I knew that I wanted to convince Ella to have a pool party this year. She has gotten so good swimming and it's so HOT in Alabama right now! At first she wanted to have a Barbie party and y'all know I'm not a fan of character anything. I knew I could throw a tasteful Barbie party if I tried, but my ultimate goal was to steer clear. I saw this party and fell in love with the mermaid theme. When I rushed home to tell Ella my new idea, she was more than receptive. The idea of "being" a mermaid for her big day was so exciting. For the fourth year in a row, I was tasked with finding a new baker. I have always had great luck with the cake, but for whatever reason they are unable to do my next party. This year April "the cake girl" did such an awesome job recreating my inspiration image. The ...
birthdays
July Update
Why don't we discuss some other pictures of my littles from the FIRST WEEK OF JULY! Y'all, I am taking pictures, I'm just not managing to get them uploaded and blogged in a timely fashion. Surely the cuteness of these two girls in their 'kinis will more than make up for it. Ashley invited us over to their new house to celebrate Westin's first birthday. My girls are a little crazy when it comes to birthday parties and had a blast. Sophie went from ant hill, to water slide, to hosepipe, all followed with a walk from plate to plate to sample everyone's goodies. For whatever reason, my children do not discriminate when it comes to food. They will eat off of anyone's plate, with or without permission! Ella had a lot of fun, too, but she was a little timid about the water. She only wanted to ...
First Fete: The Photos
The table was filled with yummy goodies, all just the right size for tiny little fingers. We hung a wall of photos from each of her twelve months. I haven't been able to take them down! I made tissue poms, bunting and paper garlands to hang above the table. Sophie loved this and would point every time we asked where her party was. The beautiful smash cake was courtesy of Sweet Magnolia Bakery in Birmingham. She did such a great job matching the party invitations! The cupcakes were handmade by my Aunt Lane. Gran made yummy homemade buttercream icing and we topped them with dumdum suckers. All paper cups and liners were from Hey YoYo. Don't you just love strawberry sugar wafers? Ella had never tried them before! Nana made tons of peanut butter fudge and rice crispy ...
First Fete: A Recap
I know that it's been more than a week since our little celebration, but we've all needed time to recover. Let's be honest... I needed time to process. I am in awe that she is old enough for a birthday party. Although it seems so long ago that I was waiting for her arrival, at the same time it's so hard to wrap my mind around the fact that she's actually a whole year old. Just yesterday she was a tiny baby, twirling my necklace while I rocked her to sleep. It seems like she's grown up overnight. Her sweet little baby face now looks like a big girl! Her hair is long in the back and she says things. Her walking has gotten so much better and she has these facial expressions that really showcase her sense of humor. Y'all, she is a spitfire. She packs more personality into her tiny little ...
Cupcakes and Lollipops
There huge amounts of leftover goodies on my kitchen counter, three trash bags full of wrapping paper and paper straws and LOTS of books being read all over my house. The weather was beautiful and there were tons of pretty little kids running in and out of the house all morning. The table looked beautiful and I could have eaten every bite all by myself. My aunt Lane made and iced 75 cupcakes yesterday, my mom perfected homemade buttercream icing and Sophie's smash cake was to die for! Josh got twelve months worth of my favorite photographs hung on the dining room wall last night. The baker's rack was stocked with tea, lemonade, water and cokes. There was garland, bunting and paper poms hanging from the ceiling. Our party crown arrived just in time and Sophie grinned from ear to ...
First Fete: The Paper Products
It all started with the paper products I wanted to use. I ran in Party City one afternoon to pick up taper candles for her cake and solid white plates since I'm not a fan of "themed" party goods. At the suggestion of my best friend I found a pack of three white tissue poms for under $10 and picked up two rolls of light pink crepe paper streamers to braid and hang from the chandelier in our dining room. I also found two packs of dinner napkins that would help establish a color scheme and overall look for the party. I grabbed one pack of green and white lattice print napkins and one pack of pink and white polka dotted ones. I had some paper straws left over from Ella's party that were supposed to be red. In all actuality they are more hot pink, so I picked up some lighter pink ones and ...
First Fete: The Idea
I cannot believe I'm planning a birthday for this little girl already. How has it been eleven and a half months? We took her one year old photographs this morning and are knee-deep in birthday preparations. There is much to share over the next three weeks as we close in on our celebrations, but I thought I'd start by sharing my party theme, decoration ideas and invitation suite. {bookmark front} {bookmark back} I am so lucky that my girls are both book obsessed and decided to use that as inspiration for a first birthday fete. We don't really need toys at this house, so a book party was perfect. I opted for long, skinny invitations that mimic the shape of a bookmark and that people can reuse long after the party. I had them UV coated and added ribbon tassels to complete the ...
Blue Skies and a Birthday Boy
Last Saturday afternoon, we spent some time outside enjoying a gorgeous day with beautiful blue skies. We were celebrating this boy's first birthday. Lake is one month older than Soph, almost to the day. Ryan & I get to enjoy each other's company while our littles play together. It is awfully convenient that our kids are all the same age. It makes you wonder if God knew what he was up to or something?! He wasn't sure what to think about everyone looking at him and singing to him and he wasn't having ANYTHING to do with his birthday cake (although, I hear he dug right in later in the day). That didn't keep him from opening his gifts and playing puzzle with Sophie, though. This little farm puzzle was from us and has nice chunky handles to move the pieces around. These two ...