A birthday story.

We had a party for Genevieve yesterday, which was really fun.  I also learned a few things.

A) Don't have thirty people over to your house in Texas at the end of July and use the oven for three hours straight.  Yeah, I raised the temperature by ten full degrees. Oops!

B) That thing where "they" say not to pick up your kids by their arms, thus overextending their shoulder joints? No really. Don't do that.

C) Little girl is really really lucky to be surrounded by people that love her. She had a great birthday!

So Dan and I make the birthday cakes. It's a tradition.

This time I found a picture on the internet I liked:

 

(Credit goes to iambaker.net )

And I was all "Ohhhh cute! I wanna do that!".

I bought the necessary supplies, but as the day drew near I realized "Rachel, you suck at cake decorating. You know this, and you have as much chance at making a cake like that as Ethel has of winning a dachshund agility tournament.", so I modified my expectations a bit and just ran with the Neopolitan aspect and ignored the gorgeous icing rosettes part.

So I baked the cakes and Dan iced them. Then it was time for assembly and we fought. We always fight about the cake. It's also part of the tradition. I believe Dan uttered the words "It reflects on my artistic ability" only partially in jest this year.

Are you ready for the Piece de Resistance?

Voila! (kisses fingers)

 

Ok, so iambaker it is not, but it's homey; cute; yes. Hmm.

Payne was totally jazzed about that cake, y'all.  He saw it pre-assembly the night before and asked for nearly 24 hours "We eat cake now?".

"At laaaaaast, my looooove has come aloooooong"

Then Genevieve got to try a slice. I was afraid she would taste the icing and wig out like Payne did as a baby.  He hated it.

Nope. Not a problem with this one:

She's a cake snarfer. 

Payne Nirvana: 

Connor was all "Get that thing away from me." 

Um, gross. I think we've reached Baby Zombie face makeup stage. 

Then it was time for a bath. I picked her up by her wrists to carry her in there because she was covered in slime and accidentally pulled on her shoulder too hard. 

Here's Dan soothing her. Pretty sure he was saying "I'm sorry Mommy hurt you."

Ganging up on me already...

She did eventually recover from her sports injury and enjoyed her new gifts!

Dan took this photo today, since she is officially one!

Bring on toddlerhood! I'm game.

Let's see, as a one year old, Genevieve has seven teeth, is standing independently for 10-20 seconds at a time, and has taken a step or two in order to reach only her very favorite people (all men, by the way) several times.  We've also stopped bottles and formula, and as a result she wants a full Cowboy Breakfast by 7:30 every morning. I now know I'm capable of grating cheese in my sleep, which I guess is good.

We love her so much. Welcome to birthdays Baby G!