What a Party!

With everything that has gone on so far this year and all the work that went into William's party, I was slightly anxious that my sigh of relief at the end would overshadow the weekend itself. I was dead wrong!!! I loved having my family and friends in town, loved having my house full of noise and chaos and conversations talking over conversations. I loved having made too much lasagna (and salsa and meat and...well...went pretty overboard on food) - I just loved it all. I didn't get to see the first half of the game, but I was settled in just in time for halftime, present opening, and got to see the entire second half.

Brittany, Michael, BB, Nico, Aunt Mandy and Chelsea all flew in on Thursday night. O'Hare airport in Chicago had been shut down for 2 days so we were nervous that Mandy and Chelsea's flight may have been cancelled, and Houston's airport closed at 6 when Brittany's flight was to leave at 5:30...so I was in anticipation all day about whether or not they'd arrive. But, they all got in and I was so happy that the flight arrangements weren't ruined. Friday I had to go to work which was a bummer. I had planned to take the day off but with the week off to take care of William I wasn't able to make it work for Friday. But Friday night I was SO happy when Austin picked me up at work and we came home then ran off to Saltgrass with our family and friends. It felt so great to have them here and to be able to sit and chat without anything else that we had to take care of.

Saturday morning the ladies of the group went to get our nails done - let's face it, I was in need of a break - and by the time we made it back to the house the rest of the clan had arrived. My mom, Alfredo, Candace, Herb, Brandon and Dana had all flown in around the same time and they came straight to our house. DUH - the point of the trip wasn't their hotel, it was William!!! He is SO loved, and was SO overwhelmed as a result on Saturday. I was glad to see people sneak him away to play with him and develop bonds. He was ok with new people one-on-one and if Austin and/or myself were not within eyes reach, so I was glad people felt comfortable enough to snatch him away. Plus I was busy getting dinner ready and getting the tables set for our yummy meal!!!

I think the idea of a crowd slowly got more comfortable for William and by the middle of his party on Sunday he was working the crowd. He took a little while to get interested in his cake, but he was much more interested in presents than he was just 1.5 months ago at Christmas. Things change so fast! It was fun to watch people watching him and to see how much our families love him. I can't imagine not having that support system and that love for our baby and I'm so thankful that we do. It made me forget about the countless trips to the grocery store, the excess food in the fridge, the mess on the floor...ok clearly I haven't FORGOTTEN about any of it since I'm still talking about it. But it made me care less, which is pretty significant I'd say :) When I glanced over at the messy kitchen during the 4th quarter of the game but realized I cared very little about the mess and was just enjoying having everyone over.

Thanks to everyone who was able to make it (and a special thanks to the sweet someone who watched my mom's dog so she could be there) I was so moved that people would travel the country and that friends would want to spend their Super Bowl Sunday at a 1 year old's birthday. You all helped to make the celebration of WIlliam's first year more than I could have planned. Mandy said everything so well in just 2 scriptures yesterday:
A good name is to be more desired than great wealth. We gave William a great name, and he will fill those shoes I am sure.
You will turn our mourning into dancing.

William has taken my mourning and turned a lot of it into dancing. It won't ever be gone, but he has taken a piece of it from me and replaced it with such joy. Thanks be to God!