river's first birthday party

we had river's birthday party on saturday the 28th. we also celebrated my mom's birthday and my younger brother ryan's birthday. we had it at the clubhouse and river had a ball.

she got her very own smash cake.

happy birthday mom.

she was sharing a nice moment with grandma...

...then decided to grab a handful of grandma's arm. not nice. great picture though. ;)

happy birthday ryan.

this is the face she makes when she's doing her fake coughing sounds.

let's open gifts!

she fell in love with this box!
she had no idea there were cool things inside the box!
ryan, amanda, and lorelai gave her a great set of buckets that can stack or nest.
they have letters and numbers.
they also have shapes that fit inside the lid.

sandee, gregg, spencer and kas gave her two hard books.
perfect.

great grandma jensen gave her a $1.

we love money :)
this will be the start of her money bank.

grandma and grandpa madison gave her a baby doll and crib.

the crib can also be turned over and used as a stool.

my uncle bob made it.
she thinks it's pretty great to sit her little tushy on that stool and read one of her new books.

she has been carrying the baby around and loves it.

all the ladies love kg.

kris and jerry gave her an mp3 player.

it is so fun.

she carries it everywhere and dances...one of her favorite things.
and now she's dancing with the mp3 player in one hand the baby in the other. so cute!

they also gave her some two piece puzzles that are great!

time for singing and cake.

she wasn't too sure what to think of the flame.

daddy came to her rescue.

flower helped her blow out the candle.

kris helped her dive into the cake.

mmm, just a little taste.

but not for long!

yum-o!

she had no problem polishing off almost the entire thing!

she was trying to lick the plate clean.

we had a great time and she had an excellent first birthday. she got the best gifts! it's hard not to get a bunch of repeat toys when you already have a 4 year old but our guests succeeded! all original to what is already in their bedroom. I'm grateful for those that came to show their love and support to miss river. thank you everyone.

Happy First Birthday River!

Wow. This year has been so fun and so crazy. River's hard to keep up with. I took the girls to my old neighborhood park, Combes Park, for the photo shoot. It was so fun. I really miss that neighborhood. As you'll see from the photos, she's much to busy to smile these days, at least for a photo. She smiles all the time and is a pretty happy kid, it just doesn't translate to the camera because she's too fast! :)
She had her last bottle. It's a sippy cup from here on out. So far so good. She's a champ! :)
She loves shoes and will randomly bring you one, back herself up to sit on your lap and touch the shoe to her foot to indicate that she wants you to put it on her foot.
She has great stamina when it comes to walking. She walks with me every time I take her to work. That's a pretty good distance for a 1 year old. She just holds my hand and away we go. I really love our walks.
She carries clothes around, especially our sweatshirts or sweaters, wrapping them around her shoulders and head and uses them as blankets.
She says, "ah-dah"(all done) and out and hi. When you ask her if she wants food her eyes light up, she shakes her head yes and looks towards the kitchen. :)
She loves Flower. As I am writing this Flower is acting like a puppy and River is putting things in her mouth, petting her head and giggling. She is totally amused by anything Flower does. For some reason she loves Flower's pony tails. She is so fascinated by them. She walks up and touches them and giggles. She'll chase Flower around trying to touch them.
She can be very intense, especially if she doesn't get something she wants.

She discovered sand and dirt on our outing and thought it tasted pretty great. :) She kept gnawing on the clump in her hand.
She has such a unique personality and it's been a really great addition to our family. She brings a nice balance. She's so perfect for us. I'm looking forward to things quieting down in certain regards this coming year and getting on with our little family. We are so incredibly blessed to have her. I will be forever grateful to her birth family for their sacrifice and especially M for her selfless love.

She had her one year check-up and is healthy as can be.
Here stats:
Weight: 25 lbs 1 oz.=95%
Height: 32 1/5 inces=97%
Head: 45 1/2 cm=70%

PS-happy birthday to my mom today!