Happy Birthday Little Hattie

I can't decide if the past year has flown by or if it feels like 10 years. I have never worked harder in my life (well, teaching school was probably almost as hard.) I think a baby's first birthday is as much a celebration and anniversary for the mom as it is for the kid. You feel like you have accomplished something - you've raised a baby and she's still alive and she's turning out pretty darn good!

Well, my little Hattie is one year old today. She is such a new adventure for me and I am so happy about her today. I was dreading celebrating her first birthday without any family around, but today has turned out really well as we have spoken to everyone on the phone, video-chatted with some, and were surrounded by really good friends tonight. (It also helps a lot to know that we're flying to Utah in 2 days to see everyone and have another birthday party.)

David's e-mail letter to Harriet says a lot about what she's doing right now, so I won't duplicate, but she is really turning out to be a fun, fun kid. Her little beaming face is addicting.

So, to tell about the day. It was a pretty basic day getting ready for the party - lots of shopping, cleaning, baking, and cooking. I made Harriet's cake. I decided on butterflies for her "theme." She's not really "into" any one thing that she totally goes nuts over except her dogs. I tried to think of how to make a cute doggy cake, but I decided I wouldn't be able to do a good job, so we switched to butterflies because she had such a good time at the butterfly place and she is such a bright spot in my life that a butterfly just seemed to fit.
We invited our dearest friends over for butterfly birthday cake, Erikson's Dairy ice cream, and presents. Roger, Jeanne, and Elisabeth came over from across the street and Rita came from our barn. The 4 of them have been absolutely like family for us and have been so instrumental in our happiness here that I couldn't imagine celebrating without them.

Harriet loved her birthday cake and her presents too. She got lots of fun new clothes from her aunts and Grandma in Salt Lake and some fun toys from our neighbors and from us. Grace has had a hard time in the concept of an entire day devoted to someone other than herself and is coming to terms with the fact that, yes, that whole pile is for Harriet (well not the WHOLE pile, she was LUCKY to receive gifts from a few people who know her well!) Harriet also received many new books from her other Grandma and also the neighbors. We love to read stories and Harriet is starting to pay attention to the words and the pictures on the page, so the new books were really exciting.The party went much later than Harriet's bed time and then we did more video chatting afterward, so she was a tired party girl by the time she went to bed. I am sad that the day is almost over and another huge milestone has come and gone. But, my little one-year-old Hattie will be up soon enough to start another fun-filled day!