Lil' Bit's Birthday Bash

The first birthday of your first child is such a milestone...I mean as a parent you have actually raised a child for an entire year...and your baby survived! Hurray! I worked with kids for years...babysitter, nanny, preschool teacher...and oh I thought I knew what I was in for...but let me tell you there is only one phrase that comes to mind to describe the first year of a child's life from the exact moment it comes slipping out of mommy to when you blow out their 1st birthday candle for them ...

Balls to the wall.

Lil' Bit was born June 25, 2008 and it was the most powerful day of my life. She was born at Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, FL. I wanted to deliver her at home, but here on Amelia Island there is no NICU at the hospital so if things went wrong it would be an hour drive to the nearest hospital with proper care. Besides, Chef who was born to a doctor and deeply entrenched in the philosophy of western medicine was not about to have his first born birthed in our living room. As he put it, "The only thing to be delivered at home is pizza and Chinese food." Whatever.

I brought Lil' Bit into this world after 23 hrs. and 45 minutes of natural childbirth. I was nervous to have her in a hospital, for fear that I would be swayed from my birth plan. Natural child birth isn't good for hospital business because it is unpredictable. Luckily, I had an amazing midwife, doula, and a team of nurses who as a team gave me the most incredible support imaginable...and Chef who was my rock. For many of the nurses Lil' Bit was the only natural birth any of them had witnessed, what a gift. And then it all started.

The first 3 months of a baby's life is also known as the 4th trimester...because they are not fully cooked. A human is born after 9 months of gestation because our brains are so big that our giant noggins would not make it through the birth canal otherwise. The first 3 months of motherhood is absolutely insane. You have to feed your baby every 2 hours, which means all day and all night. Sleep deprivation is a form of torture mind you, and that is all I am going to say about that.

Then from 4 months until they are 2 years old you have different rounds of teeth growth...which makes everyone miserable. But in the midst of all the craziness there is no more awesome experience than spending every waking moment with a human that is so fresh from the source. Their little souls are so bright and strong and it completely replenishes your faith in humanity.

So in honor of Lil' Bit's 1st year on planet earth we decided to celebrate with a crab themed party for our favorite Cancerian! Many people said to me during the planning time for this party... "You know she is not going to remember the party at all. It is really for the parents." This really got under my skin. Lil' Bit is not going to remember anything at all about the first year of her life, heck probably not the first three years of her life...but that doesn't make them any less important or meaningful. I was throwing a party for my daughter and her friends which range in age from 87 years old to 6 months old, and no party pooper was going to sway my determination to make it something special for Lil' Bit.

I made crazy crab crowns for all the children, but only one baby wore their crown the entire party. Lil' Bit just wanted to chew on hers. We set up a bubble machine on our screened in porch and made a bubble room to contain the little ones in one place, and blasted They Might Be Giants sing the 123's. I covered two low tables with paper and set out crayons for drawing. There were grab bags and cupcakes galore.

Chef made a smorgasbord of food...crab cakes, shrimp salad on croissants, stone crab claws with Louie sauce, Kobe sliders, pulled pork sandwiches, spinach and cheese quesadillas, a fruit display, and hummus and Naan platter for the any vegans that were attending. There was wine, beer, orange punch, soda, and good old fashioned water. I set up a kids table on our tiled living room floor. I put down a vinyl picnic table cloth and set our lowest coffee table in the center of it. The kids all sat on the floor around the table and had a blast eating together while Jazz for Kids set the mood on the stereo. It was hilarious. There was so much food left over we sent parents home with their own goody bags.

The party lasted from 12 -2 pm...which was perfect. Over in a blink of an eye. A word of advice to all moms out there throwing parties for little ones...keep them short and sweet. There was only one casualty...Chef jumped up to answer the door and knocked over Simone, Lil Bit's 1st baby friend. She is 18 months old, and luckily has a hard head. He felt like a total jerk, but her mom was really gracious about it.

We ended the afternoon sitting on our living room floor unwinding with a couple of late guests, a bottle of white wine, and a pile of presents. It was a lovely way to wrap up a wonderful party. Lil' Bit is so loved and it was such a great celebration of her new life! It was the first party ever thrown for her...the first of many to come!

Good Life Recipe # 7 / Pulled Pork Sandwich / Chef Scott Schwartz

If you like barbecue...this sandwich will be one of the best things you put in your mouth. For this recipe I am going to send you to a link to fellow blogger The Blushing Hostess. She lives in New York, and stumbled upon our restaurant on a trip. Today on her site there is an interview with Chef. If you look at her previous July posts listed, the post 29 South: Contemporary Southern with Integrity has the recipe, as well as a great photo montage of her trying it out herself. She did a beautiful job!