Annaliese is One

I had planned to spend this week discussing the effect of social disorder on communist Russia, but I have instead succumbed to the pleas of my ‘fans,’ who screaming loudly through their fingertips, demanded a recounting of Annaliese’s first birthday party.

Signs of a massive fiesta still litter our house. Leftovers fill our refrigerator, odd toy packaging is strewn about the living room and all the chairs have yet to find their original homes. Thus, I sit upon my steadfast friend, Pedro – succor to my need – and tell the tale of this weekend past.

It’s not everyday your little girl turns one. And it’s not every day the Springfield Hofners throw a party. So when we do (or she does), we do our best to go all out. My best count lists 28 friends and family crammed into our little house, perhaps 1-2 short of our record which was set at Mollie’s 30th birthday party. They came from all over, Springfield, Chicago, Iowa, just to partake of the spectacular fare that they knew would be set before them. I hope they were not disappointed by the hand-pattied ‘scramburgers,’ Mollie’s homemade baked beans (a very plain name for a very decadent recipe) and lastly, the laboriously decorated cake!

I have two recipes that I have spent the last few years attempting to improve. Almost a year ago, I recounted my Adventures in Chili-making. The other recipe upon which I hang my chef’s pride is my burger recipe. This year, a few guests were subjected to experimental burgers, ones with apple added to the exceedingly long ingredient list. The reviews were mixed, but at least good enough to necessitate a second study.

Where food was concerned, the cake was the talk of the party. When Annaliese was (let’s say, for humor’s sake) young, the nurses in the NICU gave her a knitted ladybug hat. As year one neared its conclusion, Mollie chose this as the inspiration for Anna’s birthday decorations. The cake was a grass-green sheet with a large red and black ladybug . . . words do not seem to do it justice. If you promise not to skip reading the rest of the blog, I’ll promise to include a picture at the end.

I’m having a very difficult time deciding which parts of the party really need description and how to express them. It seems, at this moment, that much of what I have to say is best reserved for pictures. What better way to show the smile that appeared on Anna’s face when she opened a furry monkey, or how the monkey held her affection until she was presented with a baby doll tiny enough for her to hold.

So I will spend the rest of my allotted ‘blog time’ giving my fingertips a rest. Instead, I will devote my brainpower to finding and sharing a few pictures (and perhaps a video!??!) to effectively and efficiently share my daughter’s first birthday with the world.

(An exceedingly bright flash fills your room.)

I hope you enjoyed that time traveling adventure, for what seemed to you as just a short glance between two paragraphs, was in fact a three hour jump into the future. In this new time and space, the pictures and videos have been posted. If you continue down the page, you shall find them patiently awaiting.

And I patiently await the return of my family. In a house so recently filled to bursting, I now sit alone, its sole human occupant. Yes, I have Samwise and Pedro to keep me company, but the giggles and cries of my last homebound daughter are now mingled with the sounds of other children at her new daycare. So while I anticipate news of possible future employment, I am left to fill my silent house with the incessant pecking of fingers upon keys. So long as it keeps me company, so long as it keeps you entertained, I shall persist.

And now, on with the show!