Valerie's Birthday in 2010

I'm only 3 months behind on this. I actually started writing this post before. I just never actually got it finished and posted. Oops.

Jamie had the thought to give Valerie a real birthday party. We let her invite people but we provided the place, the gifts, and the food. The real reason for throwing a party was to play with fondant and cake. We'll get there.

As always, there is a story about the food. This time, there are two or three stories... just about the cake. I'll try to get them right.

Jamie was going to make 2 12 inch cakes and I was going to make 2 8 inch cakes. Chocolate, of course. The day before the party, Jamie tells me that she made her cakes. One fell into the dirty dish water. One was stepped on by Grace. Since there we were going to be few in number, we decided to just make two cakes total.

So those from down south arrive at my house around 11am. I get home around 11:30 (shopping, I think?) to see my sisters milling about. Where's Mom? Shopping. For why? Well, see. Jamie remembered about 20 minutes from my house that she left her cake in her jeep which was still south with Kevin.

Mom also was getting some last minute ingredients for the fondant.

Lessons learned. Fondant can be made before hand. I think. Also, fondant needs to be kneaded lots. And lots. And lots. And lots. We did not knead ours as much as we should have because we ran out of time. (We started the party almost 45 minutes late.)

And use Jamie's cake recipe next time. It tastes better than the random one I pulled up.

And pineapple tastes better almost a week after you buy it.

And now, let us look at all the pictures. Well, not all of them. But a lot of them.

I asked Jared to take pictures and.... well, he doesn't really take pictures. So you can't see everyone here like I wanted. We're all working on the fondant.

Painting the cake.

Stuffed mushrooms.

Fruit salad. My first watermelon basket! I forgot to scallop the edges though.

More painting of the cake. I made the lines, Kimmi made the big black spots. Jamie put the purple dots on.

This is not a turkey leg, people.

Ta da! Since this was Valerie's birthday cake, we made it music themed. Kevin made the music stand and did a great job.

The guitar is {attempted} coloring like Valerie's guitar. It is fondant-covered cardboard.

Kimmi doesn't want me to show this picture because she looks like she has to go to the bathroom.

So we move over here so I can look like I need to pee.

The yummy food. We had bagels and something to go with them. Salad, yum. Salmon, gross. Mushrooms, yum. Fruit salad, yum. Lemon and limeade that Jamie even put soda in (gasp!).

Valerie sees her cake. (We wouldn't even hint at what it would be.)

Oh! It's a piano!

And a music stand!

Sniffles. My guitar.

Kimmi presenting her gift.

Uh..... it was a promise to buy something but I don't remember what.

My present. FiberWise! Yum. Everyone needs more fiber in their diet.

She wasn't even going to open it! She even shook it and apparently didn't notice that it sounded different than packets of soft bars.

Despite my intense dislike of glee, I knew Valerie and her girls love it, so I bought them the first season CD.

A Year with Kaelyn

Happy birthday, Kaelyn! It is so hard to sum up the joy that Kaelyn brings into our lives. She is a wonderful addition to our family and a really good first child for Jared. ;-) Her one-year appointment and party is tomorrow, but let us take a trip through the last twelve months. There may or may not be way too many pictures. We'll see.

A few days after her birth.

Kaelyn in her unsightly disposable cloth diaper.

One of my favorite pictures of her first month! So sweet and asleep.

We blessed Kaelyn on our last Sunday in Oregon at 3 weeks old.

Two months and one of my favorite outfits!

Three months. Back when Kaelyn was smaller than Lara.

The first picture I got of Kaelyn sucking her fingers while awake.

Four months with one of her first cloth diapers on!!

Five months and Kaelyn can roll over. She never was much of a roller. I would never find her across the room due to rolling despite many warnings of "just you wait".

Five months was also when Kaelyn started being interested in water bottles and foods although we didn't feed her until six months.

We discovered Kaelyn's love of chocolate a little bit prior to her sixth birthday. She had excellent accuracy when grabbing my hand that was holding that cookie... and yes, she really does love chocolate. And really, anything sweet.

The "official" six month picture. She wouldn't smile on her own so I really don't have a good picture.

We also started giving her baths. In her own tub.

There was a brief portion of time around seven months when Kaelyn would lay around like this.

At eight months, we tried a new bed style. I really love the cradle hammock. I can't wait to use it with my second child.

Kaelyn was crawling at nine months so we got a play yard.

We started folding Kaelyn's arms when she was 3 or 4 months. At 10 months, she voluntarily folds her arms. Sometimes. And not for the whole prayer.

She also learned that she can crawl up the stairs at 10 months.

At 11 months, Kaelyn showed us that she knows what cell phones are for. "Hi! Hi! Hi!"

And she let us know that she wasn't interested in sleeping in her own bed anymore.

A few weeks ago, Kaelyn showed us that she can blow her nose too.

That brings us to today. She wore a dress that we're borrowing from Aunt Valerie. It has snowflakes on it which was very appropriate for the snowfall of today.

I tried to take some pictures...

Kaelyn walks with assistance. She is mastering her balance and can walk while only holding onto one of my hands. She has taken a few steps on her own but nothing more.

She has no teeth yet and although she will eat many different foods, she won't eat lots at one time. She also does not like cow milk. 

Her first words were dada, mama, and turtle (although I can't get her to repeat it now).

Her first signed word was milk.

Her first sentence was "Mama! Baby! Up!"

Her favorite phrase is "Hi kitty cat!" while waving.

Sometimes she makes me want to get a dog because she loves animals.

She loves music and dancing. She also loves looking at her books.

She's beautiful. She has a very happy disposition. She can be very sweet and cozy when she is a happy girl. Her daddy loves her very much. Happy birthday, Kaelyn! (This was Jared's answer when asked to tell me about Kaelyn.)

We love watching her grow and seeing her personality come out.  Here is to a happy first birthday with a hope of many more to come!