first birthday party

Well the first birthday has come and gone and I think it was a big success! We had a small party at our house with family and a few friends and Caroline had a great time. The decorations (all made by yours truly) turned out so cute, the food (also made by yours truly) was delicious, and the company was great. Lots of fantastic first birthday memories. So here's a little tour of Caroline's first birthday party.

The Decorations

I admit I had waaaay too much fun planning her party. I started pinning ideas on Pinterest months ago, so when it was time to put it all together I was well prepared. I started by making her invitations....I wanted something cute and personalized with her photos. Couldn't find anything to my liking on the invitation websites, so I figured it would be more fun to make them myself!

The invitations set the flower theme for the party and from there I had a great time with light pink, hot pink, and green decorations. Bill kept hyperventilating that I was going overboard and hemoragging money on the party, but I was actually very resourceful and thrifty with the party planning. We had most of the necessary items, and what we lacked I got from the dollar store or Michael's. So I actually spent very little money; it was just a matter of hand-making a few items and then putting it all together creatively!

One of the most important things for me was adding lots of personalized touches. I loved putting together the month-by-month photo garland. At one glance you could see how quickly Caroline changed every month this past year.

                                      

I also loved the photo canvases I made a few months ago, which have been sitting in the closet until I make the rest of them and put them on her wall. They looked cute up on the mantel.

                                      

Also on display were a cute family photo book I made for her at Christmas, and an ABC book with all her photos from the past year for her birthday. 

                                      

I also made her a time capsule/photo box, to be opened on her 18th birthday. We made one for my brother Grant when he was a baby and I remember how much fun I had assembling it on his first birthday, and then opening it this past fall. So I definitely wanted to do that for Caroline too! Inside it I put pictures from this past year, her letter to Santa and photo with him, cards she received from the various holidays, artwork from school, and a letter from her Dad and I. What a fun trip down memory lane one day!

My other favorite item was the Birthday Box I made for her. I assigned each party guest one of her future birthdays and printed a fill-in-the-blank questionnaire with fun questions about her infancy. All the completed letters will be stored in the box and starting at age 7 she will have a letter to open on her birthday. I hope she will enjoy reading what all her friends and family thought about her birth and her infant days!

The Party

The party was only 2 hours long, which is about as much fun as she could handle before she was ready for a nap. We had a great crowd of adults and kids, and I know she enjoyed playing with the other kids the best. She's such a social butterfly!

The Gifts

I really didn't buy much for her birthday since we just had Christmas not too long ago. A few books, a new high chair toy, and a puzzle were all that she received from mom and dad. My plan is to do a 'half birthday' toy-buying spree in August when she's a bit older and developmentally ready for some more challenging toys. But in the meantime the partygoers gave lots of fun new toys that we will dole out occasionally now through the summer. She loves music so she received lots of interactive toys that play tunes.

She also of course loves books so we were happy to receive some fresh new ones for her library!

Aunty Em gave her a 3-in-1 tricycle which she also loved! And it only took Nana and I an hour and a half (and a lot of debating screw sizes) to put it together!

The hit of the party though was a sensory board that Nana made. It has all the typical hardware that one-year-olds are obsessed with...chains, latches, knobs, etc. Every single kid at the party played with it!! Who can resist all those temptations??

The Cake

Since we have juuuust started Caroline back on solid foods, we haven't made our way through all of the stage one foods and identified any other possible food allergies. I knew there was definitely the milk allergy, and she'd had a negative reaction to corn puffs, so I was not about to give her a cake full of wheat flour when wheat is one of the known major food allergens. I found a bakery that could make her a special gluten-free, dairy-free cake just for her smash cake. When the big moment arrived and we placed the cake in front of her, she wasn't sure what to do. It was her first time ever having anything with sugar! With my encouragement she gingerly poked and swiped at the frosting but she never showed any interest in tearing into the cake. I tasted the cake later and couldn't blame her...not nearly as good as 'real' cake. Oh well, maybe next year!

After the party she collapsed in her crib and slept for 2 hours. Partied out! I know she enjoyed it, and I loved every minute of planning it for her. Thanks to everyone who made the trip all the way from Louisiana to participate! It would not have been a party without yall!