Birthday Celebration

The night before Hayden's big day Paul and I set up the gift she received from her Papa Steve and Grandma Anne. She opened up a lot of her presents while in Cheyenne from my mom and dad and my sister Michelle and Jared and friends. So we wanted to save some gifts to make the day special for her. This picture is a big deal. Paul and I used to talk about how fun it would be to put together toys the night before important events before we were even married! We have finally arrived! It was fun and exciting. In fact when Paul got up to get ready for work I had a hard time falling asleep again because I was so excited about her birthday.

We also set this all out the night before. Our friends the Cahoons always decorate a lot for birthdays, it is so special to their boys (and now girl) so I wanted to have the house decorated for when she woke up.

Here is Hayden the morning of her birthday checking out her new toy. She approached it very tentatively and just looked at everything before jumping right in. Smart girl!

After her morning nap we went to the Children's Museum of Indianapolis which is only about 15 miles from our house. We spent most of our time in the playscape area. Hayden loved the sand.

It took me forever to get these yellow things out of her hands, she REALLY liked these. Climbing through the tube.

Harvesting (that one's for you Michelle) carrots, potatoes, and other foods.

Playing in the heavily chlorinated water. She was not quite tall enough to really reach in so I sat her on my knee.

This was the only picture I managed to get of the 2 of us, not a very good one, sorry!

When we got back dad was home from work and so we ate dinner and started opening the presents from us! We got her a lot of Melissa and Doug toys, we love their stuff.

Playing with her puzzle, really likes pulling them out, just not putting them back yet!

Playing with her blocks

Cupcake time! Since I did a big cake for her pre-birthday and because it was just the 3 of us I decided on cupcakes. I tried Red Velvet Cupcakes and they were, "good, not great."

Hayden did not go quite as crazy as last time, again she approached it very tentatively, but she still had fun making a mess of her cupcake. She definitely loved the frosting.

After she had a much needed bath! Happy Birthday Hayden, we sure love you.

Overall it was a great day. Hayden seemed quiet, but I think she was just taking it all in. It was nice to spend the whole day with her. For her party I felt like I was preparing food and decorations all day instead of spending time with her. Her real birthday was all about her!

Sorry for all the videos, wanted to make sure family got to see. This is Hayden way more fascinated by a thin strip of paper than her actual toy.



Hayden's first real sign of excitement over a present



Eating Birthday Cupcakes!