Our Little Cupcake

I have tried to finish this blog for three days...Blogger has been freezing up and losing half of my pictures again and again. That, plus a sick baby, has made this next to impossible! Ahhhh!!!

This was our cupcake girl two days before her party...

And, this was our cupcake girl the day of her party....

You would think by the time I take my THIRD daughter for her 12month shots, I would remember how my first two reacted, and plan accordingly. But, no. I forgot about the high fevers, fussiness, soreness, and lack of appetite that the others had. And, honestly, I didn't really remember any of it until Abby Kate suddenly began ALL of these symptoms on Saturday evening.

So, she was a bit miserable and very "spacy", as you can tell in all the pictures!

Or, maybe she was just beat down by the fact that we did things like this to her:It could have been worse. We could have done things like this to her: (poor baby Avery!)

So, the party girl was not exactly in the partying mood. But, it was fun for everyone else!

We had a huge family gathering to celebrate her first year of life, and really enjoyed being all together. I love that we have so many who love our kids and celebrate with us. We had a good time remembering all the parties in our girls' history, and Kendyll could name quite a few of them!

Here are a few group pics of the party guests (minus quite a few who I missed getting poses from...sorry about that! :)

You might remember that my original plan was to bake Sprinkles Cupcakes for this little shin dig. Well, on Saturday afternoon, I began pulling out all the ingredients for lemon, vanilla, and chocolate cupcakes, along with icings that went with each. Honestly, there was not a bone in my body that wanted to do this, but my thoughts were these:

*I have already bought all the ingredients, including pound upon pound of butter and sugar, and didn't want to waste any of it.

*I had already promised my two older girls that we would be baking together that day, and they were really excited about wearing their aprons, and using the sprinkles they had picked out.

*I was already ordering the entire lunch and felt like if I backed out of the cupcake baking too, I was being less of a mom for Abby Kate than I was for the other two on their first birthdays. (Ummmm...I know....dumb.)

So, when Mark walked in the kitchen and saw me sitting down trying to gear up for baking, he said "Why are we not just buying cupcakes??". I proceeded to tell him the reasons listed above, at which he had good comebacks to all of them. (I hate it when he's able to see through my pointless reasons for accomplishing something silly on my to-do list!) So, we went back and forth a little bit, as I weakly argued my side. Then, he said "Put away the stuff. This is what we're doing. I'm going to the real Sprinkles Cupcake store and buying cupcakes for everyone. I don't care what it costs, because it's worth not having you baking at midnight tonight."

I have to say, it was the best decision he has ever made. I still don't know what he paid, but it really was worth every penny. Not only did they taste absolutely delicious, but I was a much happier (and rested) mommy, and the tables were that much cuter with the "real thing"....

And, they were as delicious as they look! The only hard part was saving them for dessert. Sweet Braden tried his best to sneak one...but Daddy was watching!

And, even asked "I wan ONE, pease!

Even Abby Kate enjoyed her sweet banana cupcake! Well, really, only the icing. :)

I love this close-up that my sister, Cassie, took of her while she ate. Oh, those eyes!
And, now, I'm glad to say I can make my own Sprinkle cupcakes at my leisure...because I have the butter, the mix, and the sprinkles! I still don't know if they could taste like they did on Sunday though.

It was a fun party for our little cupcake, and all three of the girls have loved playing with Abby Kate's new birthday toys ever since! As you can tell, she's had more help than she needed--both with opening---and playing with her presents!

After her party, when it was time for bed, I just held and rocked that sweet girl for the longest time, crying (halfway from exhaustion!) and praying and thanking God for her. The best part about the last few days (since she is STILL feverish and achy three days later) is that He has answered my prayer of slowing down time to savor these moments. She has been wanting to be held and rocked so much, and I haven't complained once about that! (now, ask me in a few more days if the holding and rocking is still fun! Ha ha.)