The Really, Really, Real Adventures of Mommyhood: Party On!

How can I ever begin to describe Olivia's birthday party this past Saturday? In a word, it was

AWESOME!!!

I really don't know any other way to sum it up better than that. We had a house full of kids, friends, and family and I loved every minute of it! We did a "splash party" with water activities for the kids outside, we had a margarita machine for the grown-ups, and, of course, way more food than we could eat. The cake and decorations were so beautiful and though our house is not huge, it was comfortably crowded on Saturday. The Boss Lady got some very generous and fun clothes, toys, and gift cards. She also did a great job tearing into her smash cake! The kid definitely takes after me! All of the kids got along and seemed to have a blast. Not ONE of them had a meltdown the whole evening!

But most of all, our house with filled with the love and support of our family and friends. Cheesy but true.

The next morning, I surveyed the mess that was now my house. There was cupcake crumbled in the dining room carpet, little foot prints on the kitchen tile, and my backyard looked like someone had done figure 8's in it in their monster truck. And I loved every bit of it. Seriously. I love knowing that our life is filled with an enormous amount of excitement and fun and a little bit of mess. The mess in my house Sunday morning was the aftermath of an incredible outpouring of love and excitement for the celebration of Olivia's birthday.

I am still on a high from the awesomeness that it was. This might be silly but I kind of needed that party to have some closure on the fact that I actually, really do have a 1 year old. I didn't talk about this too much, but the days leading up to Olivia's first birthday were so surreal, sad, and a little challenging for me. I felt so excited about this milestone but also a little sad that my "baby" is really, truly a toddler. It's hard for me to let go of the tiny little person she once was. I needed a big celebration to ease the transition into this new chapter.

To say thank you to everyone that was here would not be sufficient to truly express the gratitude in our hearts and souls. We are more blessed than we ever thought possible. Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of you who came to celebrate. There are many who were unable to attend and we appreciate your well wishes that day. I had a flood of texts on Saturday that just made that day even better. Thank you for thinking of us and for being a part of our celebration!

We hope all of you know how much we love and appreciate you. I hope we are as good to you as you are to us. Thank you, thank you, and thank you again and again and again!