Lexi Lou is One!

Name: Alexia, Lexi, Lexi Lou, Lulu, Lex, Dolly, Sweet Pea

Age: One!

Favorite Songs: Popcorn Popping, I Love You a Bushel and a Peck, Itsy Bitsy Spider, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes. Basically anything with actions because it's fun to watch. :) She has yet to join in and sing, but she loves music and waves her arm around wildy during the hymns at church!

Favorite Animal: Monkey- she says "ooo ooo ahh ahh!". And Dogs- she LOVES them! She gets so excited when she sees animals in person, and always wants to pet them and get close.

Favorite Food: Bananas, avocado, milk (she's been on formula for the first year of her life, and just switched to whole milk this week! Big girl!), Cheerios, and pretty much anything we give her! She loves pretty much any baby food, applesauce, jello, oatmeal and rice cereal, crackers, bread, mac and cheese, spaghetti, sweets. :)

Biggest Accomplishments: She's accomplished so much! Laughed for the first time, learned how to clap, put her arms up for "How big is Lexi- soooo big!" Learned to crawl, stand and cruise along furniture, and stand up all by herself. Her first word was Uh Oh and Dada. She's learned Mama, Wow, Ball, and Baby.

Favorite Toys: Her little elephant blankie named CiCi, rattles, dolls, blocks, new Laugh and Learn pink puppy, bath toys, and pretty much anything she can get her hands on that is NOT a toy. (phones, remotes, keys, etc.)

Favorite Activities: Getting into Mommy's purse and pulling out cards from her wallet, standing all by herself, crawling at top speed, pulling magnets off the fridge, eating, squirming during diaper changes, being silly and showing off her adorable 6 teeth, pulling the house plants, trying to get up or down any stairs, trying to escape through the front door, going on car rides, patting backs, pooping first thing in the morning, getting into any kind of mischief, and putting everything and anything straight into her mouth. :)

Talents: Standing, speed crawling, packin on the pounds, making us laugh

Most Endearing Qualities: Lexi has been a sweet, easy going, non demanding baby from day 1. I think she knew that was all we could handle at this trying time in our lives! She's super independant, loving, and very curious and interested in the world around her.

Worst Qualities: She can get a good temper when she wants to, and sometimes is quite impatient. She doesn't really know the meaning of NO yet, and will inevitably put anything she finds on the floor in her mouth. She also poops up a storm and has us going through diaper rash cream like crazy!

Goals for Next Year: Learn to walk, give kisses, sing, talk more, grow more hair, figure out how to get rid of her poor bumpy skin, switch to sippy cups instead of bottles, continue with 2 good naps a day!

Quotes: Just single words at a time right now. :)

Current Stats: Not sure yet! One year appointment is this Friday. I'm guessing she's in the higher percentage range. :)

We were so excited to celebrate Lexi's first birthday! Can you believe a whole year has gone by since she was born??

Can't believe how fast time flies.

We decided to throw a party for Lexi on Monday night, so that our family could join us for a fun time at the park for family night. Since she loves monkeys, and sometimes acts like our own little Curious George, we did a monkey and zoo themed party. Here she is, waiting patiently and wondering "When are my guests going to arrive?"

We held it at the pavilion at Veterans Memorial Park in West Jordan, which seems to be our favorite park. That's where I threw Jake's 30th surprise party, too. It's just got so much space and fun playgrounds for the kids to play on. Lots of Lexi's cousins came to celebrate, and we played Pin the Banana on the Monkey. hehe. Bryan got totally disoriented when Jake spun him around, and had to be guided back to the tree.

Cami and Ari, excited for their turn to be blindfolded.

Mae, Max and Henry waiting patiently.

Britt and Owen hangin out

And here's my cake process! I wanted to make a cute, simple monkey face for the top of Lexi's cake that would make her happy and that she would recognize. I didn't really have a plan, but looked at a bunch of ideas of monkey cakes/fondant monkeys on Pinterest. Good ol Pinterest. I knew I wanted to do something with marshmallow fondant, because it's fun, and it's an adventure.

So on Sunday, I made a gluten-filled box mix yellow cake (2 9 inch layers) and froze them overnight. Then I melted my marshmallows and kneaded in the powdered sugar to make my fluffy marshmallow fondant, and added food coloring to make a few colors that I knew I wanted. Brown, tan, pink, light green. I tried and tried to get dumb black, but all I could get was a grayish purple. So I finally called it a night and refrigerated the fondant overnight.

The morning of her party, I got out the fondant and started to play. :) It's overwhelming and intimidating at first, but once you start and get SOMEthing done, it just flows, I finally ended up with this cute little monkey face. Isn't she darling? I had a heck of a time trying to get the right tan, and the right color for her eyes, nose and mouth, but it worked out. I finally added cocoa powder to get the darker brown/black.

I frosted the cake (so proud of myself...didn't slip up and taste anything!) and added the monkey face and some fondant circles and a 1. Done.

Then came the fun part...cupcake toppers! Who can resist making little zoo animal faces for cupcakes? I found the idea for a few on Pinterest, and had lots of fun making cute little elephants, giraffes and monkeys.

I couldn't stop there...I also made some lions, birds, and bananas. These were my gluten free, dairy free, egg free, soy free banana spice cupcakes with a coconut buttercream frosting. It was a new recipe I'd never tried, but thought the banana flavor would be fun for the monkey theme. They tasted really good, but were a little gooey in the middle. That's ok, they all got eaten! And the kids loved picking out what animal they wanted to eat!

Lexi Lou got all decked out to enjoy her birthday cake. Birthday girl crown and bib- ready to roll! Don't mind her less than excited face...I don't think she was feeling 100% that night, poor girl. But we'll pretend she enjoyed herself.

Candle lit, Happy Birthday!

She didn't quite know what to do with the giant cake (that's how Cami was with her lambie cake when she turned 1), so we gave her a cupcake with bananas on it instead, and that was a little more inviting for her to dig into. She took off the fondant...

Then mutilated the cupcake

Got some good handfuls...

Posed with Daddy- cheese!

And made a complete mess of herself. Yay, smash cake success! Oh, she also enjoyed some jello jigglers. :) I love how she has cake dots perfectly lining her eyebrow. This girl knows how to make a MESS!

Bella and Carrianne and Patrick, enjoying some cake with the rest of em.

We had a monkey pinata too!

I've always wanted to throw a party with a pinata. This was my first one. It's always fun to see the kids' excitement and anticipation.

Cami taking a good swing...

Monkey didn't fare so well...he was decapitated, so Ike held his body and scattered the candy around for the kids to grab.

Lexi opened her presents

Got a nice birthday crown and a dazed look on her face. (This picture doesn't look like her at all for some reason!)

We got her a pink Laugh and Learn puppy (that I actually bought on sale back in like February and have been waiting this whole year to give to her!). Such a fun little buddy!

Lex also got fun new bath toys, cute clothes, Signing Time DVD's, a blankie and monkey stuffed animal, princess sippy cups and eating set, a bounce and spin Zebra toy, and a walker/sit and ride toy. What a lucky girl! She is super blessed to have wonderful family and friends surrounding her.

She loves her Auntie Bree. Thanks to everyone who helped us celebrate!

These pictures are from Thursday, Sept. 27, her actual birthday. Opening presents in jammies with Cami, enjoying some good milk.

 Basking in the sun after a fun playgroup in the park where she made a cute contact paper collage.

 After storytime at the library, we went home and she enjoyed her birthday cake for dessert. She's laughing at Cami...the one person who can always make her laugh. :)

This little girl has brought so much joy and love to our family, we couldn't imagine life without her! We love you Lexi Lou, Happy Birthday!