Kyle and Kristen: Bentlee's party

We were ecstatic to have Nana and Papa here to celebrate Bentlee's first birthday with us. We tried keeping it "small" by inviting only close family, but over 50 of our favorite people still filled our Clubhouse that day, and we were so glad. Bentlee's reaction to everything at her party pretty much sums up what I've learned about parenting this last year: she is completely unpredictable.

When Kyle and I went shopping for her gifts, we decided to get a kitty pool and 250 balls to make a little ball pit for her and her cousins at the party. We anticipated her reaction for weeks, knowing she was just going to LOVE it.

She hated it.

She was downright terrified, didn't even like the sound of other kids playing in it. But that was okay, we still had the cake. Bentlee's own, delicious but so beautiful you almost don't want to eat it cake that Aunt Amber made JUST for her. It was going to make her whole day. I couldn't wait to see those blue eyes light up and watch her face get messier and messier as she dove further in. We had both the camera and video camera ready to capture it all, until she had eaten so much that we would finally have to pull the cake away so she wouldn't get sick.

We got nothin'.

She became timid as if she were afraid of the cake. Like it was going to eat HER. She finally realized it wasn't so bad once we started shoving it in her mouth (despite her tears) but even then it was nowhere near the reaction we hoped for.

Oh well. At least she looked really cute. And the food was yummy, thanks to everyone that helped. But most importantly, she shared her special day with everyone she loves most!