Birthday Girl!

Birthday party pictures! Above, my aunt Camille holds Iris, with my mom and brother in the background. Below, we were entertained by trying to capture a photo of Iris with the "birthday princess" hat on, which she loved to take off as soon as it touched her head :)

Below, Iris approves of her all-organic strawberry cream cheese icing (strawberries from the family farm). "Mmmmm!" she says.

Those eyes!

Camille pointed this out: look at her feet. She was curling them up in sheer enjoyment!

And just so you all know how manic I truly am: I cleaned the porch (which was a truly disgusting job, involving much chicken poo and steel wool), Brad killed and dressed the chicken (in the oven as I type), Brad finished painting the kitchen cabinets, and I straightened the house before the party. I enjoyed myself and now I'm rilly enjoying the house. I just sit and stare and absorb the finally finished state of the cabinets... ahhhh.

This time last year my contractions had gotten serious and I was laboring in the newly installed tub, waiting for the midwife to arrive. What a beautiful birth, and what a beautiful baby girl. I am filled with gratitude.

Mom Held Hostage by Birthday Plans

I do this to myself. This is my choice. I do this to myself. This is my choice. I do this to myself. This is my choice...

Saturday Iris will be one whole year old! (Do you hear the same whooshing sound I do??) Tomorrow is her party, and I have been cracking the whip on myself and Brad all week. I started last Sunday and it still won't be enough time to finish all I want to finish, but it has been a good week so far nonetheless. I love to use hosting as an excuse to fix things up. When I'm really on my game I do a great job and then get to enjoy it after the guests go home (and, I do enjoy throwing a good party, too). So far this week we have:

cleaned out the junk room completely
cleaned the office
caught up on six months' worth of filing
cleaned the bathroom
washed, dried, and put away four loads of laundry
cleaned the bedroom
painted the remainder of the upper cabinets in the kitchen
started painting the lower cabinets
bought a new mower
mowed the grass
cleaned up the entire yard (trash, empty buckets, compost, gardening implements...)
kept up with ordinary house and garden maintenance
cleaned up after the puppy (grr)
took recycling and donations, went to the bank and grocery store

and Galen even had a playdate! Now we just have to kill one chicken, clean off the front porch, finish painting the lower cabinets in the kitchen, make the cupcakes and the icing, clean the kitchen, mop, and straighten, and we'll be ready enough for tomorrow. HA!