Celebration

Last week we celebrated Airlie Mae's 1st Birthday! I cannot believe it. A whole year has gone by since my sweet little girl entered this world. It has been by far the most amazing year of my life. Some days I honestly cannot believe I made it. I remember back to the first days at home. Day one I was on a life high and I even cooked Wes and I dinner. I remember beaming to him, this is fine, we can do this. Day 2 the adrenaline had run out and exhaustion was beginning to set in. Then came the anxiety and the inability to sleep even when the baby actually was sleeping. Those were not fun days. Thank God for my Mom and Mother in law coming to the rescue or I don't know what we would have done. Wes was also a champ pulling all nighters so I could get some rest. Now, looking back life seems so serene, so normal, but my baby girl is a baby no more. She is quickly becoming an independent little sweetie. She feeds herself, helps dress herself, pretends to read books to herself, feeds the dogs, and does all kinds of other fun things. I can't begin to list them all here. As I said life is moving right along and Airlie is growing up. We only have one feeding a day together and I know it too will soon be gone. As a working Mom I am trying to cherish every moment I have with my little girl and remind myself that the mess will still be there when she goes to bed, but these days of saying, "Hi Daddy!" so sweet in the morning and "Oh flowers!" out the window while Mommy waters them will soon to be gone and she will be even more independent and grown up. Aww...bittersweet it is.
For Airlie's birthday we had a party at the park by our house and about 20 of our friends were able to make it. I have learned that May is a very busy month for parties, weddings, graduations, etc. We had a great time at the park and the decorations and food came out just how I had planned. We also spent some time at the beach with Wes's Mom who was in town and my Mom on Sunday just relaxing. All in all it was a really wonderful weekend celebrating the birth of our first baby, Airlie Mae Bechtel. It is true what people say when they say you never know unconditional love until you feel the love of a child. The way she looks at me each morning so excited when I come to her crib and the way she looks up at me each night as I lay her down to sleep is so loving, so innocent, so pure. It makes me feel so blessed to have her and her daddy. Happy 1st Birthday Airlie Mae. We love you so very much and you make my heart grow more full each day!

Of course here are some pictures !

Wes, Deb and Airlie at her party

Airlie, Dede, and Gram at the party

I'm 12 months old!

First taste of cake!

The fam!

Mom, Airlie and me

Awesome cake that my Mom made!

Food and table

Happy 1st Birthday sign I made. So proud!

More food!

Violet from Aunt Kathy!

Relaxing at the beach on Sunday!

Morning of her birthday

Yay a flower, Daddy!

Time flies...

Wow! Where has this year gone? I cannot believe that this Wednesday Airlie Mae will be a year old. She is changing from a sweet baby to a little girl very quickly. This change is so bitter sweet. Things in our house quickly went from neat and orderly to very messy virtually over night just months ago when Airlie took off and started crawling. Now she is pulling up on everything in sight and even standing on her own for seconds at a time. She is getting very independent and eating everything under the sun. One thing is for sure she inherited her parents love of food. To this day she has not disliked a single food I have offered to her and I swear as long as Wes and I are at the table eating she will eat right along with us. What can I say, she socializes with food and drink just like her mother! Speaking of being like me, she sure does talk a lot. She says a lot of words now a days, such as dog, doggy, bird, duck, Daddy, but most recognizable is the word Flower. Who knew that a one year olds favorite word would be flower. She says it in the sweetest voice and it makes my heart melt. The other day she and Wes picked me some dandelions from the yard and my heart just about exploded when she gave them to me. I cannot even begin to express the joy that a child brings to your life. It is amazing. This past weekend we took a short weekend trip to Bald Head Island, NC with some of our friends. Although we were only gone for two days I really missed Airlie a lot. She seemed to have missed us too. WE did enjoy our adult time on the island, eating, laying in the sun, drinking fruity beverages and just relaxing. It was a very nice break. Now this week I am onto finishing up the preparations for Airlie's first birthday party this weekend. I just can't believe it's been a whole year. What a wonderful year it has been. Airlie has made this whole parenthood thing very easy because she is such a pleasant, sweet child. I am so spoiled with her that I am sure baby number 2 will come out terrorizing the world just to get us back! haha. Airlie's party is going to be full of pink and green polka dots and we are having it at a park close to our house. I am very excited about it. I am also excited to see Airlie's face when she tastes cake for the first time since the only sweet thing she has had besides fruit this year is a couple bites of ice cream. Again if she's anything like her mother and father she will want to eat the whole cake!