Happy 1st Birthday George!

I know! It is hard to believe that this time one year ago, we were welcoming Georgie to our family. I feel like he has always been here because I was so young when he arrived! He was so little, just 6lbs 7ozs and 18.75 inches and now look at him!
He is so big! He can walk, say about 7 words, feed himself and is bottle free! We are so proud of all that he has accomplished over the past year and all that he has overcome! It has been a pretty rough year for the little guy but he is strong and determined and has made it though everything.

The day started out with everyone coming over for the Birthday Party! Nana, Papa, Mimi, Grandpa, Uncle David, Uncle Robert, Aunt Betsy, Rob, Matthew, Tante, Weldon, and Brian all came over to celebrate!

George enjoyed being the center of attention! He was a little shy at first, which is what he does when there are a lot of people around. It took him a little while to warm up to everyone so he stayed close to Mama, Daddy, Grandparents and me. For some reason, I don't think that they minded!

Daddy has become a great shopper for us over the past couple of years and he found these great matching outfits for us. They have giraffes on them and as most of you know by now, they are my favorite animal! It is getting more difficult to get us both to stay on the couch long for pictures together so Mama has to take what she can get!This is George's first birthday cake! I got to help pick it out because that is what a big sister does! I chose an Elmo's World cake because I love to watch it on TV.

George had his own special cake all to himself. It is called a smash cake because he could destroy it all that he wanted! You will see later on that he did a really good job of making a mess!
Another job of the big sister is to help him blow out the cake since he is "too leetle!" I felt so proud to be there with my brother to help him out. I even made a wish for him. What is it you ask...now if I told you, it would not come true!

Although most children are a little apprehensive, George was not! He dove right in with his fingers, squeezing it like play dough! Mama wishes that she has not chosen red icing though! Live and Learn!

It took him a while to actually put some of it in his mouth! He was way too busy playing with it to actually eat it. We are polar opposites on this issue because the first thing I do with food is gobble it down.
George is not a big fan of sweets. Mama has tried to give him a bite of candy here and there but he always spits it out. He prefers savory over sweet so although it looks like a lot is missing, it is really just destroyed! Gretchen and Heidi might have gotten a few bites!
Here is the after shot! Good job George! Everyone loves to watch a baby mess up their first cake and you made it very entertaining. I think everyone got their money's worth!
Like with me on my first birthday, Mama and Daddy were so proud...

and so were Mimi and Grandpa...
and so were Nana and Papa!
Then it was time to sing happy birthday again for the big people cake. Yes, if you are wondering, Rob, Matthew and I are a part of the big people cake now! We put two candles in so that Rob and I could both have a candle.

I thought it was so yummy! I especially liked the icing. Rob does not like cake so he just ate the ice cream. I ate my ice cream with Mr Noodle from the cake decorations. I have become attached to that little piece of plastic. Mama was so happy to have her friends in town. It was a good time for Tante to have a change of scenery and get to hang out with all of us! She brought me some sidewalk chalk and it was the best present ever! She showed me how to put it back in the box correctly and now every time I put it back in the box I say "Tante show me how to put it back!"

Uncle David was in town from New York. George was glad to have his fellow red-head to hang out with! As you can see, George's hair is the same color as David's beard. Daddy's is about that color but he does not ever grow a beard.

After the cake, we attempted to clean him up as well as we could. As you can see, there is still a good bit on his sleeves. Mimi took the outfit home to let it soak overnight. George had more fun hanging out with all us big kids all day. He was into everything! I think that he knew it was his special day.

Then it was time to open presents. I let Rob help me open them. As usual, gift opening was very chaotic and rambunctious but it was so much fun! Tante helped try to keep things under control.

All of the men were in the back watching and videoing. Matthew had fun flirting with Weldon. He is walking all over the place now and talking too!

I decided to try on George's pool towel to see if it fit. Mama thought that I looked like Mary in a Manger Scene! George got a pool membership to the Homewood Pool for the summer! I can't wait to go all summer long!

Weldon had all of the boys loving her all day. George got jealous that Matthew was flirting with his Weldon so he decided that it was time for him to get some attention! She gladly obliged! He loves his Weldon like I love my Tante!

These are George's Godparents minus Lee. She had a trip already planned so she could not make it. He has really great Godparents that are really involved! We are both so lucky!
This is them on the day that George was born! We always laugh at these pictures because it looks like they are one big happy family!

We do not take family portraits very often so we thought that we would take one real quick. Unfortunately, we did it at the end of the party and everyone was tired. As you can see, Georgie is in mid-yawn and I have a pretty big pout going on!

After nap, we played around the house a bit with the big money and it got us thinking, it is a cold rainy day so why don't we go to the Zoo!

George got to ride in the care facing forward for the first time. He was a little confused about why he could see so much more. I reassured him that this is much better and now we can talk more.

He got the hang of it very quickly and now knows what he has been missing. Now he can see Mama and Daddy instead of just hearing their voices!

I was a little upset because I wanted Rob and Papa to ride with me but there just was not enough room. As I said before, I do not know what we were thinking because the zoo was closed so we went to Publix instead. At lease George got to ride facing forward, never facing back again! (sound familiar?)

When we got home, we open the party favors from the birthday party. It was filled with all kinds of thing but the hit was the dinosaur noses! Everyone, including Aunt Betsy who put on two of them, had a blast. Matthew got a big kick out of them! They also had my favorite, Pez!

For dinner, we had a baked ziti and Olive Garden salad. I was "alicious" It was so much fun to get to eat with George and my cousins! I always eat so much better when I have other people to eat with. George felt like one of the big kids.

After dinner, we had fun destroying the den! Mama does not think that she has ever seen our den look like this! We had plastic food, books and toys everywhere!

Then it was time to change gears! Papa's Birthday! Unfortunately for him, he will always have to share his birthday party with George. Fortunately for us, we get two parties from now on!

Rob decided that Papa was going to ahve a Batman birthday cake and we were going to wear Batman shirts! Betsy brought me my Batman shirt! I bought everyone Batman bracelets to wear! We also got to help blow out his candles!

After cake, Rob decided that he would give my princess shoes a try. Uncle Robert said that he should not get used to them! I have three pair now so I was happy to share! He wore the ones that Aunt Betsy gave me for Chirstmas.

Rob and I had more fun together. We went every where together! At one point, I will yelling from the kitchen "Rob, come in the kitchen!" I love my cousin!Then it was time for bed and I got some suggles from Robert! It was such a fun day and a great time time for George! Thank you everyone that made the day special for him and Papa!

After we were all in bed, it was time to relax. Here is Nana with her boys! We have sucha great family now and she is so proud of all of us!

The next morning, Papa and I got up and played with the paydough set that Daddy got for us to play with. Robert, Betsy, Rob and Matthew had to leave to go home. I was really sad when they left but I enjoyed the one on one with Papa. He made an airplane, bunny, helicopter and shark!For luch, we decided to go to Flip Burger and it was "Alicious!" I liked the light fixtures because they had mirrors on them so I could look at myself. I sat with Nana and Papa and George sat in the highchair. They only have one in the whole resturant!

We sat next to the big window so I had fun pointing out things for Nana to look at outside. We were so hig up we could see all of Birmingham!

George sat in between Papa and Daddy. He liked that he got to drink out of a big boy cup and straw. It took a while to get our food so he was a little cranky but all of the action in there kept him occupied along with ihs thumb and lovey!

After dinner, I had fun running around outside. The next couple of pictures are of all that I did. It will make you tired just looking at them!
I would run away from everyone. Don't worry, I was on the sidewalk the entire time!
Then I would run back! To say that I burned a lot of energy is an understatement! I needed to on such a dreary day. Plus it was the day after such a big event, which is always a hard day! George wanted in on the action so we got out his shopping cart to give him some stablity. He took it into one of the stores at The Summit and everyone thought that it was just adorable not to mention the overalls!
Even though I consider myself a big girl now, I am still so small in the big city! You can see lots of Birmingham behind me. I hope this big old world is ready for George and me because we are going to definitely make our place in it! Happy First Birthday again Georgie and may your next year be better that the last! I love you little brother!