The Big ONE!

Erin is One Year Old!!
We had two birthday parties--Why? Because I'm Crazy. Hence the title of the blog.
I thought it would be better to split them so as to not overwhelm the Birthday Girl. I think that was a good thing. There was a lot going on at both parties, I think she would have definitely gone into hyperoverdrive if they were together. Both parties included cupcakes up the yin-yang.

Here's Party #1:

Erin's First Birthday Cake-- carrot with cream cheese frosting. She acted like it was a normal occurance for her to get a cake that is bigger than her head. She just casually started eating the frosting, although she went for the cherry first. She couldn't decide if she liked the cherry or not. She was kind of confused when everyone started to sing. We were pretty much altogether this time, though.

Here is all my hard work. Baking and frosting are not my forte. Luckily my decorating skills are pretty good, so it wasn't a complete disaster. Cupcake flavors: lemon cream with home-made cream cheese frosting, carrot cake with home-made cream cheese frosting, and the bottom layer of the stacked cake was chocolate-mayonaise. I had the worst luck with that bottom layer. At first I didn't cook it long enough, then I put it back in, then if fell, then it got burned. After I frosted it, it cracked to several pieces, and the final straw, the cat licked it. Arg. Needless to say, no one ate that option.

Erin got lots of presents and had a blast. She really didn't know what she was supposed to do with the presents, though. Gma opened most of them for her. She had fun anyway.

The Haul: Riding pony with wheels, little people pink bus and dump truck, zhu zhu pet, beach beanie bear, two Dr. Suess books, 6 pairs of shoes and tons of outfits, including a swim suit and her Easter Dress from Aunt Ashlee. She is so spoiled!!.

Here's party #2:

Here's a close-up of the Stacked cake. Cupcake flavors this time: lemon cream again, it was really yummy, and Cherry Chocolate with home-made chocolate ganache frosting (let me just say, ganache is so yummy and so easy) and the bottom layer was plain old yellow. It was the last baking, and I was not in the mood for creativity in the recipe at that point. I still had really bad luck with that bottom layer. I don't know why. The cake baked really well, but I put it back in the pan after it was cool overnight, then it stuck, leaving a big hole when I had to shake it out again. I filled in the hole with frosting. Then, it cracked again. I don't know what's up with that. The cat didn't get to it this time, though!

Going for the cherry again, she must have decided she liked it. This was her second first birthday cake, yellow cake with chocolate frosting, which I must admit, she seemed to enjoy more than the carrot and cream cheese. Sorry Ashlee.

She got to a bit more of the cake this time, she mostly got frosting the first time.

Here's some action shots! The cousins always have to be right there in the action, helping out. They can't stand to let the birthday person do it themselves. Erin had a blast with all the kids, though, I'm so glad they came. She loves to watch them run around and "play" with them.

The Haul: A little shopping cart with a baby doll in it, a soft bag a of groceries and a bunch of plastic fruit to go with, a tin musical tea set, a lunch box, a cute flowers sprinkler to "run" through, two fun outdoor balls, sidewalk chalk, a bunch of clothes, of course, only one pair of shoes, and a cute bag of home-made notes and books from Makayla and Jessica, so cute. She kind of started to get the hang of opening presents by the end, she'll be a pro next time. My favorite moment was when she opened the grocery bag, and made this "ooohhh" sound! It was sooo cute, I wish I had it on video. I love this baby!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ERIN SAGE ERICKSEN!