Sarah's First Birthday Party

Sarah turned one on Friday, August 5, and we enjoyed celebrating all weekend!  On Friday morning we got her from her crib while singing Happy Birthday to her, and she was so pumped!  We had decided to have her big party the next day so that out of town family could get to our house more easily, but on Sarah's actual birthday we went to Bolivar to have dinner with my parents, Memaw and Pepaw, Jim and Taylor, and Ray.  Sarah got to open a couple of presents, and she enjoyed the wrapping paper and tissue paper.  This was also the opening day of my mom's Little Free Library, and that was so cool!  The town newspaper even came and did a big article about it.  We ended the day by lighting a floating lantern in Sarah's honor.  Those things are so fun to watch!

On Saturday we had Sarah's big party!  I think we had about 18 people that included Sarah's grandparents, aunts and uncles, and some great grandparents.  It was so perfect!  The color scheme was pink and gold.  I got invitations on Etsy, and they said She Leaves a Little Sparkle Wherever She Goes.  I loved the color scheme, but you know how glitter is.  We were able to clean up the cold glitter from some of the decorations, but we ended up throwing them out afterward instead of attempting to keep them.  Let me show you some of the decorations.

Robert cut out a 1 on foam board, and I made tissue paper poms and hot glued them on.  I've had these windows since I used them as wedding decorations with our engagement pictures in them.  Sarah's party was the perfect motivation for printing some photos with her in them.

The glitter sign.  Cute but messy.  Mom had Memaw make Sarah an "S" pillow out of one of my old childhood outfits.  Too cute!  We also put out several of Sarah's toys and mementos from her first year like her bunny that we used to announce her gender, her blanket and hat from the hospital, pink flowers in gold vases, and twine with pink and gold ribbons tied to it hanging from the doorway.  Note the map of the states Sarah visited her first here.  We've added Iowa and Nebraska since then.

My favorite decoration was Sarah's head shot banner.  We'd taken monthly pictures of Sarah, so we printed out just the heads and made little birthday hats for them and glued them two some twine.  It's so interesting to have all the comparison shots together, and she also had some pretty funny faces.  I'd recommend this craft to anybody!

The party was at 2:00, and we served watermelon, chips with dip, pigs in a blanket, pink cupcakes, and iced tea.  I made the cupcakes from a mix, and they turned out well.

Sarah's outfit was off the charts adorable!  Mom made it with Aunt Pam when they visited each other in June.  I asked for gold, pink, and a tutu, and they took it from there.

Complete with a cupcake with one candle on the booty!

The party was very casual because it was family, and one year olds don't really do structured activities. ;)  But we did eat snacks, watch a slideshow, open presents, and eat  cupcakes.  We had made a slideshow of pictures from Sarah's first year, and we finally recorded the song that Robert wrote after Sarah was born and played it along with two other songs for the slideshow.  Sarah enjoyed helping to open the presents, and it's been a lot of fun having new big girl toys to play with at home.  She definitely knew what to do with the cupcake, and I'd say she ate about half of it.  It was her first dessert and her first real sugary treat.  It was a hit!

Fourth Annual Girls Weekend

We had our fourth annual girls weekend last weekend, and this year Sarah got to come for the firs time.  We've gone to San Antonio, Minneapolis, Kansas City, and this year we went to Omaha.  We picked Omaha so we could avoid traveling super far with Sarah and Bethany who is 30 weeks pregnant.  The five of us (Grandma June, Serina, Bethany, Sarah, and I) road in Serina's SUV, but next time we might need a van with Bethany's daughter!  Sarah and I drove to Kansas City on Thursday morning and made a pit stop in Bolivar to stretch out, change a diaper, and visit Memaw.  Always a treat!  This was my first long drive by myself with Sarah, and I was pretty nervous about it.  I've done the 45 minute drive from Springfield to Bolivar plenty of times, but this trip was three hours long.  Sarah was awake and happy from Springfield to Bolivar, and then she slept for the first hour of the next leg.  When she woke up she was fairly unhappy for the rest of the drive, but passing back Cheerios kept things relatively under control.  When we got to Serina's house we met up with June and Bethany as well and had a big salad for lunch - the only healthy meal of the weekend!

All of our stuff fit into the trunk thanks to the other three ladies each only bringing a backpack of clothing.  Sarah and I packed "light" with a full-sized suitcase, diaper bag, purse, plastic tub of toys, plastic tub of bottles, car seat, and stroller.  Sarah enjoyed having June and me as playmates in the back seat with her, but she did have about 20 minutes where she was fairly inconsolable.  I knew she was tired but wanted to play with us.  Eventually she gave in and rested.  Peace!  We took two stops during the three hour drive to Omaha, and now Sarah has checked off Iowa and Nebraska.  She's been to every bordering state to Missouri as well as several others for a total of 15 states.

Antique mall in Iowa

We got settled into the Marriott and headed to Cheesecake Factory for dinner.  They gave Sarah complimentary bread and bananas which was a thoughtful touch.  I stuffed myself with cottage pie and red velvet cheesecake.  Yum!  We went back to the hotel to get Sarah ready for bed.  Thankfully, we had two rooms so Serina and June shared a room with one king bed, and Bethany and I shared a room with two queens.  Sarah was supposed to have a crib, but we learned that actually meant a pack n play which was a bit of a bummer, but she still slept really well!  I couldn't have asked for her to do a better job while away from home.  It took about 45 minutes to get her to sleep the first night, but then she slept for 11 hours.  Bethany and I were able to go over to Serina and June's adjoining room to watch the Olympics each night.  The first night Bethany got up to go to the bathroom at 1:00, and Sarah stood up and started tickling my feet.  It was pretty cute!  She went back to sleep, thankfully.

On Friday morning we walked to Paradise Bakery and had a very tasty breakfast.  Sarah enjoyed sharing my ham, egg, and cheese croissant.  The zoo was the main attraction of the day.  Our Dickerson Park Zoo pass got us two 50% off tickets in Omaha which was pretty sweet!  I'd never been to the Henry Doorly Zoo before, and it was awesome!  We could have stayed there longer, but obviously Sarah can't stand anything for too long, and we didn't want to get too exhausted, so we stayed for two hours.  The weather was perfect!  It had rained the night before, so it was cool (maybe 80 degrees), breezy, and overcast.  We couldn't have asked for better weather for a weekend in August.  Sarah liked watching the penguins and jellyfish.  I really liked the large indoor monkey exhibit.

After the zoo we went downtown and found a big slide and ate lunch at The Old Spaghetti Works.  We headed back to the hotel to rest.  Sarah didn't nap in the pack n play, but she did take some good car naps during the weekend.  Serina, Sarah, and I hit up the outdoor pool to get some wiggles out.  I had brought a lot of toys so the hotel room was a good playground.  Dinner was at Lolo's, and I think Sarah ate about half of my chicken and loved the zucchini and squash.  She even got her own little cup to take home!  Sarah slept really well Friday night, went to sleep instantly, and slept in until 7:45.  Success!

On Saturday morning we went to the same bakery again and then headed to the farmers market.  It was cute, and Sarah really enjoyed watching the workers demonstrating a big bubble wand.  We ate lunch in a mall  food court where Sarah had fun playing with Aunt Bethany's chopsticks.  We did a bit of shopping.  I wanted to get Sarah measured for Stride Rites now that she's walking.  We found out she's a 5 extra wide, which is a special order.  She has such round, chubby feet.  We'll see if the shoes fit when they arrive!  We hit up another mall, but Serina and June stayed in the car and relaxed while Sarah slept and Bethany and I shopped for maternity jeans for her.  We ate dinner at a pizzeria called Pitch.  The food was good, but Sarah was kind of antsy, so it wasn't relaxing.  Also, every restaurant, store, and establishment should be required to have a changing table.  Just saying.  We went to an ice cream shop, and I had a delicious cone with salted caramel ice cream.  This was Sarah's first time to eat ice cream, and I'd say she approved!  Sarah went to sleep easily again this night but woke up when Bethany and I came to bed.  I did a diaper change, bottle, and rocking, and Sarah went back to sleep after half an hour.

Sarah woke up a bit early at 6:45 on Sunday morning.  We got packed up, had breakfast at the hotel, and hit the road.  Sarah napped a lot longer on the drive back to KC so we only took one break.  When we got back to Serina's house Bethany headed home, June started her three hour drive back home, and Sarah and I ate a quick lunch and started our journey back home.  Sarah slept for an hour of the drive to Bolivar and then was awake but relaxed.  We stopped in Bolivar for an hour and a half to see my parents and Memaw and Pepaw, and then Sarah slept most of the drive back to Springfield.  We had to go immediately to church so that Robert could watch Sarah while I had a MOPS planning meeting, and then we had to go to the quarterly business meeting.  Sarah didn't get to go to sleep until 8:30, so she slept in until almost 8:00 Monday morning.

I've unpacked, sorted through mail, and done four loads of laundry, so we're back to the daily grind now.  I couldn't have asked for Sarah to be more cooperative this weekend.  She helped me be able to enjoy the weekend of sightseeing, good food, and rest.  It was fun to be able to add her to this girls weekend!

Free Activities for Babies

It's no secret that having a baby costs major bucks.  Whether it's medical bills for labor and delivery, formula and diapers, or a crib, some things just can't be avoided.  Living on one income, I try to be extra savvy in finding free and cheap activities for Sarah.  Here are some things she's enjoyed over the last year:

There are the old standbys: playing in a cardboard box, digging through a cabinet full of something safe like towels, and putting clothes in and out of a laundry basket.

Story time at the public library - This is awesome!  For us, we go every Monday morning from 9:30-10:00 and attend a class for birth through 18 months old.  The time includes songs with actions, rhymes, stories, activities like bubbles or rattles and some free play.  It's a nice way to promote early literacy and socialization for your baby.  Sarah really does recognize some of the songs now and starts reaching for the shakers when it's time for Shaky Shaky.

Sitting on the front porch - We're fortunate to have a porch swing, but a chair or the ground would work just fine.  We can enjoy listening to the birds, inspect leaves and twigs, wave at the cars as they go by, and say hi to walkers.  Fresh air and sunshine instantly get Sarah and me into a better mood.

Ties in tissue box - I tied together three of Robert's old neck ties and put them in a tissue box.  Sarah loves pulling and pulling until they all come out.  It has helped with her pincer grasp, and she' thinks it's pretty funny.

Get a regular walking buddy - During the school year Sarah and I walked with my friend Becky and her dog, Lucy, on Thursday mornings from 9:00-10:00.  Sarah enjoys watching Lucy, and I enjoy getting to talk to Becky.  It's been too hot and busy this summer, but I hope we can pick this up again soon.  For me, having a set guaranteed time to do something is really key to making it happen.  We know to not plan anything else for Thursdays at 9:00, and we're able to make it happen almost every week.

Make bath time last as long as possible - In the summer, you can even take it out side!  Sarah enjoys playing with her rubber duck, foam letters, and bubble wand in the tub.  Playing peekaboo with the shower curtain is definitely a favorite.

Check out board books from your church library - Reading the same books over and over again doesn't bore Sarah yet, but it gets old to me quickly.  Our church has a good selection of wholesome books that I feel good about Sarah reading.