Makenzie turns one!

The morning of Kenzie's birthday started out with good luck hugs for daddy, as he was headed to take a board exam all day (8 hours!).

We ate birthday pancakes and she wasn't too sure about the candle, but was reassured when we sang to her.  She liked that!

We said goodbye to daddy, got dressed, and went to Pizza Putt to play in the ball pit and giant tunnel structure.  It's a pretty ghetto place, but the kids love it and it's something to do indoors that is free, so I'm ok with it!  We went with my friend, Amy, and her three darling kiddos.  The rest of Tan and Kenzie's little friends were either out of town or in school.

During lunch, we skyped with grandma Carol and I took pics of the birthday girl.

When she "talks," she uses her tongue and makes the cutest and funniest babbling sounds. You can see her tongue touching the roof of her mouth.  I know exactly what she sounds like when I look at this picture! 

After naptime, daddy came home from his test (yay!!!) and Kenzie opened one present which was from mommy and daddy.  (We were planning on going out to dinner right after Eli's test but Tan couldn't wait any longer!)  

 Searching in the tunnel for Tanner

 He found her!!!  Ha ha ha ha!

She is our darling little Princess!!!

We had zucchini bread as her "cake" since her real cake would be at her birthday party.  She's looking at the candle like, "I'm not sure I liked this the first time!"

 "Nope!  I didn't like it and I still don't like it!"

She was ok halfway through "Happy Birthday" because she loves being sung to!  She even started "singing" along in her own cute baby way!

 We went to Church Street and ate dinner at Panera.  MMMM!  So so yummy!  Kenzie loved the broccoli cheddar soup (but what doesn't she love?!) 

She was being such a silly goofball at the restaurant and kept launching herself backwards in her high chair.  She's such a fun little girl!

The next morning we finished opening her presents...

Finally, her birthday party was the next day!  We had a Ben & Jerry's party because I scored an awesome deal on pints - HALF OFF!!!  So I bought 15 different flavors to serve at her party!  I thought it was fitting since B&J's originated in Vermont and Makenzie is a true Vermonter.  Our friends came and everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to Kenz, ate ice cream and cake pops, and hung out for a couple hours.  It was lots of fun!  

Cake pops are SUPER yummy!  (But they are pretty labor intensive.) 

 I made Kenzie her very own cake in her party colors:  bright pink, orange, blue, and green.  It was just a simple double layered cake that she could tear into.  She is a phenomenal eater and will pretty much eat anything (even non-food items!), and she doesn't mind getting messy or playing with her food, so I thought that she would definitely try her birthday cake.   Well, she checked it out...

Realized that she wasn't too sure about this giant pink thing on her tray...

And then wanted to get as far away from it as possible!

So I gave her a bite of cake on a spoon and she wouldn't even touch/try it.  

 "Get me outta here!"

Tan and Kenz have lots of cute friends here in Vermont!

Silly Tanner

 Grandma Risa gave Kenzie this darling outfit that worked perfectly as her birthday outfit!!!!  I decorated for her party with colors from this outfit.

 We all just adore Makenzie and how amazingly cute she is (which Eli and I tell each other multiple times a day)!!!  She is such a joy and brings so much happiness into our lives!