it was the birthday that never ended. but finally did.

we did a lot of celebrating in honor of marianne turning "1"! the fun just went on and on.

the weekend before : grandpa and grandma visited.

we took marianne to the park for her maiden voyage in her wagon.

while we were waiting for the swing (marianne's favorite) to come available, i gave marianne a ride on the motorcycle...

...and a busted lip. oops.

we did some birthday shopping. thank you, grandma and grandpa, for the fabulous outfits.

bye, bye. i'm gonna miss you.

the weekend of : papa and nana visited.

it snowed...just like last march when nana was here.

marianne's school had a birthday party for her.

marianne with felix and kian, her marem (man-harem).

let them eat cake.

we opened all of marianne's birthday deliveries from the entire week.

nana and papa got marianne her very own swing...now daddy just needs to hang it from our tree in the yard.

p'nut (from aunt kimmie) gets some love.

smashing outfit (and elmo card) from uncle jeff, aunt holly, peyton and cohen.

on mine and my dad's birthday we did some denver site-seeing at lookout mountain, lariat loop scenic byway and red rocks amphitheatre.

that evening, mom and i had some girl time at a painting class. SO MUCH FUN!!!

it was lots of fun. see you on ichat, nana and papa.

the week after : more gifts and a play-date party

birthday delivery from aunt julie, uncle eric, cadence and jack. the packing material is a gift in itself.

we had a small birthday party for marianne with a few of her friends. i probably had as much fun as marianne (or more). i handmade the decorations and party hats. i have to say, it was darling. apparently marianne thought so too. she's been "asking" to wear her party hat every day since the party and i can't help myself but to oblige the request!

opening my gift from tiffy - another precious hand-knit hat from shan, tiffy's mom, and a lovely pink eyelet dress for the summer.

sharing her boppy with ryan. at a whopping 3 months older, marianne is practically a cougar to this younger man. marianne digs all of his blonde locks.

birthday cupcake - sans chocolate frosting - add some bananas and strawberries. yum yum.

a group shot. and in true baby-fashion, you can see that it went over SO well! madeline, ryan, marianne, desmond

desmond and marianne opening one of her gifts: a framed snapshot of a loving moment between marianne and desmond at his first birthday party. DES LOVES MARIANNE (see previous post from february 2010).

marianne's three-week-long first birthday was absolutely special and memorable. we appreciate everyone who was a part of it and we feel so blessed that you made the effort - great or small - to be with us to celebrate. you mean so very much to us and we treasure having you in marianne's life.

if nothing else, in the last year, i've learned how miraculous and precious life is. i am trying to savor every moment that i have with marianne. there have been trying ones and i know many more like them to follow but the moments when she amazes me, makes me laugh, giggles at my antics, takes my breath away, smiles at me, reaches for me, hugs me, learns something new, says something new, plays in the kitchen cabinets, gets caught with one foot in the dog bowl, snuggles in bed with us, gleams and squeals with delight when i take her outside, quacks like a duck, says dada 10x more often than mama (which makes the "mama" ones that much sweeter), claps for herself, claps for me, splashes me at bathtime, eats what i make her for dinner, charms a stranger with her smile, loses me in her big brown eyes, holds my hand...(i could go on and on) are far too tremendous to give a poo about the tough ones.

our very first photo of marianne

and one at a few weeks old

i love you, baby girl. you make me proud.