Alyssa Turns One!

Can you believe it folks?? Our sweet baby girl is now one.whole.year.old. I am struggling with the realization that I am a mother of a one year old and not a tiny newbie. Luckily, however, for me my one year old is the size of a newbie so all is not lost. Praise the tiny baby gods for giving me a baby who is holding on to that baby feel as long as possible!

Our celebration of Alyssa's first year started with a mommy, daddy, & daughter day. We woke up whenever she wanted to, we ate pink pancakes, we played with our toys, napped, then headed to the Children's Museum for some exploration! Now contrary to what the album of pictures show below, the day was not as magical & perfect as it may appear. Our sweet, easy going baby boo gave us quiet the, "I'm one fools so I'll cry if I want to". And cry she did...the.whole.way.there. By the time we got out of the car to the museum (which is a mere hour-or forever, depending on your riding conditions) Mommy & Daddy's limits were tested, Alyssa's eyes were red & puffy, and there was talk about leaving said bday girl with grandparents so Mommy & Daddy could go grab a drink...or 5. All was soon forgotten as Alyssa had a great time in the Tot Spot. Luckily our baby girl is pretty cute, so we'll keep her for the time being, or at least until there is another car ride full of tears ;)

Enjoy Photos From Her Birthday Adventure Here

As if this glorious day of celebration wasn't enough Mommy & Daddy went crazy in true new parent fashion & threw Alyssa quite the birthday bash. We had 40 of Alyssa's closest friends & family over to celebrate the last precious year of her (maybe ours a little) life. The day was perfect. The ambiance I wanted to create for the day went off without a hitch, the food was delish (or so I'm told), the cakes were to die for (thank you to Chase's extremely talented cousin who works for the incredible Ooh La La Bakery ), and our baby girl seemed to soak up every minute. There was some eye rubbing going on a time or two but she still dove into her cake, opened almost every gift with excitement, and gave lots of smiles & waves to her loyal fans guests. I couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate the last year for Alyssa, but also for Chase & I. We feel so incredibly blessed to have so many good friends & family who love our little one as much as we do.

Enjoy Photos From Her Birthday Party Here

This party would not be made possible without the tremendous help from my amazing mother & the patience and encouragement of my wonderful husband. How I got so lucky as to have these two want to stick around through my, let's just call it...intensity, I will never know. But lucky for me they were there to help & the party was a huge success because of them.

& in attempts at keeping up with the ever speeding times...a note to my girl to mark the person that she currently is.

Dear sweet Alyssa Kate,
This year has gone speeding by & as much as I'd like it to slow down I am also so very excited for what is to come. You are learning so much every day. I think if your dad & I could pick one thing to remember about this phase it would be with the simple phrase of, "what's that?". The phrase has got to come out of your mouth over a hundred times a day. You look so quizzical and point at whatever it is in question, and if the answer takes too long or isn't to your liking the question becomes a bit more forceful & serious. As if you are saying, "look here guys, it is imperative that I know exactly what this is...right.this.minute.". Then as soon as you know there is the most adorable moment of contemplation on your face. Usually you try to say the word, or if it's a tough one you just move on to the next item of curiosity. Every where we go people think you are younger than you are because of your size, but the moment you throw out your all important question you've won them over as fans. I can't count the amount of times I'm stopped at the store by someone asking me, "did she just say, 'what's that'?" To which the nice, but very real, stranger spends the next few moments ooh'ing & aah'ing over you and telling you what everything around us is. You have definitely helping me meet a large amount of new people. The doctor was very impressed with your knowledge base so far & you seemed to charm her with your words. So much that it distracted her from the fact that you are still barely in the 3rd percentile for weight, but you have now fallen a bit off of your curve for height. It is ironic that now that the doctor is no longer worried about your size, mommy is. Although the scale and measuring tape do not appear to be your friend, food certainly is. You are such a good eater. You will try anything. I do have to give you your veggies first, because if you see anything else on your plate the veggies get pushed to the back burner. If you decide you don't like something I can pretty much always get you to eat it either 1. by letting you feed yourself with utensils (big time grins for this) or 2. by mixing it in yogurt. Yum, yum! Nothing says a yummy meal quite like yogurt mixed with peas & carrots...or squash...or pretty much anything you deem unworthy of being near your mouth. I am grateful for this trick for now because I am able to get you to eat all of these wonderful nutrients & also avoid wasting the much pricier organic food that your daddy rolls his eyes at. As for walking; you still seem uninterested. If speed crawling becomes an Olympic sport you would be the Michael Phelps of it. & knowing that if you ever read this you will probably be like, "who?", but hopefully google will still be around to give you a quick history lesson ;) You will stand on your own for less than a minute and usually at that point play the game like..."oh they caught me" and plop back down. Some things I'd love to ingrain in my memory forever are....
-You still love to dance. To any & every kind of music. Even the beeping sound at the grocery store makes you sway & smile. It adorable, and it makes you lots of friends & I like to think makes passer-by'ers happier just for getting to witness your cute little movements.
-You say "woof, woof" any & every time you see or hear a dog. You now pat the dogs on the head & attempt to say "good girl". Which comes out as just noise, but I think they get it.
-You love to try and fake us out. When bath time is over you get a silly smile on your face and reach your hands out to us and when we reach for you you throw them down and crawl from side to side in the tub as if to say..."come get me!" This is probably the cutest thing. And even though your dad & I could easily catch you, we allow this every.single.bath time. Because it just wouldn't be bath time without it.
-After bath time & we've got our pjs on, if it's late and we try to skip story time you protest by consistently saying, "boo, boo, boooo!". So read we do, and then it's on to prayers which you place your tiny little hands together now. It makes my heart melt. We say our prayers and when we get to, "please bless Annie & Bailey" you pull back your paci & say with a big smile, "woof! woof!". & your dad and I are reminded that you are such a little smarty pants.
-You still flirt by laying your head down side ways. Where you learned this I'll never know, but I never want to forget that flirty face.
-Your dad will love this memory...You can say so many words. "what color is the sky Alyssa?"-"Blue", "How old are you Alyssa?"-"One!", "Can you say dada Alyssa?"-"Dada", "Can you say mama Alyssa?"-"Dada!". Fail. Baby girl, you are already playing games with my heart. Even if you're saying "ma"..."ma" I will try to get you to put them together & say, "mama" & you still blurt out, "dada!!" Oh well, you win some...you lose some.
-Something special I never want to forget is how patient your dad is with you. So many times I've sat back frustrated with you at the moment & with ease your dad just explains to you why you're behavior is not the best at the moment. No anger or frustration tinged words, just cool, calm, and caring words. Hearing your dad tell you, "Alyssa boo, you don't need to yell. We hear you and we're sorry you're unhappy in your car seat, but we'll be there soon" is the single sweetest sentence I think I've ever heard. Who knew that something so simple could remind me how much I love him?? Hopefully you & I both will remember just how lucky we are to have such a patient man in our lives.

Ok so I think I have successfully typed all a busy mama can type without laundry, baby, or breakfast for said baby yelling at me to get up & get them taken care of. Hope you enjoyed the photos & ramblings of this busy, sappy mama!

XO - The Culpeppers