My Baby is One Today

Sniff. Sniff. Yep. I'm feeling verklempt. Can not believe my little Ella is a one year old today. A year ago, I succumbed to 23 hours of labor knowing the only thing getting this bun out of the oven was the Lord God Almighty who is so much more powerful then me. When the birthing canal began to feel like pushing a watermelon through a coffee straw, I must say I second guessed the 5 year quest for conception. I was truly thankful my first daughter came with zero stretch marks or pain. Her sister came with the very memorable epidural that just would not take.

But it is one year later and God implanted that little part of our memory where we develop "birthing amnesia." I believe this is mercy in its purest form. Because I promise you, I was done after my little Ella made her debut. I was a little shocked at the intensity of a baby's arrival in the world. It was described to me as excruciating but I don't think I actually paid attention as I should. I was not the girl saying that an epidural was for wimps. I was, in fact, the only girl in the birthing class saying, "Uh, heck yeah! Pump me full of body numbing meds." The polite looks I got made me realize I was of a very teeny minority. Poll those chicks now. Betcha they joined my camp when it came down to the wire.

OK. But its a year later. And we rejoice in that slow moving melon becoming a sweet little girl who laughs and giggles, waves bye bye, and says "Hi Daddy" (much to my chagrin). She is the joy of my heart. Both Cati and Ella were worth the long wait to have kids, the pain of childbirth, the uncertainty of fostering and adopting a child...all of it I would do ten times over if I had to to do it again. So as I see my baby on her way to becoming a toddler I thank God for a year of sweet memories. I am so happy she still lets me rock her to sleep. I love the smell of her after a bath as she cuddles into my neck. I love how she reaches milestones and gets so proud of herself. But what I am emotional about is that these sweet grandmas who admonish us with wisdom are so right. It really is fleeting. It goes right by and I wonder if I have taken for granted this precious time. This blink of an eye when they are children and they suddenly grow up. But I will not have regrets over what I can't change. I will press forward and remember I have been entrusted with these precious girls who are miraculous gifts. And that this past year was full of tough times and precious moments. And so wonderful.

Alrighty then. I have put my tissues down.

So the birthday party is upon us this Saturday and I have not been very good about posting pics of all I have done for the party. Um, I think 14 children are coming. May I ask what will I do with 14 children ranging from 2 to 4? Was I planning this in my right mind? Pray for me. No wait. Fast and pray. I need all I can get.

I promise to post pictures of the actual party but here are some other things I have done so far. Hope you like my homemade decor and favors created on the cheap...

This is the birthday bib I made for Ella. I used felt because again, I was going for frugal chic. Knew this was a one time deal so why not use cheap material to make something pretty cute. I used material and felt I already had and it cost me ZERO dollars to make. You gotta love that.

The flowers were not what I envisioned but I am still happy with the result. I planned on painting the inside of the bottles but did not want to invest the time. I decided to just use what I had. The bottle on the far left is just scrapbook paper rolled up in strips and dropped in there. Funky and functional. The middle bottle is just 3 different ribbons wrapped around the middle. The one on the right is pink tissue paper balls. Again, it turned out cute but not my initial vision.

The favors are M & M Cookie (dry ingredients) with spatulas tied to the side. I used plain old shipping labels with the text going vertically and some clip art that I colored with colored pencils. I only have a black and white printer since I used to have a resume writing business and got rid of our color printer. Um, so regret that. OK. This cost me more than anything else I did and I will never ever do this again. Here is the cost breakdown:

12 Wide Mouthed Mason Jar: Purchased at yard sale (brand new) $5
Shipping labels: $0
Spatulas: 4 for a $1= $3
Tags: $1
Ribbon: $2
Brown Sugar: $3
Other Ingredients: $0
M & M's: $17 (YIKES!)

Total Cost: $31.00

If I could do it over? Smartees in dollar store goody bags. Total Cost: $2-3

Happy Birthday sweet Ella!!! Cati too! (She is officially 3 in 2 weeks)