Kate's Birthday Party....Warning -- It will NOT be on Pinterest....

Within the last week or two, a local friend (whom I ran into at Wal-Mart) asked me about how I was doing Kate's party. I responded with something like, "I bought some cute cupcake napkins/cups/plates at Target. I'm going to make cupcakes, and just family is coming over...that's all." My friend said something about seeing some cute party ideas on Pinterest. I stopped her quickly and said, "Oh No -- I don't do Pinterest." (NOW -- let me give a little caveat. I have absolutely NOTHING against Pinterest. In fact, some of my close friends are on Pinterest. It's just not me. I have enough things filling up my time already). I went on to tell my friend that Kate's party would be the "Un-Pinterest" Party or something like that. She laughed and said I should do a blog post on Kate's "Un-Pinterest" Party. So, here it is....AND, this post will NOT let you down. It is the most "Un-Pinterest" party ever! To be completely and totally honest, I actually didn't want to have a birthday party for Kate. I most certainly did NOT want to ignore her birthday, but I merely wanted to celebrate her life and first birthday with our little family. Then, I thought, we could have our respective parents (Luke's and Kate's grandparents) over at different times to keep gatherings small. Why? It's simple....though Kate frequently appears very happy and smiles quite a bit (which would be true), she is NOT the happiest AT ALL when a bunch of people are over at our house making a fuss over her. She turns into a complete and total Mama's Girl, and she cries if others even remotely try to get close to her. I knew that, if we had a party, she'd probably cry, and ultimately, I'd end up with her in her room while she's playing happily because nobody else is around. Please don't ask me why she has this little quirk in her personality. It's the way God made her, and we love her regardless. BUT, Marc & I ultimately decided to have a party. That picture above this paragragh -- well, that's ultimately the morning of her party. Luke had spent the night with my parents the night before and was not home. She did NOT like the fact that her older brother was gone. She clearly missed him. She cried throughout supper the night before when Luke was gone. She looked in his bedroom that morning -- to find him. SO, in that pic, though there's a little smile, that's how we started our day -- not in the best of moods. Luke came home with my parents for the party....though Kate smiled at Luke and was clearly glad to see him, the party didn't go well. Marc & I took turns spending time with her in her room. At one point in time in her room, I almost broke down and cried. Fortunately, I was able to hold it together enough and not cry. She cried when I put a cupcake on her highchair tray to eat. She took ZERO bites of that cupcake. When it was time to open her presents, she stayed attached to me. SO, Luke and Cousin Maddie opened the gifts. SO, because I had a sweet, but unhappy, girl on my hip for most of the party (discount the times Marc was in her room and the time Marc took her outside to swing to keep her happy), I took ZERO pics of the few decorations I even did have. I have a whopping ZERO pics of our family guests. I didn't even get any pics of Kate crying -- you know, so I can repeatedly show her someday and constantly remind her of her first birthday party -- Ha! So, are you seeing a trend? This party truly turned out to be the "Un-Pinterest" party. Ha! Fortunately, toward the end of the gift-opening, Kate did get a little bit happy -- if Marc or I were around. Honestly, the complete HIGHLIGHT of the party (for me) was when Luke snapped this pic of Kate and me. Luke did such a good job.... NOW, before you assume I am being completely negative -- I realize this is her first birthday party. I realize she's not the first one year-old baby to cry at her party. I realize the whole thing bothered me more than anybody else in this entire world. In all reality, very little with Kate's life has gone as planned as witnessed by her birth a year ago. It's one of those situations, however, that I just wanted to go somewhat smoother. I wanted Kate to rejoice in being ONE as much as I rejoice in her birthday and in her life! I wanted to enjoy the party. Hmmmm.....I'm noticing a trend of "I." Yep -- I seemed to have made it into a lot of "I." Ooppsss.....SO, I will continue to be grateful for Kate's life. I will continue to meditate on an important Bible verse....Jeremiah 29:11 (you know, the verse about God knowing the plans for our lives instead of US). My mom reminded me that this is only her first birthday. "2" will be better! FORTUNATELY, today (Monday), Marc took a belated day off for Kate's birthday -- so we could spend the day with just our little family. Though it was HOT, we did have a good day. I walked with the two kiddos to the park for a play date with friends. Kate was so PRECIOUS when we arrived at the park.... Right before we left for the park, Marc had left to go on a run. He ended his run at the park, and Luke LOVED playing at the park with Marc. Then, Marc walked home with us. We had a nice lunch together after returning home...We all took much-needed naps this afternoon after being at the park in the heat. Then, we went to our local sprinkler park after naps....it was our first time there this year. Kate -- we do love you, and I do know that your party will not be the last time you will baffle me. This is only the beginning! Happy First Birthday Kate!