First Year Photos!

As I mentioned a little while ago, I had purchased a LivingSocial deal for Picture People up in Burlington, MA and we finally had our appointment yesterday!

For $25 we received a half-hour sitting, 5 sheets of 1 pose, and a low-res CD of all the images from the shoot. I had 2 outfits planned -- the infamous blue tutu, headband and pearls, and then something commemorating her first birthday, so I chose a pink onesie with a polka-dotted "1" on the front. I had been going back and forth about whether or not I wanted to involve smashing a cake during the session, but after calling to confirm the appointment on Friday and talking to one of the photographers, I decided getting a cotton candy cupcake at ShotCakes before the shoot was going to be the way to go!

Going in, I knew I wanted the Hi-res CD so that we could use the pictures how we wanted, and I knew it was going to be an additional $75 to upgrade with all the copyrights and everything, so I was OK with that. I also knew that I wanted another black & white picture for our Samma wall, so all that, on top of the LivingSocial deal, and we were going to be all set, but then to top it all off, we were eligible to become members of their Portrait Club for free, AND we were able to get a free sheet of pictures on top of that. Samma for everyone!

The downside to all of this was the appointment delay, , and the waiting because the photo machine ran out of ink and then paper, and the having to go back and forth first to make sure my mother was getting the right print, second to make sure the CD they gave me was in fact Hi-res (even though it said Low-res right on it), and third because they had left out the FREE sheet of pictures I was owed. But the photographer was great and the pictures came out awesome - so awesome, in fact, that the photog asked me to sign a Model Release form so that Sam's picture could be hung up in the studio... so if anyone's going to Picture People in Burlington, MA any time soon, please let me know if you see Samantha's picture!

But without further ado.... PICTURES!

And just in time -- Shutterfly.com currently has a promo code for 50 free prints good for the next few days. I've advised the grandparents to get their orders in, because I know I'm going to be stocking up! =)

Happy Birthday, Samantha!

After all the excited of her birthday party, she finally turned 1 -- we had a leftover Nutella cupcake and we spent the night playing with the new toy Chris and I gave her:

She had played with my friend's daughter's cube before on one of their many playdates, so I know it would be an instant hit. Other than having to take away the magnets because they were being eaten, and the mallets because they were hitting everything other than the xylophone they were supposed to play, I'd say it was a success!

Playing with her new activity cube from Mom & Dad~!

Yum.

Yum.... Nutella cupcakes....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SAMANTHA!!! ♥

Samma had a birthday party!

... and it was epic! But they say you only turn 1 once, and we promised we were going to do it right!

With temps in the mid-60s and mostly sunny, we had the perfect day for hosting about 60 people in our backyard on Saturday. There was music, plenty of food, laughter, cupcakes, presents, and above all I truly believe Sami had a fantastic time!

I won't lie - it was a little chaotic at times, with people coming and going in the middle of cake and presents, so it was hard for me to keep track of everyone and personally greet and/or bid farewell, so again, to all of our family and friends, thank you SO much for making the day so special, and we truly are appreciative for all that you did. And it turns out, things were so busy with Chris cooking and I making sure everything ran as smooth as it could, that we didn't get any pics of the both of us with Sam. Sad =( .... but that's ok! There are PLENTY of pictures that make up for that!

As for me? I was exhausted. That night I happily went to bed by 8pm because I could just feel my body physically wearing down, and it was no one's fault but my own. I was up until midnight the night before, baking cupcakes with my sister and our friend, and then Saturday the only thing I was running on was 2 large coffees after waking up at 6am with the birthday girl. Needless to say, once the clean-up was done this afternoon, I took myself a nice long nap, and it was amazing.

But enough about me -- Time for pictures!

Cupcakes...

... and more cupcakes!

The seat of honor

Presents everywhere!

Our guests

The birthday girl

The grandmothers

The grandfathers

Make a wish...

The first taste of cake....

... it's good!

Obligatory 1st birthday smash cake shot

Presents!

Paper is just as good as presents!

I think this one was her favorite

and... spent!

So what's next? Her actual birthday on Tuesday, where we'll give her the presents from us, and maybe even some more cake, and then come Saturday we'll be going to get her 1-year photos taken, but more on that later. In the meantime, seeing that her 1st birthday is upon us, I really should go back over her baby book and get that up to date, or the next thing I'll know, it'll be her 2nd birthday and I still haven't done it!

New Shoes!

Someone finally got her first pair of shoes last night!~

I don't know if I've mentioned it recently or not (chances are, no) but Sam has been more or less walking... in spurts. She's been cruising around like it's no one's business, and has been flying on her FP walker back and forth across the room. She's also started standing up on her down, and can crouch down and back up again, so she's been working on her balance and leg strength. And within the last week or so she has been taking 5-6 steps out from the couch, stopping, turning around to smile at me, and then proceed on her way! With her birthday coming up this weekend, we decided that it was time -- people were going to want to walk around with her, and if her party is mainly outside I wanted to see her feet protected, so there you have it!

We decided to go to StrideRite for her first pair because personally I think they have the best reputation for children's shoes, my first pair of sneakers were from StrideRite, and I wanted her first pair to be a good pair of sneakers as she's trying to learn to be steady on her feet.

We got Sam measured and she's currently a size 3W -- poor thing has her dad's wide feet! And because she's almost walking, we decided to go with the Step 3 shoe rather than the Step 2 because although the Step 2s were a little more flexible for her, she was going to be growing out of them faster than we would want, and they're only good for the first 5 months of walking, so why not just jump forward to actual walking sneakers and save us the cash? So we went with a size 4 of the Step 3s because that's the smallest they had -- we tried them on her and they fit well, and her toes were where they needed to be, so we went with that.

Speaking of cash, going in, I knew what to expect, and even though I had given Chris the website for his viewing pleasure, he was still stickershocked... but what are you going to do? Sure, there was a 20% off sale going on for select styles, and of course Sam's feet were too small for the cute pairs on sale, and sure, the pair we both fell in love with (see above) was one of the more expensive, not-on-sale sneakers in Step 3s... but the way I look at it, her feet are developing, she needs a decent pair of learning sneakers, and you only get your first pair once!

Granted, I would never spend $50 on a pair of shoes for myself, but this is my daughter -- I'm allowed to spoil her.

But baby feet grow fast -- about half a shoe size every 2-3 month, so she's going to be out of these sooner than she's in them, so I think that's another reason why we bought her the size 4 Step 3s because there IS some growing room still, so we'll be able to get the most for my money.

Next time though? StrideRite Outlet. Or Payless.

But for now? Adorable sneakers. Watching her trying to walk with these news things on her feet is way too cute. She's not a fan yet though, you can tell -- more weight to hold her back, and if the doesn't lift her feet high enough, she does fall... sometimes she'll catch herself, others, like last night, she just loses her balance, and it's sad. =( But she'll get used to them eventually... right now I think her favorite part is undoing the Velcro. CUTE!

11 months down...

... 2 weeks and counting until we hit the big 0-1 and there's so much to do before it gets here.

This past weekend really made me realize exactly how much stuff we have to actually get ready and prepared for her upcoming birthday party, and yeah, it's got me in a little bit of a panic. But have no fear -- I have been known to perform my best under pressure, so rest assured, Samantha's party will be spectacular!

Like just today Chris went out to price banquet tables, and we drew a map of our backyard to figure out the placement of said tables, nd I'm starting to work through the menu and decor, and I'm not going to lie, but Pinterest has been giving me some fantastic ideas. And with 50+ people coming, and this being the largest gathering we'll have had at our house to date, I better make sure I have my shit together.

And yes, I do remember that this is for Samma, and everything I am doing, I'm doing with Sam in mind, but that doesn't mean I can't do it up right, right? Right.

That being said, there's much still to do, which means much still to talk about in the next couple of weeks, so stayed tuned!