Lucy's Family Birthday Celebration

We celebrated Lucy's birthday as a family today.  The day began with a trip to the Borough Market in London in the morning. We sampled some amazing foods from cheese to bread to smoked meats and of course stopped for a famous toasted cheese sandwich!!  It was worth the £5!  It was amazing!

Lucy wore her new sweater and hat from CiCi and Pappy all the way from Portugal.

We had to buy a smoked sausage of course.

....and a soft pretzel for each kiddo!

Toasted Cheese!!! YUM!

Tried to get everyone to wear the birthday hats....this is what we got.

Lucy on the tube on the way home...looks like we almost lost a shoe.

We got back to the apartment and opened presents!

Owen "helped" his little sister.

Owen showing Lucy how it works.

 

Not too sure Lucy liked her pillow pal....

 ...but we know she loved her doll!!

 New dolly got lots of kisses!

 ...and then she fed her a bottle.

Then we got to use our new plates for dinner!  Just like big brother!

We finally got to eat that wonderful cake.

Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!

Visit to Father Christmas at Harrods

Today we went to visit Father Christmas at Harrods Department Store.  Yes, I am aware it is only November 11th!  Apparently I missed the boat and did not realize you needed to sign up for your ticket to Harrods Christmas Grotto in August...whoops.  So our kids got to see Santa a bit early...before Thanksgiving!  It was still just as magical and fun.  Lucy was a bit scared of Santa and cried when she sat on his lap.  Owen, on the other hand, couldn't get enough of Santa and sat on his lap, chatted with him and continued to say "cheese" at the camera long after they stopped snapping shots.

Owen loved the chocolate gold coins that Santa gave him.

We bought some Harrods overpriced christmas balls for our tree. Owen wanted to carry his around and Mrs. Claus wanted to take a picture with him but he wasn't as interested in her. 

Then we went to the pet department and Owen had a good time playing around the tree.  It is amazing, right after halloween the Brits get out all of the Christmas decorations.

Owen liked sitting on the packages.

Here is the resulting santa picture of 2011! This one's a keeper. (please excuse the clarity...it is a scanned image)

Lucy's One Year Pictures

I picked out a cute fall outfit, picked out a great location and took Lucy for her 1 year pictures in the park.  I love this skirt!! Two days previous the park was blanketed with beautiful fall leaves and today they decided to rake them and collect them. It didn't really matter because I had the cutest little model :)

Lucy - Happy Birthday to my baby girl. I remember the day you were born and what a good baby you were. You are always so happy and easy to get a smile! Sometimes when you disappear and it gets really quiet I turn around and there you are reading books in the corner. You love to be snuggled and swept up in my arms and you love to give kisses. I can't wait to watch you grow into a little lady and always remember you are my little girl! I love you!

Lucy's 1st Birthday Party

We hosted the playgroup this Wednesday as Lucy's birthday party. Since we don't have family over here for her birthday, the new friends we have made have become like family! I commissioned Lauren, our nanny, to bake Lucy's birthday cake and cupcakes for the kids. She has become an amazing baker and cake decorator. I was truly impressed at her skill and the time and love that also went into it! Lauren is Lucy's favorite right now...she crawls to Lauren's feet and wants her to pick her up all the time :)

We had 10 kids here, 5 Owen's age and 5 Lucy's age. It was chaos and so much fun! Here are some pictures from the party.

Lucy's amazing cake!  I hate to cut it!

The birthday girl and her favorite, Lauren!

Owen was so excited to see all the kids that he ran around like a madman and got all sweaty...the only kid dripping in sweat at the party.

 The kids really enjoyed coloring on the table.

The birthday girl and her crown!

 Lucy and Trilby.

Lucy, Brooks and Madelyn.

 I guess the party got too much for Lucy, she crawled off into the corner and read some books.

Then we got out the balloons...they were a hit..especially with Owen.

The aftermath...it was a good party...but what a mess!