Team Barron: Adeline's First Birthday

March 21, 2012 marks Adeline's very first birthday celebration. Of course, I don't think she really had a clue that today was HER DAY, but William sure did! He was 150% excited about Adeline's birthday and wanted to make sure she had a super day. It makes me happy to see how much William loves Adeline and he is always watching out for her. Today was no exception.

As is tradition for the Barron kiddos, Adeline woke up to a balloon in her "room." Look at her face! She was delighted with all the early morning fanfare even though she had no clue what was going on.

This picture makes me laugh so hard. She was posing for the camera and held this smile on her face until the flash went off.

Knowing today was rainy and also spring break, I had a feeling that any activity we tried to do would be crowded or close to it. But, I gave William a few ideas and in the end, he thought Adeline would have a blast painting pottery at Purple Glaze Studio.

I wasn't sure what to expect, but the three of us got ready in our birthday best, grabbed the car keys and headed out the door.

I am so glad we got to the pottery studio early. It was only 9:30am, but the place was already SO CROWDED with little kids. Adeline was dressed up in honor of her big day and several people stopped me to say, "Oh is it her birthday?" And of course, William was first to chime in - "YES! This is my baby and today is her very first birthday. We are having a little party here today with me and my mom." What a proud big brother!

We found a cozy spot in the back corner, and the only bummer was that all 3 high chairs were taken. This helped answer my question as to if I really wanted to let Adeline try and paint. I opted for "no" even though she IS the birthday girl....but I just didn't know how messy she'd get or if the paint would end up in her mouth and hair. William took his sweet time trying to decide on the PERFECT GIFT to paint for his sister. He got a little side tracked by a race car he just HAD TO HAVE, and he also found a tile to paint for Adeline.

Adeline settled in with her graham crackers and we watched William paint away. He took his craft very seriously and decided to leave parts of the race car unpainted so "it would look like it was beat up in a race." And then he set out to tackle his gift for Adeline. He selected pink and purple paint and drew a birthday butterfly. He carefully added her name to the bottom and asked me a million times if I liked her surprise.

Can you think of anything sweeter to receive on your first birthday? I can't!

After our outing to paint, we came back home and I put Adeline down for a nap. William and I played airplanes and passed the time inside while it poured rain outdoors.

I casually asked William where he thought he should take Adeline for her birthday dinner. He very quickly and matter-a-factly stated, "Mom, we have to go eat at a place that girls like. Luby's is a good choice. Girls love Luby's and they give you red balloons too." No need to argue, Luby's indeed.

So that is exactly where our little family celebrated Adeline's birthday dinner. Earlier in the day, William picked out a pink cupcake for her, so we brought it along to Luby's. I think he asked me 3 times if I had the cupcake in the car. Again, my boy was SO excited to make sure Adeline's day was nothing less than perfect.

And after a hearty feast of the LouAnn, Adeline got to sample her cupcake.

She wasted NO time at all. My little lady must have known goodness was upon her. She hugged that cupcake like an old friend. Oh the joy in her eyes and the taste of icing on her lips. She would have eaten the entire cupcake, but I ended up taking it away about half way through. I hated to think she might end up in sugar shock with a belly ache!