Olive Turns ONE!

I know you're wondering if I made it through the day without melting into a puddle of tears and I am very proud to say that despite my many tear-filled moments before her birthday, I made it through with flying colors and didn't shed a tear in front of anyone! My mom was here between Christmas and Olive's birthday (December 28), so that was a blessing to have her watch Olive while I cleaned, grocery shopped, and got everything ready, since Michael had to work. Some people have asked for tips for the day of, and here are my basic suggestions:

1. Have as much food catered as possible.
2. Don't obligate yourself to doing anything preparatory (cooking, chopping, etc) during the party.
3. Assign someone to take pictures of you and baby opening gifts (thanks, Patsy!), someone to write down who got baby what (thanks, Candace!), and someone to help with a trash bag and tossing all the wrapping paper for you (thanks, Dad!).
4. The order of events that worked well for us was: eat/mingle, gifts, cake, baby naps while adults hang out.
5. Have drinks in cans/bottles and in coolers so people can find what they need and help themselves. You don't have time to be hostess and mommy at the same time.

The day was great and it was so nice to see how loved Olive is. It was sort of an unspoken celebration for us, too, having made it through a year of big change and everything a new baby entails, together, alive, and still married. Ha. Happy birthday, Beautiful Girl. We love you more than everything, ever.