Can I even call her that anymore?
Dramatic much? Yes!
I guess I feel sadder about Alice turning one, because I don't feel like I got to spend as much time focusing on her first year as I did Colton and Khloe ... and I'm right, I didn't! It's just not possible when you're the third kid to come along.
Anyway ... I decided to give Allie an 'Alice in Wonderland' themed birthday ... and why not!?! You know I had to do that, at least, once in her lifetime! I had fun putting that theme together ... and I think she looked pretty cute. (But I always think that!)
We were happy to have Mom and Dad Heinrich visiting to help celebrate her first year of life. The kids are always so happy to have grandma and grandpa in town! Billy's Aunt Trudi and Uncle Steve, also, drove down from north/central Florida to help celebrate. And, of course, Caleb and Elizabeth were on-hand for the fun! I'm very thankful for Elizabeth, as she helped me get ready for the big day in so many ways! I am very lucky to have her friendship ... and nearby-ness (???). We had lots of friends here to help us celebrate, as well. We feel blessed to have the friends we do here in Tampa. Pretty lucky, indeed!
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| Good morning first birthday! |
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| Baby Alice ready for church on her birthday ... wearing my old yellow sweater from when I was a baby. ::Nostalgia:: |
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| The birthday girl is 1! |
On Sabbath (which was her actual birthday), we had a special children's Sabbath at church. Since we are doing the theme of Noah, we had a petting zoo and pony come to the church, so the kids could learn more about animals. Then we did special Noah activities in the church to learn more about the Bible story. Alice seemed pretty excited about the animals!
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| Billy played the part of 'God' for the Noah skit. |
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| Petting chickens. |
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| Koki had to brush every sheep in the pen! |
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| Allie peeked through and watched those silly chickens. |
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| Pony rides! |
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| Even Allie got to meet the pony! |
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| A cute giggle with Grandma. |
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| Another cute shot! |
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| The zoo crew ... adorableness! |
After church, we had family over for lunch and divinely, richly, decadent
mini-chocolate cakes. I highly recommend this recipe! Alice does, too ... she absolutely loved it, as the whole time she ate all you heard was "mmmmmmm .... (
slurp) .... num-num-num ... (
slurp) ... mmmmmm"! She licked her fingers clean!
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| This girl LOVES baked spaghetti! |
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| Yum, yum! |
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| Can she shove all of that in!?! |
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| Her fudgey, delicious cake! |
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| Singing 'Happy Birthday' to Sweet Allie. |
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| Can't hardly wait! |
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| Get it in there! |
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| Checking it it out. |
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| She loves it! |
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| How to slurp it off? |
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| Tasty giggles ... |
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| Cake face! |
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| She had just shoved a huge bite into her mouth ... a mouth full of cake! |
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| Pure joy of devouring deliciousness! |
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| Her Alice in Wonderland birthday outfit that I made. Her shirt has a '1' on it and an 'A'. (Gwendy made that bow for Khloe when she was a baby ... fit the theme perfectly!) |
On Sunday, we had the Alice in Wonderland party, and Alice was dressed the part. It was fun to have all of our friends and family here to celebrate her big day. We really enjoyed having everyone over, and Allie did, too!
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| Birthday time! |
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| Little Alice in Wonderland ... love her! |
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| Come in ... and go "down the rabbit hole"! |
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| Traditional number 1 balloon ... I can't believe I forgot to take a picture of the sign with her name on it! Lol! I'll have to upload it from her door where it hangs now. |
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| Decorations |
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| Tasty dishes |
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| Cake view |
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| Okay ... this is not a face! This is the back feet and cotton tail of the rabbit going down the rabbit hole. I know, I know ... I should've put a swirly circle on the black hole. That would've been better ... another time. |
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| Some tea for the tea party ... sweet tea, this is the south! |
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| Tea, anyone? |
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| "Off with her presents!" |
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| This way ... that way ... wrong way ... over here! |
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| Big thanks to Elizabeth for this one! |
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| With her Daddy ... |
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| Happy Birthday time! |
So, I made her cake. It was fun and challenging! One of the many things I learned this time around ... you need a very sturdy frosting when using fondant to cover your cake. The fluffy brown sugar frosting ... although very delicious ... is a bit too soft and melty to hold up the heavy fondant. That's why you will see some buckling around the bottom of the cake ... the frosting underneath is melting and falling under the weight of the decor. Duly noted for next time!
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| Alice section ... mad hatter ... tea party ... late, late, late ... |
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| The Cheshire Cat |
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| Queen of Hearts |
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| Down the Rabbit Hole |
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| Ready to sing! |
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| Checking it out ... |
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| Baby girl is 1! |
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| I love this crew! |
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| Another cake ... mmmmmm! Buttermilk cake with fluffy brown sugar frosting. |
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| Party guests! What a great group of friends! |
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| Take home gifts say ... "Take Me". |
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| Some presents ... she loved to open them ... and the big brother and sister did, too! |
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| Before: The end of the story ... party explosion! |
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| After: Cleaned up once again! |
It's hard to believe she is already a one year-old ... I guess we have to stop calling her Baby Allie!
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| I love this sweet Allie girl! |
