Lucy's ONE (part 3 of 3)

The weekend's festivities have drawn to a close and mama and daddy are feeling very blessed for the past year with our beautiful and joyful girl and also grateful that so many people love her.

Uncle Dave and Aunt Susie were the first to arrive on Friday night, and Lucy had a great time getting reacquainted with them.

We're all REALLY excited for their wedding in just 5 weeks and the lovebirds seem remarkably cool, calm, and collected. Grandma and Grandpa arrived later that night.

Besides the birthday party, we had a fantastic weekend going out to eat, visiting the park, and just playing with Lucy in the living room.

Lucy's party on Saturday afternoon was a rousing success. In addition to the visiting family, she had two little friends and their parents there, plus our friend Chad. Lucy enjoyed the "duckie" theme--here's daddy showing her the cake:

Before the cake and ice cream, the girls ate fruit salad and tortilla sandwiches cut out in the shape of duckies. They even had a special table and chairs with their own bowl of snacks:

So--we had an idea for a birthday activity for the girls. We blew up a pool that Lucy got for her birthday (thanks Kim and Mannie and Lucas!) and floated some little windup duckies in it. We thought the girls could have the ducks swim around in the pool and maybe splash a bit. That idea was a bit of a bust. Ruby felt too shy to play, Lilly was running late and so wasn't there yet, and Lucy kept trying to get into the pool in her shoes and party dress. After she had already gotten herself all wet, we stripped her down and let her get in the pool to swim with the duckies. This explains why she's wearing a different outfit for the rest of the party:

A little present opening goes a long way--she only opened the presents from the guests and saved a few from family for the next day. I'm sure that there will never again be a gift giving occasion where Lucy will be offered a wrapped package and respond with, "ah, no no no."

Finally, as the party wound down, some of the guests moved to the backyard for a little relaxation:

Sheri and Nathan want to thank everyone who has called, e-mailed, commented on the blog, or sent cards or presents to Lucy. Our first anniversary as parents leaves us feeling a little wistful--we're losing a little tiny baby but gaining a smart and vibrant toddler. The year has been hard at times, no doubt about that. We're working harder and sleeping less than we ever have before. But it has also been our best year ever. As we reflected on our seventh anniversary last week, we agreed that this year with Lucy has made us a better team and more loving family. Life is good, indeed.