a HAPPY birthday

I think it's safe to say Willa had a great first birthday.  And Matt and I enjoyed ourselves also.

It started out with pink balloons and lots of attention from mom and dad. 

Then a visit from the ducks and geese in our backyard.  (The lake froze during that cold spell, but it has thawed and the ducks and geese are loving it...diving and quacking and honking a bunch.)

(Matt's grin is a bit cheesy in this one, but I love Willa's face...pure excitement)

Next, we were off to the zoo.  It's been super cold in Memphis but it warmed up nicely for Willa's big day.  It was in the 60's and sunny.  Willa LOVES animals.  The zoo is one of her favorite places.  She squeals and points the whole time we're there.

The plan was to head home for lunch and naps after the zoo, but Willa fell asleep in the car (before we were even out of the parking lot) so naps were out of the question.  Instead, I pushed her on her swing and then she helped me (as much as a 1-year-old can) make her cake.

Presents followed.  Her big gift was a miniature shopping cart and little baskets of plastic fruits and vegetables.  She adores it.  She spent a good hour pushing the shopping cart from one end of the house to the other.  And I just have to add (because I love a good deal), I found the cart for $3.50 at a consignment store and the baskets of fruits and veggies were $1 at the dollar spot at Target.  Big spender, I know! Gotta love it!

We ended our evening with candles, singing, cake and dinner (in that order).  As you can see in the video, Willa didn't eat very much cake.  She just stuck her fingers in it, licked her fingers a little, and threw pieces on the floor.  We weren't surprised.  She seems to prefer salty food (cheese, bread, crackers, etc.) over sweet food. 

She was so hyper and happy during dinner.  She was jabbering away and smiling and laughing.  We love our sweet, little ONE YEAR OLD.  Thank you to everyone that remembered our little one's big day!  What a perfect day!