Happy 1st BDay Abi Jean!

My Mom called yesterday and said, "You need to update your blog. It's been since December 18." I find this very funny because I talk with my Mom atleast 3 times a day! So, she's in the loop! I might attempt to go back and recap the holidays (lots of sickness, but lots of fun too!), but today we celebrated Abi Jean's first birthday (which was yesterday!)! Here's the low down...

I wanted to do a butterfly theme because it's happy and a fresh change from all the holiday red and green. I racked up at the Dollar Tree! Seriously! Who knew? I also borrowed my cousin's book, Hello, Cupcake! It has fantastic ideas with step-by-step instructions. I've got my eye out to find one at a steal. My parents kept the kiddos on Friday, so Chris and I got busy cleaning the house and making candy butterflies! I'm very thankful to have a husband that's not too macho to help me in the kitchen. He loves to decorate, or learn/observe about it. He did compare the process to caulking! Cracks me up!

{SIDE NOTE: Our cousin Bonnie made this barrett for Abi! I love it! If you'd like one for your little one, let me know!}

This morning I ran 5.3 miles (well, 5.65 with the cool down)! Go me! This is, after I frosted a zillion cupcakes, set the table, pulled items out of the garage, put items in the garage, etc. Oh, and a side note, I made a goal to NOT lick any icing off of my fingers. It may sound crazy, but it keeps the caloric and sugar intake down...which means I don't have to run it off! A small, yet important victory!

So...here's where it goes crazy. My parents are having some issues with their home (and they had the kids), so my Mom calls at 12:45 saying she hasn't been able to make it to WalMart to get the stuff she was going to make. I couldn't go, well, because I'd just ran 5.3 miles and need a shower STAT! So, Chris went. Which left me to finish up the house stuff. When I went to get the punch (that I made 3 days ago) out of the freezer in our garage...um, well, it wasn't frozen! Trying not to panic, I cleared out my freezer in the fridge, hoping a few hours in it would do the trick. {This reminds me that I need to go put those items BACK in the freezer!} Chris and my Mom (and kids) arrived at the same time, 2:36pm (I remember looking at the clock). Mom got busy making spiced cider...oh, to find she brought the wrong cord. Scratch that. Then, WalMart didn't have pinwheels, so Chris picked up pizza rolls. I whipped up a spinach dip {which made me wonder why I didn't get a regular sized food processer}, then, at almost time to begin I went for the punch.

Mind you, all the guests are here at this point. So, I pour the semi-frozen punch out of the plastic bowl and into the punch bowl. Hmmm. It was like strawberry jello. Seriously. I guess because it didn't freeze it just congealed. Gross, it looked like someone cut an artery in my sink. I thought, "Well, I have 2 liters of 7Up and we can have pink lemonade, water, and coffee." My cousin Bonnie came and took a look at the situation. We both agreed it was not servable. Such a waste. But, she coached me to use a 7Up, a can of pineapple juice (thankfully Chris got an extra one at the store!), and pink lemonade. Ta da! It worked! Whew! That was a close one!

Anyhow, everyone appeared to have a great time. Abi Jean sure did! She's in the midst of teething and her sweet cheeks were as red as could be! But, she didn't let that bother her! She chowed down on her cupcake like a pro! Like mother, like daughter!

Abi Jean was blessed with some great presents! She is loved dearly by so many! We appreciate our family and friends that have been a part of Abi Jean's life this past year. She is a true joy!