Adventures in Hubbardland: Sam's First First Birthday Party

My last day at work in Chattanooga was on the 7th. I was sad to leave all the friends that I had made there - the Chattanooga courthouse is a wonderful place to work. There are so many really great people there who were awesome to me during the pregnancy, Kirk's almost redeployment, and everything over the last 2 years. I miss them already!

We stayed in Chattanooga (while my parents had Sam down in Atlanta) the night of the 7th and went out to dinner with our friends. We were supposed to have a big night out (baby-free) but Kirk worked so hard cleaning out the house that he wasn't up for much that night. We did make it to dinner at one of our favorite restaurants and had a few drinks at Rhys's house afterwards. Thanks to Rhys for letting us crash with her as all of our stuff is in transit to Maine!

On the 8th, Kirk and I got up and joined Sam and the rest of the family at Christy's house in Atlanta. My dad had driven up from Florida and my mom had flown down from Kansas City so we could all celebrate Sam's first birthday together. On Sunday, the family threw Sam her first first birthday party (2 others are planned). Here are some great pictures from the event:

Kirk and dad playing with her new puzzle. Sam didn't really get it but she liked chewing on the pieces!

The new books were her favorite by far. Once she opened the Yo Gabba Gabba book from Grandma Hughes, she didn't care what else was going on around her. You can tell she's pissed that I even dared to take her picture while she was reading!

Those of you who know my mom well will understand how funny (and typical) it is that she gave a 1 year old a present in an "Over the Hill" bag. Apparently, 1 is the new 40 :)

We missed Aunt Kimmie at the party but she was nice enough to stay back in KC with my mom's 2 ancient dogs (they're something like 17 and 18). She sent presents for Sam - including her first KU football jersey!

Christy's friend Brad got Sam her first sporting accessory - a Dora baseball glove. So cute!

I think this video is pretty typical of any 1 year old birthday party. Sam liked opening the first few presents but couldn't care less towards the end. You'll see in this video that Sam is blissfully reading her book while we're opening her presents in the background.

After presents, it was time for cake! We tried to put this cute hat on Sam but she wasn't having any part of it!

Here's the video of our girl's first birthday cake! She was a little hesitant at first (we try to avoid giving her much sugar so she had never really had anything like it before) but she dug right in afterwards. The only problem was her hands kept getting all gummed up with too much icing!

The damage wasn't too bad. Nothing a quick bath can't handle.