Afton's First Birthday Party

Afton's First Birthday Party was perfect. Small, simple and all about Afton! We just did a small party with our family and a few close friends. I made some decor, because what is a party without decorations

 My first Happy Birthday banner...

 We kept it simple with cupcakes and I had so much fun making them!

 Instead of making Afton her own cake I just decided to write her name on a few cupcakes and give her the "A" cupcake to eat.

 The birthday girl. Happy to be the center of attention as usual!

 Cody, Ariana and Grandma Budge enjoying the festivities.

 Grammy and Papa Bringhurst and Noni and Papa Terry.

 Afton is one lucky girl to have three sets of grandparents that adore her. And Great Aunts to boot!

 Getting ready to consume some birthday sugar... Can you tell she's excited?

 She wasn't quite sure about the candle however. This face kills me! "Mom, what's going on?"

 But don't worry, once the candle was gone, she thoroughly enjoyed her cupcake.

 

And she did have fun opening presents, although not as enthusiastic as I expected.

 We were so lucky to have all our family around us for Afton's first birthday. She really is blessed to have so many people that love her!

Favorite Baby Sitter

It's terribly unnerving, leaving your child with a babysitter for the first time. Luckily, we had a great one. Katie, Chad's younger sister was pretty much our go to babysitter for the first year of Afton's life. In fact, until we moved to Santa Rosa, we never had to leave Afton with anyone but family and that was mostly thanks to Katie. 

Sometimes it felt as if Afton liked her better. I know, I know, that's crazy. But Katie could often get Afton down for naps much easier and with much less crying than I could. Just call her a regular Mary Poppins. I just hope she wasn't giving her spoon fulls of sugar to get her to sleep!

  

 

 I hate to say Afton has a favorite Aunt or Uncle, but simply due to the amount of time they spent together, Katie would win favorite.

 I honestly never had to worry about Afton being unhappy while Chad or I was away, when she was with Katie. I always had a peaceful feeling and just knew she was in good hands. Now that we don't live by our families anymore we definitely miss all our wonderful baby sitters, but most especially Katie.

So thanks Aunt Katie for being a wonderful Aunt and a wonderful sitter while we were away!