Jillian's Neopolitan Bakery First Birthday Party

We are officially one! I must say that Jillian seems to have gotten a little easier since this turning point. Whether it is in my imagination or not, one thing is for sure: naptime/bedtime has gotten SOOO MUCH EASIER!! She no longer cries herself to sleep. It's really weird. We go into her room, I get her in her jammies, we turn off the lamp, we turn on the white noise machine, we snuggle in the chair under the blanket and she just rests her sweet head on my shoulder and gets all sleepy. I can put her down groggy and leave the room and she doesn't make a peep! AND.....she's been sleeping all night! Without having to nurse 8 hours later!! BIG TIME, folks!

I like to think that this turn of events is due to her extreme pleasure with her first birthday party. I imagine that she was so pleased with how every last detail came out that she decided to turn down the drama a bit and let mommy have a long-needed break.

We had 7 different Italian pastries, 4 of which I hand made (with a little help from the Italian grandma's); pizzelle, struffoli, cannoli and neopolitan cookies. I found sfogliatella at a local Italian market and found arancini in the freezer section! The cake was three layers; strawberry, vanilla and chocolate!

Here's some photos of the girly goodness that went down at her party last week:

The view as you walk in...

The sweets table...

The ice cream cake that I wanted to make. I HEART how it came out!!!!

The birthday girl with her Gammy...

The best photo I have of the inside of the cake!!!! What was I thinking??? Spent all that time making it three flavors and then didn't even get a good shot of the inside???? Rookie mistake!!

The favor table...to-go boxes filled with Italian pastries. YUM!!

I am so happy with how it turned out. We had friends and family join us to celebrate this milestone and little Jillian just waved and smiled as if she knew the fuss was all about her!! I think this is a hint at her personality...

Tune in next week for another round of camp!!! Should be a great one!!!

Closing in on one year

Jilly-bean is just 6 days away from turning ONE! I can honestly say this has been one of the longest years of my life.
I love how people always say, "Wow! A year already??" I laugh and play along but truthfully I am thinking, "Thank GOD! Now it should start getting easier.....right???"

Here are some of the things that I have come to love (and love to loathe) about our little girl over the last 12 months:

**She loves to bump up and down to music. That is how she dances! If being held, she looks like a marionnete puppet with legs kicking wildly.
**She cries herself to sleep many days. No amount of rocking, stroking or singing will help with that. Period.
**I have finally found a calming spot for her: behind her ear! When I stroke her there she will stop, at least temporarily.
**She prefers to stand nowadays.
**When she smiles a truly happy smile, her nose crinkles and it is melt your heart adorable!!!
**When she cries a truly angry attention getting cry, it pierces your eardrum and gets all the dogs in the hood barking. (well, maybe that is an exaggeration)
**Her style leans away from the girly fru-fru and more toward a boho hippie. Think long, flowy dresses and tye dye. Groovy, man.
**She uses her new teeth for protection. She bites her brother and my shoulder and also will poke you in the eye if you annoy her.
**She has fallen in love with baby dolls and likes to poke them in the eye, too.
**She saves her best smiles for her bruh-bruh.
**She likes to wave at the birds out of our kitchen window.
**When she is excited her legs and arms kick and splay like she has lost all muscle control!
**Her favorite game (and his, I suspect) is "Catch the brother".
**She dislikes any solid food thicker than the consistency of applesauce and will reject anything you try to give her after that.
**She still wakes at least once during the night to nurse.
**Her favorite word thus far is "Ma-ma-ma-ma".
**She has the most beautiful eyes. Like a little deer.
**She absolutely LOVES to look at photos of herself. They crack her up. I was a little afraid that she had a vain streak until I tested her with a baby faces book and got the same reaction. Apparantly she just likes baby faces!!

This year for her birthday party we are doing a Neopolitan Bakery theme. I'll post pics, of course, but I'm really hoping all the fuss will turn into a fun party. Afterall, it is just for a one year old who will have NO recollection of any of it!