A Work in Progress: What a Difference One Year Can Make!

Every October, for at least as long as I've been with Patrick (nine years now, for those counting), the Philpot family has thrown one big birthday party for the whole family. As the next generation of Philpots (and Moshers) has come along, each year has gotten more fun, so I was really excited to bring Madison to her first big birthday bash.

Pat and I actually found out we were pregnant just a few days before last year's party. We had decided to try to wait three months to tell anyone, first to be sure everything was okay, but mostly just to give ourselves time to adjust and have answers to the inevitable questions. Here's the thing: Pat and I are terrible liars, which pretty much equates to being terrible secret-keepers, too.

Patrick was soooo overprotective. He hovered over me the ENTIRE party, asking me every fifteen minutes if I would like some more water. When someone offered me a Dr. Pepper, he practically jumped over himself so he could make eye contact with me and remind me why I shouldn't have one. As if I could forget! Side note: yes, we did know that it's perfectly okay to have a moderate level of caffeine. Unfortunately, as I ~~was~~ am a caffeine addict, we knew that "moderate consumption" wasn't a realistic expectation. Therefore I gave it up cold turkey. Yay for withdrawal headaches on top of morning (and afternoon, and evening) sickness. When it was time for the main attraction, the tire swing, Pat almost had an aneurism when I climbed on. He insisted on being the only one to push me, and I think I moved about a foot and a half in either direction. Here's a shot from last year:

It's amazing how much can change in a year's time. Of course, Pat was still a little overprotective of Madison, (as if I wasn't, too) but it seemed like everything else was different.

For starters, we brought so much stuff that if we had added one more toy or apparatus, we would have needed to rent a trailer. I should have taken a picture of the Explorer loaded down. Ridiculous!

Also, I actually brought something that I baked this year! By myself! Without the help of Betty Crocker (confession: we were always too cheap for Betty Crocker. It would have been Great Value or nothing!) I'll post later this week about my new favorite chocolate cookies.

Finally, I took pictures! Before Madison came along, I never understood all the fuss about taking pictures all of the time; I figured you could enjoy the moment more if there wasn't a camera in your face. As a matter of fact, I stole that first picture of me and Pat from my sister-in-law's facebook page. Thanks, Becky! Now, I get panicky when I think I'm going to miss that Kodak (or Olympus, as the case may be) moment.

Now that I've bored you to tears, let me make up for it by sharing some pictures of Madison and friends.