did ya get pinched??

We certainly were not on the receiving end of any pinches yesterday... we were decked out like the Irish in multiple shades of green! It was a gorgeous day, so I assume you won't be surprised to see a thousand and one photos of us greenies outside on our front porch. Little Ardy is getting super close to walking. Over the last few days, she has started to stand up from the ground on her own & take several steps. She continues to prefer the tried and true method of hands 'n' knees transportation most of the time, but I think she'll venture out to the two-footed world in the near future.

Mom may have gone a little over-board with the green mac 'n' cheese lunch she prepared. I was not a fan.... to quote yours truly, I believe I said.... "mom - i don't like geen macawonie & cheese... only regalar macawonie & cheese." Although I was not jumping for joy over the odd colored concoction, Ardynn though nothing of it & dug right in. She ate every last bite of both of our servings. As a side note... the little bean is very much in love with almost all food these days. She eats anything and everything that her two little chompers can handle.... and LOTS OF IT! She has almost completely stopped eating baby food from the jar, as she does not have any interest in being fed (she likes to feed herself & you must be pretty sneaky to get a bite of something on a spoon in her mouth). She has also graduated to big girl whole milk... no more formula!!

Hope your St. Patty's Day was a blast & hope you at least had the chance to eat some green mac 'n 'cheese, although if you didn't..... don't worry.... you didn't miss much ;o)

dressing Sage up in some party gear

my new big girl bike...

ONE little bean... ONE big bash

Well, there are not too many ways to put it.... Ardynn had her cake & ate it, too! Her first birthday party was full of lots of family, sweets, & gifts... what more could a one year old ask for? Mommy put together a table full of sweet treats and we had our family's famous taco burgers to celebrate.

We decked the bean out in the birthday tutu that mommy made for her & everybody passed her around. About half way through the party, we plopped her down on the coffee table in her Bumbo seat and handed her a cake larger than her little head. After singing the happy birthday song, I blew out her candle for her and everyone clapped (including the birthday girl, who is so very proud of her new clapping abilities these days!) One would think that the enormity of a cake like that would have been intimidating, but not for our big brave one year old! She dug right in and didn't stop until she looked as if she was going to fall over. After making such a major mess, there was only one place for her to go.... straight to the kitchen sink! KK gave her a bath & daddy re-dressed her in something without remenents of her mess.

She also got some fantastic gifts, including a fun new ball house full of bright balls... now why didn't I think to ask for that gift sooner?? Not surprisingly, she had a little trouble staying on task while opening presents (she is only ONE after all) so I had to help her open just about all of her gifts... but I am not complaining.

The party was a great way to celebrate the Bean's first year of life! The best part was seeing how happy she was to share her day with everyone & how delighted she was to get a whole entire cake to herself!! We HEART you, Birthday Bean!!!