she eats them whole.

Atta babe.