Ella's First Birthday

Today was our sweet little Ella's first birthday. People say this all the time, but it really is so hard to believe that the year went so fast. She has been such a joy and a very easy baby, in my opinion. We had a fairly small party with just family attending. My parents, Grandma Kaser and cousins Todd, Dawn, Amber and Taylor came from Moberly. Brent's mom, Grandma Eileen, Uncle Brad, Aunt Brenda, Jaden, Mason, Lucas and Kalyn and Uncle Eric, Aunt Rhonda, Sydney and Madison came from Unionville. That makes 23 people if you count us.

Ella got a lot of nice gifts. This picture shows the ball activity center we gave her. She likes it very much as she is already an avid Dora fan and it has Dora on it.

Ella wore her tutu with her onesie that says, "When God Made Me He Was Showing Off." She also was having a bad hair day which included a little Alfalfa sprout. No amount of mommy-spit could tame it!

Big sis really wanted to help with opening up the gifts, but Ella really didn't appear to need much help.

Brent's mom gave Ella a new swing for us to put on the swingset. Gracie and some of the other neighbor kids had worn out the baby swing.

This picture shows Ella loving on her first Precious Moments figurine. Brent's sister has given each of the kids one on their birthdays in honor of Papa. This year they all got one that says "Forever In Our Hearts." Ella promptly kissed/licked it on its head.

Ella wanted to share the balls with everyone who couldn't fit in her new toy.

Just a shot of the whole activity center. It has holes you can push the balls through, a big ball in the center that you can punch and it makes noise and little windows you can peek out.

This little toy generates some static, so Ella had spikey hair when she went in for very long.

Ella peeked out her windows so her adoring fans could take some pictures.

Ella's cake ended up being a gigantic cupcake. My boss's wife had just purchased this adorable cupcake pan and she loaned it to me. It ended up being really cute and I was pleased that I made Ella's first cake. I usually ask Brent's sister to do it, because she has real talent. I just got lucky with a cute cake pan! This picture shows the birthday invitations I made for the party as well.

A better shot of the cupcake. I kind of ran the cupcake theme into the ground by making Ella an oversized cupcake for herself and then a cupcake tree also with different flavors of cupcakes for those that didn't like chocolate cake. Yes, there are some of those people in the world!

The big moment finally arrived. Ella didn't cry when we sang, she just sat there eying that yummy looking cake. The candle was barely blown out when she got her hands into it and started chowing down. There was no stopping her from that point.

My favorite picture of the day! It didn't take long for that sugar high to kick in. Ella got pretty funny after a little cake got in her system.

Did I mention that Ella enjoyed her cake?

The birthday girl had to leave the party and take a bath at this point. It was such a fun day and we appreciate everyone who was able to come. Oh, in case you are wondering, Ella slept all night despite a stomach full of cake. Like I said, she's a great baby.