The Big One

On Sunday morning, September 4th, 2011 at 5:48 AM I was already lying awake in bed when I heard Cora starting to fuss upstairs. I rolled over and whispered to Landon, "Do you hear that noise? We were hearing it for the first time 1 year ago right now (almost to the minute!)". And we've enjoyed every single minute since.

Landon, Cora, and I felt so loved this weekend. Our family descended on us for the Big 1. Mia, Poops, Grandma M, Bopper, Grammie, Grandma Iris, Grandma & Grandpa L, Aunt Feather, Aunt Julie & Uncle RT with Ellie, Brian, Lisa, Jake & Max, Tim & Jenny were all here for the celebration, along with a whole gaggle of local friends, too. For us it was an awesome weekend and I hope that they all had a great time, too! From our little pook's demeanor on Saturday and Sunday, I suspect that she was loving all of the attention.

Some pics...

Grandma M & Aunt Feather gave Cora a special present: they passed down the baby doll crib. Grandma M played with it when she was a little girl, and then Heather spent "hours upon hours" playing with it. For this birthday, Aunt Feather handmade some new bedding for it. We thought Cora was too little (and I am sure that it won't be long before Cora will try to put Baby Cora to bed in the crib) but for this weekend, she seemed to get the concept. Her babydoll went into the crib and out of the crib (even if it ended up on its head)...

 Jamie Blair Burnett (from Oil Springs) made this pillowcase dress for Cora. We love it!!! We love having Jamie and Bo in town even if we don't get to see them as often as we might like.

Balloons = huge hit. We didn't do a great job of capturing it on film, but Cora walked around all afternoon tangled up in this group of balloons. Most of the time she was like the Pied Piper with a group of equally toddling toddlers chasing after her trying to get one, and my dad adopted the role of heading up the stairs to retrieve the ones that drifted up to the balcony.


Cora's bday banner. Landon captured this cheesy picture of me hanging it. Aunt Feather sketched the letters for me; I just did the cutting :)

Cora came down in her outfit when all of the grandparents and greatgrandparents were already here. I do not believe in reincarnation, but if I did, I might suspect that Cora had a paparazzi following her in a past life. She strutted her stuff while they all chased her with cameras.

By Sunday's party, Cora had entirely abandoned crawling for walking. She occasionally drops to a bear crawl, but it is usually just to get out of a stick situation (when stuck under the kitchen table, for example). She is still pretty shaky on those feet, but when she falls she pops right back up and takes off again.

She is officially walking.

"I love you Grandma Iris, but put me down! I have a house full of guests to entertain!!!"

"Bopper! Why do you have orange shoestrings in these blue shoes??? Silly".

With three of the five living great grandparents: Grandpa & Grandma Lechleitner and Grandma Iris

And with all 5 Grandparents: Bopper, Grammie, Mia, Poops, & Grandma M. It was all laughs trying to get them all seated on the couch. I started to do a series of action shots... but they would have had my tail for that!

Speaking of people's tails... That's a birthday cake, although you can't see the yellow candle at the top of the cake.

Our new family member: Giggles. The Gardner's were in Costco when they saw this big bear coming down the aisle with Ellie's arms wrapped around it (yes, the bear is bigger than Ellie). Ellie's declaration: she was buying this bear, and she would buy it with her own money if she had to! Cora's face says it all. Ellie christened the baby "Giggles", so "Giggles" it is!

 "Oh Giggles! What big paws you have!"

 I love this picture. I tried to capture it, but really didn't do it justice. Ellie was in the floor with Giggles, and Cora kept looking over at her with a very gracious face, as if to say, "Oh Ellie I just love it!". Ellie is our only niece and we feel so fortunate to have her in our lives! She is 10 now, and seems so old.

I put sweet Keegan into the fun.

With the other birthday girl! Susie and Cora share a birthday.

And then the birthday hat started getting passed around.

Cora's cake: Carla Walker's Grandma's recipe strawberry with cream cheese icing. Carla, is this recipe a secret? Everyone is asking for it!

Max was crazy about baby Cora, and followed her around most of the party. I didn't get a picture of Jake all weekend :( I am sure that my parents did.

With Tom & Joann Kent

 She would look at the hat, but was not interested in having it on her head.

 And then the main event...

 I love that she is licking her little lips here!

 She went straight for the strawberry! This mother was so proud of her fruit & veggie loving baby!

 But don't worry --- she ate plenty of cake!

 With our neighbor Danielle and her sweet 2-year-old Zoe. Zoe hands us her hand-me-downs. I've said it before and I'll say it again: We are so fortunate to have so many great neighbors.

 With Max.

 In Aunt Paula style, Cora received a gift bag with a series of numbered presents inside. The first: This adorable birthday girl shirt. The second: a little skirt to match (mommy failure, Aunt Paula. I never got the skirt on her). The third: A t-shirt specifically from Marc that read, "Daddy loves me more than football". Yes he does! But if you know Landon, that says a lot ;)

 New Cougar gear from the Kent's.

 Doesn't it look like Cora is reading a book to Giggles? I suspect Giggles is going to be a big part of our lives in the coming years (I guess he cannot help but be!).

 Cora and Keegan testing her new See n' Say.

 Art for Cora's room from our artsy neighbor Danielle. It matches perfectly!

 Bopper, I'll Bop that nose!!!

 Little Miss Personality.

 If I didn't know Ellie, I might think that Big E and Ellie were about to square dance. But I know Ellie, so I know that Ellie was about to use her Karate (Ta Kwon Do?) skills on Big E. Big E, watch out!

 Monday morning, Cora enjoyed her bottle with Giggles.

By the end of the night she was so exhausted, but she still walked around with one foot tangled through the group of balloons and her little hand gripping the upper strings with all of her energy. She had cake in her hair (and a little in her ears), and some hot dog grease on her t-shirt. Our little social butterfly. If you ask me, all signs of a great party.

Did I mention what Landon and I gave Cora for her birthday? From us, she got a Melissa & Doug shopping buggy, with some odds and ends wrapped up in boxes inside the buggy. One of the presents: Skinny Levi jeans. Another present: a princess wand that lights up and twirls (our neighbor Max gave her a boy version and she LOVES it).

But anyhoo. A third present: A book titled, "I'm a Big Sister!". That's right! We are expecting a new addition sometime around March 13.

Have I mentioned that when the baby comes, Cora won't be able to do any of the "big sister" tasks that the book talked about (brush her own hair; dress herself; pee pee in the potty)? Let the fun begin :)