August Birthday Festivities

We had dinner and Midnight Delight ice cream cake from Coldstone for my birthday with the sibs yesterday! Our church time went from 8:30am (horrible) to noon (better, but way harder for the babies), and adjusting to that for the first time yesterday was super weird. I didn't even get to sleep in because Tenley got up at 8am like usual. So after making scrambled eggs and dressing for church, we pretty much just waited until 11:50 and then walked to church. I taught Relief Society first hour and then was exhausted the rest of the time from chasing Tenley around the halls and up and down the stairs (she figured out how to climb up and down from things recently). I should be going to bed at like 9:30pm so I'm not so exhausted. Naturally though, that was impossible yesterday with a paper to write. As a result, I was up until 1:30am. Horrible idea. I knew it would be but we were so busy this weekend I had no time!

I am really happy and excited to celebrate Tenley's first birthday tomorrow! It's going to be a great day and we have a surprise that I will hopefully share later in the week! ;-) Today after my classes/first final, we brought Dalin to work for the night (Monday nights...they're pretty lame over here :[ ) then Tenley and I went to Babies 'R Us and Toys 'R Us for like the first time in a long time. I never went there to get stuff for Tenley before/after I had her but they have some pretty great stuff at both places. We spent two hours in the two stores combined. Mostly at Toys 'R Us as I tried to find gifts for Tenley's bday that she would love. It was hard. I haven't been a one-year old for a while...and Tenley seems to be a little different from the norm. I put a bunch of toys in the cart with her to see what she played with while we were in the store but that turned out to be less productive than I was hoping. She was mostly just interested in the things around her and the book I put in there. I guess it's good that she loves to read though.

Note: The above part was written yesterday, Monday, which is why the timing doesn't match up. The next part is from today, Tuesday, Tenley's birthday!

This has been an exciting day! It was Tenley's first birthday and we were determined to make it a great day. When she started crying this morning I went in and got her (instead of making her wait it out until 8am like usual--we didn't want her sad on her birthday!) and brought her into bed with me for cuddles and a little extra rest.

When we got up and got dressed, I gave her a bottle of almond milk (which she loves...) and then we went to Einstein Bagels to get some bagels for her, Daddy, and Mommy. We picked Daddy up from work and went over to Auntie Shaina's house to pick up her and Brooklyn. Tenley opened her first present in the car (it was the baby doll from Nana Searle). Then we went to the South Towne Mall in Sandy where the Fetal Photo Studio is! I'll write the details of that in the next post.

After that, we drove to the aquarium to use our free passes from the last time we visited a few months ago. We spent like $4 on snacks and drinks total there so that was pretty great. Tenley loved pointing at the fish and sharks and other sea creatures that she saw. She was definitely most entertained by the water animals. Shaina and I liked petting the stingrays and little sharks they had. We also really liked looking at the brightly colored little tree frogs in the rainforest section. They had some that were the length of a penny and were so cute! After the aquarium, we grabbed some lunch (Taco Bell for Shaina and Dalin, Arctic Circle for Tenley and me), and then we headed home to rest for a few hours and have Tenley open some presents before going to dinner.

Tenley loved the baby legos and play food. She also loves the baby doll, mostly so she can poke it's eyes (which close when the doll is laid down), and give it slobbery kisses. We also gave her a mother rubber duck with three tiny rubber ducklings.

We had dinner with Tenley's great grandparents from Arizona, her aunt and uncle, and some cousins at Marley's at the Riverwoods. The sliders there are delicious. I got a turkey-cranberry-avocado one and it was amazing. We took some pictures with the group and Tenley got a sweet pink Minnie Mouse doll and matching dinner plate from Gramma and Grandpa Gunnell. We love them!

Afterward, we headed back to our apartment for Tenley's birthday cake and to sing to her as a group, though I had sung to her several times throughout the day already to help her realize it was an extra special day. (Side note: we saw two baby dear on a little grass hill in Wymount on the way home...they were really cute;) I made Tenley a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting hoping it would be a little bit healthier for her. I had meant to decorate it with cute carrots and even a bunny but time got away from me. We had two cakes--a rectangle one for everyone to share and one in a tiny heart dish for Tenley to devour. She LOVED it! It made me so happy! She ate more than half of it and made a huge mess that I didn't even mind that much because it was her birthday (and the pictures GG took made them worth it:).

We decided to bathe her on the porch after, so we stripped her cake-covered clothes off and stuck her out in the tub in her birthday suit (conveniently because of the day;). The bath ended up being really fun for Tenley and for us because it was pouring outside so we got to enjoy the rain while Tenley took a warm bath in her little baby tub and played (for quite a long time!) with her little rubber ducklings in the water! She really, really liked them! And she was so clean and snuggly after that we put her in pajamas for the first time in many weeks since summer began basically then let her hang out with us for a while before bed (she usually doesn't need pjs but the nights are finally getting cooler!). She played with her toys (like really played! It was so fun because she was way more interested in her birthday toys than she's ever been in her old ones) for a while before bed and then we kissed her and told her we loved her and she went right to sleep.

That girl is such an angel. I cannot believe she has been in my life for only a year. She is one of the best things that has ever happened to me personally as well as to Dalin's and my marriage and family. She is the happiest, sweetest, (sneakiest;), and smartest little one year old I know and I'm incredibly happy that she is ours forever.

I am thankful daily--repeatedly--for the blessing it is to be her mom. She is truly fulfilling the joy of motherhood that my Patriarchal blessing mentions. I am sure that when her little sibling arrives, she will prove an even greater blessing than I could have imagined. Dalin and I sure think she's great and are so grateful she is the first in our family.

We love you, Tenley! More than you can possibly know!

Loving our little girl,