Party People

I love first birthday parties, I always have. There is just so much to celebrate. The way I see it, the party is less for the baby and more for the friends and family who helped you survive those first 12 months of parenting. We celebrated Allie's birthday on Saturday. It was a beautiful day and the perfect day for a party. As always, our family was over-booked so we had to squeeze in a soccer game before the party could begin. (Tough loss for the Tiger Lilies.) We had about 25 people at the house for the celebration. We grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and included all the fixings. We also had the perfect cake.

See? It really was perfect. Please don't ask me how much it cost. You don't want to know. Just know that Allie is my last baby and I sort of went all out (read: waaaaaaay overboard) for her party.

After everyone had eaten, Allie got to rip into her cake. She was very much into the destruction of her special confection. She had to be hosed off in the tub afterwards!

She got many wonderful gifts and has been enjoying them all weekend. She also got to enjoy some special time with her cousin Isabelle. It was the perfect party and everything I had hoped it would be.

At my first baby shower back in September 2003, I received some of the best parenting advice I have ever gotten. Each of the women there had written something on little handprints. They were collected and given to me at the end of the shower. My favorite one said, Children do not remember if the kitchen floor was spotless or if the house is clean. They will remember playing in the creek and flying kites. Well that's not an exact quote, but it's been seven years and I've had three kids so that's the best I can do. I called this advice to mind on Saturday. My kitchen floor was not mopped before the party. There was visible dirt. My three flower planters on the front porch were empty. I had so wanted to plant my mums before the party, but time got away from me. I forgot to show Allie's birthday slideshow that I had painstakingly worked on for 12 months, obsessing over each picture and selecting the perfect song. But in the end, none of that mattered. No one, not even me, will remember those things when I look back on Allie's party. I will remember the smell of buttercream frosting and the sunshine pouring through the kitchen windows. I will remember a house full of those who mean the most to me and the laughter that filled our home as we celebrated the beginning of Allie's next amazing year.