Hurricane Noel

Leave it to me to be the only one NOT to know we're getting hit with the remnants of a hurricane today. Where the hell have I been?

We're expecting winds around 60mph (possibly up to 80mph) and rain. It's no where near the intensity of Hurricane Gloria, which hit us in the 80s and brought down trees everywhere, including one in our back yard.

The grocery store was INSANE this morning. I haven't seen the lines that long in awhile. Luckily we scored a new lane opening up when we were ready to check out. Woo hoo. I think the baby charmed them into opening the lane just for her.

She's napping right now, getting the rest she needs for the excitement that will follow her awakening. Ellie loves a good party. Especially one just for her.

I guess we'll remember Hurricane Noel like we do Gloria because of the importance of the day itself. We'll be able to tell Ellie Noel hit on her first birthday party.

The Rest of Ellie's 1st Birthday Day

So she scored some really cool stuff from the kids at daycare: a plastic guitar that plays some cute riffs when the buttons are pushed, a cutsie cutsie homemade fleece dress with kitties on it (can't wait for her to wear it!), some bows for her hair, and a stuffed Minnie Mouse. Teri, her daycare provider, bought her a kickin' aqua blue velour sweatsuit, a longsleeve onesie that says "It's all about Me, Me, ME!" with purple pants to go with, and a funny little plastic bunny that talks and plays music. Most parents moan and groan about these noisy toys, but I absolutely love them. They teach her ABCs and 123s and she really gets her groove on to all the music. Makes a Momma proud.

When she got home from daycare, I was waitin' at the door with her gifts from us. She was VERY excited to see Mommy already home since I usually don't walk in the door till 5:15pm. And she was just as excited to see the gift bag. She got some wooden blocks (the girl loves building stuff) and a big wooden cube to shoot different shaped pegs through. And another Pillow Person. She got some clothes, too, which she could really care less about. And her new arm chair she got last week was also part of the B-day gifts, but there was no way to hide that sucker so she got it upon purchase. We tried not to go too overboard; a few toys goes a long way with our girl.

My niece joined us for Birthday dinner (baked ziti w/ turkey meatballs - YUM) and Birthday cupcakes. We got video of us singing "Happy Birthday" to Miss Ellie AGAIN (it's her new favorite song) and video of her licking the whipped cream off her birthday cupcake.

We went straight from the high chair to the bath; Ellie had sauce and crumbs EVERYWHERE! We played with her new toys for awhile, and then my little girl decided she was DONE for the night nearly an hour before she's usually been going to bed. Guess it was a really full day!

She slept for 12 hours last night. That's one tired baby.

All in all, it was a wonderful day. I'm so lucky to have her in my life. I teared up yesterday morning when I got her out of her crib; I couldn't help it. I was telling her happy birthday and how much I love her, and I was just overwelmed with emotion. This little person is the most amazing thing I've even done, ya know? I'm so lucky.

Ellie's Big Birthday Breakfast Bash

Ellie turned one-year-old today! Yeah, officially, it's not until 9:02pm, but she'll be fast asleep by then.

We started off the day with a birthday breakfast at daycare. I brought doughnuts, homemade pumpkin bread, mini bagels with cream cheese, and tropical fruit cocktail for the kiddies to feast on. And feast they did! Dude, those kids can eat! And talk!

And for dessert... banana cupcakes with whipped cream frosting and no sugar added hot chocolate (I was trying to keep the sugar to a minimum so the kids weren't bouncing off the walls for poor Teri after I left).

Ellie had her first cupcake, and we let her go at it with both hands. She was one happy baby.

More to come...