Rookie Mistake

Ok, so I'm a first-time mom. And my first child just had a first birthday. It was a big deal to me. I had what some might call, "expectations" for how this whole birthday thing would go. Addy has always been an extremely care-free friendly baby, and so in my mind she was going to do everything that I had imagined for her to do on her first birthday. I decided to begin her birthday by going to Kiddie Kandids and getting a family photo taken together...(I know, I know...why would you do that on a day when she is having a party and swimming lessons as well? I may have even heard that from a couple of people who I lovingly ignored). She did awesome for her 7 month pictures, so this would be a breeze. We got to Kiddie Kandids and waited our turn. We got everything set up to take the pictures and...

*Insert adorable family photo here*

Oh, wait...no it never got taken. Addy took one look at the lady (who admittingly may have been trying a bit too hard) and began to scream and claw me and would not look at the camera. We decided to let the family behind us go first and then try again. Still a no-go. The lady took one picture of Addy and Landon and tried to tell me it looked good. Um...yeah if you want your baby to look like she just got stung by a bee and was allergic to it. I'm talking swollen eyes, tears, redness, the whole bit. I told the lady we would make an appointment for the next week and try again (sure...).

So we left a bit disappointed, but still looking forward to the rest of the night. I knew that Addy just needed a good nap and then she would be back to her sweet, easy-going, do-anything-to-appease-mommy self. Maw-Maw and Granddaddy got into town shortly after that and Addy decided that she would much rather play with them then do any sleeping. (Granddaddy finally got her to sleep for about 30 minutes on his shoulder before the party). We decided against swimming lessons at this point, and let her be at home until the big event. We got to the party and Addy was great. She was happy to see everyone, and she would have been perfect all night except that I had expectations. There is that word again. I thought she was going to wear her "I'm One" hat and dig into her cake and make a great mess and laugh and...you get the picture. That is not what happened. She was not extremely happy with me for trying to force all of this, and I did get some pictures of those things but they look slightly different than I had imagined...

And then again the next day at her playgroup party we had nearly the same issue...

(Can you guess which one is Addy?)

But hey, it was mommy's fault. Poor baby, she tried her best and would have been fine if it weren't for mommy and her dang expectations. On top of all that we later realized two things A.) She was starting to get a cold and B.) She is now a toddler and has extreme opinions, stranger anxiety, separation anxiety, and so on. She did have a great time for the most part and after I learned my extremely valuable lesson, I had a great time too. She got lots of fun presents and had lots of special people there to help celebrate her life. I can't believe my baby girl is one! What a big girl! (oh and did I mention that when you ask her how old she is she puts up one finger?) She is so stinking smart!

Man, do I love that girl!!!!

Check out Addy's Montage of her first year

http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=67ae3b0110adb27ba53db3&skin_id=601&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url

Am I a Blogger?

Ok, so I am going to give this blogging thing a shot. I love the idea, and I hope that I can actually keep up with it (considering that as I write this Addy is giving me the stink eye because I am not opening my cell phone for her to call China). Oh, one year olds! So needy, yet so independent at the same time!!! For instance, I just put on Baby Einstein so that I could have a second to myself. She has decided that she wants to stand by herself while holding a ball to watch it. Okay great, some mommy time. But the second I turn away from the TV and start doing my own thing, I have personally offended her. Don't touch me, but don't you dare consider doing something else! She has quite the personality!!! =)
I am hoping that I can get on here enough to be able to write all the insane adventures of a first time mom to a one-year-old going on three. She seems to always be doing something fun, funny, cute, crazy, etc. so hopefully this will help me keep up with the stories. Feel free to bug me if I'm not...=)