First Birthday

Eliana had an ABC themed party.  I used her toy blocks.

Eliana opening her first birthday present with Uncle Ray and Grandmama

The activity for the party - making sock puppets.

Here is a sample of the new sock puppet friends Eliana has from the party.

Eliana took a late nap during her party, and woke up in a very bad mood.  She just wanted to sit in Mommy's lap and eat pizza.  Oh well, it was her party so she can cry if she wants to.

Eliana's smash cake.  I made her a Pumpkin Apple Cake as a healthier alternative to the traditional cake.  Plus, she LOVES pumpkin, so I thought it would be a good treat.  To make it, all I did was bake the cake in an 8x8 square pan, then cut out two small squares.  I stacked the small squares to make a cube to resemble an alphabet block.  I used my Aunt Rita's buttercream frosting recipe which is great for decorating! To finish, I put a big E on top for Eliana. 

The cake for the rest of us, also decorated with Aunt Rita's buttercream frosting.

Eliana was not in a good mood and did not was to smash her cake.  She mostly touched it and cried.

However, she did like to eat it when Aunt Rebecca fed it to her.  In fact, once she got started, she would cry when Aunt Becca didn't feed her fast enough.

Opening presents with Uncle Ray.

She got a glowworm!  Eliana loves this glowworm.  She is sooo cute when she cuddles it close to her.  I tell her to "Give Glowworm a kiss!" and she will lean in with her mouth WIDE open and slobber on its face.  So adorable!

A collection of all of her month photos.

Decorations for the party.  The last sign is the one her daycare friends made for her.  They signed it with their footprints!

What's with the face?

Dancing in her party dress

"Thanks for coming to my party!" Eliana says.

Since Eliana is almost 14 months old, I guess it is about time I finish the blog post about her birthday party.  Eliana had an "ABC" themed birthday party that my brother and his fiance kindly offered to host at their new place.  We had a lot of fun!  Eliana was the center of attention and loved every minute.  She didn't really get into the whole birthday thing.  She elected to let her Aunt Rebecca smash her cake for her and her Uncle Ray open her presents.  She didn't get a good nap in before the party, so she was a little moody.  Luckily she's cute, so no one really minded.  :)  It really is incredible how quickly she has grown.  Can you believe she used to fit in the crook of your arm?  Now she is like a little person with lots of personality.  I sure love this beautiful girl God has blessed us with!