Westley's first birthday party

Westley's first birthday party, on Saturday, May 21, 2011, was a glorious affair. There more grownups than kiddos, so I tailored the party to cater to both age groups. Taking a cue from the Classic Pooh that had been a theme throughout Westley's infancy and first year, family and friends joined us for a backyard honeybee-themed bash.

I was blessed and very thankful to have the party planning help and skills that morning of family, including Auntie M, who drove up from Stillwater, and Uncle E, who drove down from Lawrence.

I was quite proud of the spread, which included fruit and granola parfaits, fresh fruits and a variety of cakes. I whipped Kansas honey into several recipes, including the homemade cream topping. There was honey-infused cream for iced coffee, vanilla honey iced tea and a variety of honey-themed beers. (See? This was a baby party anyone would want to attend!)

The real treats, pictured from left in the above photo: assorted baby snacks (including Gerber Puffs, among Westley's Favorite Things Ever), a honey cake (baked my moi from scratch using a mold I bought online just for this occassion), Westley's banana cream-filled vanilla cake (again, baked my moi from scratch), honey sticks and chocolates from Wichita chocolatiers Cero's and Cocoa Dolce (honey truffles).

I was tickled to find sugar honeybees and the perfect yellow striped candle at a local cake supply store.

Brian and Eric decorated our backyard with pretty paper lanterns. It gave the space a festive and magical feel.

I had so much fun planning and decorating:

The gift station, before guests arrived.

The centerpieces on the picnic tables out back. (We begged and borrowed from both sets of grandparents for the shindig.)

The birthday boy, having a blast in his swing with Papa Dan before the guests arrived.

Present time!

Cake time!

My sweet one year old. Until this day, I never fully appreciate the saying, "The days are long but the years are short." Or "My cup runneth over." Happy birthday, little one.

Westley's first birthday

Westley James turned one on a May 18, 2011, a chilly Wednesday. Brian and I took the day off work and kept our birthday boy home from daycare. We had brunch at Panera (where West, per usual, was more interested in running around and playing than eating) and then went to interact with the animals at Tanganyika Wildlife Park in nearby Goddard. It was the first time any of us had visited.

Our Baby B. wore a Classic Winnie-the-Pooh sweatshirt, a very fitting choice, I thought. He also sported a birthday T-shirt, which didn't show under several layers of clothing. So he wore his birthday bib over the whole lot so everyone knew about his special day.

We fed giraffes,

had lunch and fed lorikeets ...

... who did our hair (kind of).

I loved seeing a joey in a kangaroo pouch in person for the first time. It made me reflect on my first year of motherhood toting around my own little wiggle worm. The day had me full of gratitude and overwhelmed at what a joy life has been with our little gift.

We fed goats ...

... and saw a little adventurous one born earlier that day. (What a fantastic day to be born!)

The bunnies were hungry, too. Westley just wanted to play in the sand and was unhappy when we left that exhibit.

Brian was able to coax one of the meercats away from his snuggly resting spot with a Craisin.

There were lots of other animals to see, but Wesley was content pushing his stroller around and letting us carry him from one critter to another.

We went home with cold hands and warm hearts. It was Westley's birthday, but I celebrated the year anniversary of when my dreams came true.

Swaying with my sweetie

Fewer things make a better combination than a baby, a quilt and a hammock. (Well, there is chocolate and peanut butter ... )

This is the Classic Pooh quilt I made for Westley before he was born. It goes so well in his Pooh-themed nursery, and we've already spent so many hours snuggled up with it and playing on it. Here are Brian's beautiful photos from a recent chilly fall afternoon:


Speaking of Classic Pooh, the Pooh bear suit we bought at Target for Westley last winter when I was pregnant ended up being a great purchase. It's so warm, and he doesn't mind wearing it at all. Stinkin' cute!


Hi, Daddy!


See the wonderful bee detail on the quilting? Mom and I picked out that design, and a local professional quilter did a beautiful job with it for my Baby B.

P.S. Look at those eyes! OMG. I'm so in trouble when the disciplining phase starts ...

P.P.S. Look how big he already is compared to when we were snuggling in the hammock this summer!

Bringing home a baby bumblebee

We continued our Halloween celebrations by bringing Westley to The Eagle's newsroom trick-or-treat last week. It was his first time to wear his baby bee costume. Cute as it was, it held a lot of significance, too. Brian and I called him Baby B. through my pregnancy. (Remember all of those months of blog posts labeled Baby B.?) One of his favorite baby toys right now, by the way, is a baby bee book.


The costume has a fun back story. I found it online for a ridiculous price of $40. But then I got excited when I found it half-price on eBay. After waiting two weeks for it to arrive and worrying about whether it would be here in time for Halloween, it finally arrived. But I was hot. It was listed as in perfect condition, but it had a busted zipper. Thanks to my Mama for saving the day. The night before The Eagle event, she whipped together some Velcro tabs with materials and supplies she had on hand. What a Queen Bee!


Look at these beautiful photos Brian took of our little honey bee. I mean, stop the presses. This kid is adorable.

Happy birthday, Westley James!

It was foggy the morning our son was born, so even the weather seemed to say that this day was going to be different. And it was. It was the best day of my life. I imagine someday when my son or anyone asks about that day, my story will go a little something like this:

I checked into the hospital to be induced during the 7 a.m. hour. My admission wasn't dramatic with contractions, water breaking, Lamaze breathing or a speeding wheelchair ride. Brian and I held hands and grinned, ready to begin the process that would lead us to the long-awaited introduction to our son or daughter.

We had planned ahead and packed a few movies, a good move. The morning was rather uneventful as we waited for the pitocin to force my body to have contractions. We watched "Princess Bride" because one of the characters had the same name as the one we had chosen should we have a son. At noon, things were progressing too slowly. So a doctor broke my water for me. This baby was in no hurry to make his grand debut.

After a long afternoon of resting, visits from family members and observing increasing pain and the frequency and intensity of contractions, I started the real work of having a baby around 8:30 p.m.

One story that we love to tell: In the midst of pushing, my doctor scolded Brian. Apparently his "C'mon babe! You can do it!" prompts were becoming too loud and energetic for our doc. Our labor and delivery nurse even asked Brian if he had been in organized sports, based on his coaching phrases. "She's got to be able to hear me," our doc told my hubby. (Brian won my heart all over again for his commitment to being The Best Labor Coach Ever.) We were an amazing team.

Two hours later, at 10:38 p.m., our son entered the world. I'll never forget the sound of Brian's voice as he gushed, "Oh my God, babe, we have a son!" We had picked out the name Westley James in October 2009, but it still sounded so new on my lips as we greeted him. His entrance had been a little scary: His umbilical cord was wrapped around his neck and shoulders. A NICU unit was on site to assist, and little Westley didn't cry loudly when he was first born. It was a frightening few minutes. As the experts were helping our little 8-pound-6-ounce, 21-inch-long miracle, my temperature was spiking and my body was in shock. But with God's love and grace, both baby and mommy proved to be just fine.

Brian and I spent some quiet time together with our son before inviting our parents and his brother to meet Westley. We were exhausted and happy beyond words. A few of the photos we snapped that night and into the early morning:



The proud daddy with our little boy

Mom and Westley

My parents, Westley and me

My brother-in-law Eric and Westley

My parents-in-law, John and Janice, and Westley

My first mommy post

I am a mommy!

The statement brings tears to my eyes. I still can't believe it. The last two months have been the most magical, bewildering --and, yes, exhausting -- of my life as I've made the transition to motherhood. Today is my last full-time day of maternity leave, and I've found myself appropriately introspective about how my life has changed in the last eight weeks.

I'm pleased with the decisions I've made to push aside many of my daily trappings (this blog included) to relish the time I've had getting to know my new son. Many times I chose to simply sit and hold him, feel his soft skin, listen to his quiet breathing, rather than check e-mail, dust the living room, etc. And I'm so glad I did. It's time I'll never have again. But now I feel compelled to document the experience before it's too far in the past. My next few posts will do just that.

Thank you to everyone who has loved and supported Brian and me in this new chapter. We've been touched and humbled by the phone calls, visits, gifts, meals and more from family and friends to help us celebrate and adapt to our new life.

May 18th doesn't seem that long ago. That morning, we loaded up the truck with our "go bags" and headed to the hospital. On the way, we sang along to the Black Eyed Peas ("I gotta feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night") and knew our lives would be forever changed that day.

My final baby bump photo, and our last self-portrait before our son was born: