Happy 1st Birthday to Clara!

How did she grow up so fast? Where is my baby? Well, she is still my baby and will be for a long time, I'm sure! To make up for the sad realization that my baby is one, we went all out for little Miss Clara's birthday. It was so much fun!

Me and my beautiful sweet girls...

The preschoolers! All of these girls are the same age and have so much fun together. Can you tell that London and Karoline had dance pictures today?

The party consisted of adults chatting away while the kids played and played. We had a pinata which was a huge hit...pun not intended...and then the kids got on the tramp...

Sam, Roman, Capri, and Danny-these kids have a blast together and I can see some long-term friendships happening...

We opened presents and Clara was loving it! She was obsessed with the tissue paper and wrapping mostly, but all of the attention she was getting was an added bonus!

Some of the guests-we had both sets of grandparents, our families, and the Ross' come, but here are just a few...

We love Grandma...

and Grammy!

The only thing Clara loved more than wrapping presents and getting all of the attention, was the cake. She devoured it!

She did, however, take a moment to give Daddy loves.

The party fell on the perfect spring day so we were outside for most of it, which was wonderful. I did, however, decorate inside where people got their food and it turned out to be so cute! The theme was "You Are My Sunshine" (her favorite song-even the kids know to sing it to her when she gets upset) and everything was decorated in pink, yellow, and orange. I love doing this kind of stuff, even when it gets to be over-the-top and a bit stressful...I have a problem. ;)

We had pizza (easy!), salad, fruit, and the most delicious strawberry lime and lemon cupcakes you can imagine thanks to my incredibly talented neighbor. YUMMY! 

I sure love this girl. She is happy, happy, happy, and she truly is our little ray of sunshine...

Clara at 9-12 mos:

Clara is the magic baby. She is so happy, so easy, so content. She is still my very best cuddler and I melt every time. Even better, the second you give her a blanket, she sticks her fat little thumb in her mouth and lays into your chest and there is nothing better-NOTHING! New tricks include "loves" where she leans in to you so you can cuddle, "so big," waving with her princess wave, and her newest is blowing kisses. That last one is also my favorite. To see her squishy chubby hand up to her mouth and then to see her smile after she "kisses" is beyond adorable. Clara must be a performer because she loves to do her tricks for people and then just waits for their reaction. She will keep her arms up until everyone around her says "So Big!" and claps. She then claps for herself and then starts with another trick. If someone isn't clapping, she will look right at them and waits-so funny! 

She started to cruise with her army crawl but is now transitioning to a real crawl…it's about time. She also likes to get on her hands and stick her bum straight up into downward dog. She is nowhere near walking along furniture but she does pull herself up so lowering the crib was necessary. I love her facial expression once she finally gets herself up. It's like, "Wow! I made it! Such a different view up here and I like it!"

Still our Little Miss Chub Chub, here are her stats for her 10 month appt: