Maddie's First Birthday

Monday, August 12, 2013

Wow! What a week! Last Wednesday was Maddie’s first birthday and her party was this Saturday.  Phil and I cannot believe how quickly the time seems to have past. 

On Maddie’s birthday, instead of entering her room in the morning singing, “This is the Day that The Lord Has Made,” I erupted singing “Happy Birthday,” while Madelynn listened intently.  And later that night, Phil and I served her with homemade cupcakes and gave her the two small gifts that we bought for her (stacking rings and a fisher price telephone). Phil and I both had these toys when we were growing up, so we were excited for her to share the same experience.

 

Playing with some classic toys

Maddie enjoying her cupcake on her First Birthday. 

The days in between Maddie’s actual birthday and her party were spent preparing for the big event.  I sewed and Phil and I cleaned and cooked feverishly.  Saturday morning, we woke up early, but still felt rushed as we assembled the sub sandwiches as guests were arriving.  My dad swooped into the rescue and helped us out.  (Thanks, Dad!).  We finally got all the food on the table (i.e. homemade salsa, pasta salad, pulled pork, subs, chips, dip, a veggie platter from my mom….etc), Phil led us in a prayer, thanking God for our sweet, beautiful girl, and the party began.  We had such a good time mingling with family and friends and are so grateful that so many people were able to come celebrate with us.  Maddie did great being passed around and didn’t seem to mind wearing the dress (seen in the picture below) that I had made for her (when I first tried it on her the day before, she screamed and tried to take it off.  Hahahaha).  We were blessed with lots of gifts: mostly clothes (yay!), but my sister, Laura, bought Maddie a water table, which she LOVES, and Danielle gave Maddie a puzzle along with pants (wootwoot),wrapped in the same wrapping paper that was used at my first birthday party (she found it at a garage sale and saved it for years!).  Andres gave Mads a Washington DC book, since Phil likes to boast that Madelynn will be the first female president (sorry, Hillary) and a Clifford book. My parents also contributed to Maddie’s stock fund, so her account is starting to climb. We are overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity.  We love you all! Thank you so much.

I love this picture of Maddie and her Auntie Danielle.

Everyone gathered around to watch Maddie open gifts. There were so many! We just love all of her adorable new outfits!

We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family to celebrate with us. 

Maddie and her two grandpas. 

The highlight of the party, though, was definitely the “happy birthday” song and the cake.  We all gathered around Maddie in her highchair and, when the singing began, Mads sat there stunned, slowly scanning the crowd from right to left as she tried to figure out what the heck all these people were doing.  As soon as the singing stopped, she screamed and clapped.  It was fabulous.  Maddie’s Great Grandma (AKA Mocket) sang her traditional Happy Birthday song and the Joneses “hopped, skipped and jumped around the table” to their birthday tune, too.  We had a great time. 

Maddie used to wear a poncho that prompted us to call her our "little muchacha." This title eventually morphed into "Muchachita" and has stuck ever since. 

Clapping for all of the beautiful voices after the birthday song

"That was amazing!!!" 

Then, came the cake.  Since Phil and I call Maddie our “Muchachita”, we had the cake inscribed accordingly. Mads had her own little smash cake, but she didn’t quite smash it.  She carefully and methodically dipped her fingertips into the frosting and tasted the sugar.  She did this a few times while we all waited eagerly for her to realize how delicious the cake was and then tear it apart.  Well, she got a little messy, but nothing crazy.  I loved watching her as she displayed her personality through her cake-eating-technique. Next came the sugar rush and subsequent crash as our family and friends all departed after opening gifts.

Starting with just a little taste....

And, sugar rush begins in 3, 2, 1....now!

It was a perfect day: perfect weather, wonderful guests and the center of it, our sweet baby girl.  We loved every moment of it. Thank you to everyone who made Maddie’s day extra special.