Easter

Celebrating holidays with Reese reminds me of how fun they can be. I don't remember much about Easter last year - I know we had a big earthquake but I don't recall if Mike and I did anything to celebrate. But, I will remember Easter 2011 for a long time.

Reese is too young for jelly beans and Cadbury eggs but she did manage to participate in a neighborhood Easter egg hunt. Our community, Tierrasanta, hosts one that even let's kids as young as Reese participate. They set a bunch of plastic eggs out on the lawn and let the kids scramble to pick them up. Given that Reese isn't really walking yet, she needed some help getting to the eggs but then promptly picked two up and put them in her mouth. She got her picture taken with Grandma and Grandpa and a rather scary Easter Bunny but she was unphased. The celebration continued at brunch where Reese got to sample fruit and scrambled eggs and the rest of us enjoyed mimosas and Bloody Mary's! The restaurant was close to the water so even though it was kind of a cloudy day, we all walked down to the shore to snap off some pictures.

I'm glad we did because Reese was in rare form. It's hard for me to pick a favorite picture.

Her personality really comes through in all of these.

Have a lovely Spring everyone!

Ode to a One Year Old

It's hard to say exactly what Reese thought of her first birthday and everything that came with it but I think it's safe to say that she's going to think May is incredibly boring compared to April because we have had quite a month.

It's really just been the past couple of weeks that have been so busy. In just the last 10 days we had had our friend Jill stay with us, my parents came to town, my Dad's 70th birthday, Reese's 1st birthday and Easter!

Reese kicked off the festivities by taking her first unsupported steps just moments after my parents had arrived. This was especially exciting because on our last two trips to Chicago, they missed two big milestones (crawling in January and laughing last July) by just a few days. So it was nice of her to make it up to them.
They showed their appreciation by giving her by far her favorite gift, the Fisher Price Learning Home. It's so neat to watch this little creature who, not long ago could barely lift her own head, open the door and window, turn the sundial and bounce up and down to the music.

Reese got many other great gifts from friends and family who could not be here and from our friends in town who came to her party. We invited about 20 people to meet us at a playground near Mission Bay. There were about 15 adults and 5 kids, we had lemonade and some snacks.

I also made yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting which was Reese's first taste of cake but she didn't seem too impressed. Most of it ended up on her dress. (I should note that a few days later when we gave her some ice cream it was quite a different story. She couldn't get enough.)

Reese is going to be a party girl I think. Although she was thrown off at first by the crowd, she quickly warmed up to everyone and seemed content to sit in the middle of the blanket chattering away and letting everyone shower her with attention. Even when mommy and daddy were off talking to other guests.

It helps that we have so many loving friends who are very sweet with her.

This year has been so many things for us; exhausting, eye-opening, fast, exciting and wonderful. During the past 365 days we have made the transition from new parents into a full fledged family.

And that is certainly something to celebrate!