Party Time!

Make your own invite

Making it Pretty

Here are some detail shots of E's party decor, and a little of the prep work too ; )

Besides the fresh flowers, and the cupcake arrangement, the other flower decorations were "hand-made" flowers.

Petals = Lemon cake and Raspberry frosting, Stem and stamen = Banana cake with chocolate frosting. YUM

(final product for our "hand-made" efforts)

Par-tay

So we finally celebrated Elly's birthday a couple weekends back :)  We were originally going to celebrate in early March, but my grandmother passed away and her funeral happened to be the day of the planned party.

I planned most of the deets with my girl Chibiko months ago. Location (an awesome heated pavillion) and food (cake and lemonade anyone?), decorations (cake and flowers/balloons) and activities (slide, tunnel, and coloring).  Since the original plan was for early March, and, you know, we live in IOWA, we planned for indoor activities :D  Then we have the party in April, and fate shined down on us and gave us an absolutely beautiful day. Sunshine and warmth and(maybe a little too much) wind. So we upgraded our activies to playing at the park and bubble chasing (E got a bubble machine as a gift on her ACTUAL bday). I'd like to think everyone would have had fun with the original plan, but I think we (parents) all appreciated the condition playing outdoors at the park left our kids in!  Early bedtime anyone?

So, what you really want here are some pictures, right? Right? Here is a run down of E celebrating her big day a fat 2 months after the fact ; )

Starting her day off annoying the cat....

Doesn't everyone like to read sans clothing?

A daycare buddy had a birthdy party that morning. So here she is having some fun at Monkey Joes!

(she LOVES this place!)

Snuggling with Poppo at the beginning of the party.

CAKE TIME!

 She did better than Max on his first birthday, but not by much.

The cupcakes were more of a success :)  A huge hit all around (no leftovers!!).

Then she moved on to the gifts.....

Then home for more playtime.

(Hi! Thanks for coming everyone! I had fun playing with you and being smooched on!)

And at last, bedtime. Happy Birthday Party Sweet Girl!

(please excuse the state of disarray I display...it was a long day!)

It's a Party!

A free invitation card by Smilebox

Growing Up - Mighty Max, 2 yrs.

Life with Max at 2 years of age:

• You're finally growing into your skin, looking less like a baby.
  
• You are down to one nap a day. You held on to that morning nap for a long time though!
  
• You STILL do not sleep through the night. If only you could tell me why you wake up!!
  
• You sleep in a big boy bed, and have for almost a year now : )
  
• You love to run and jump. And boy, you are Speedy Gonzalez and, WOW, you excel at the jumping.
  
• Some of your favorite things: balls, stickers, pickles.
  
• You have a great vocabulary and know how to use it. You still sign please instead of saying it though, so we're working on that one.
  
• You love, LOVE to play outside. I believe you really think the world has ended if you are told you can't go o.u.t.
  
• You love your baby sister (and her toys) to pieces.
  
• You do not love how much time Mommy spends nursing her.
  
• You still love to snuggle. Another reason you don't like the time Mommy holds Elly.
  
• You weren't a picky eater, now you are. We go through long periods of Feast or Famine with you at the dinner table.
  
• You want what Mommy and Daddy have to drink. Thus, you drink tea a lot. But not a lot of it, for those worrying about your health : )
  
• You love blankets, and almost always have one within reach, and absolutely will not fall asleep without one. This is strange, as you didn't have one for well over a year. But, it's just a blanket, and any blanket will do (even Elly's in a pinch!).
  

Life with you is an almost constant adventure filled with fun. We love you Mighty Max!
2 yr stats: WT 29lbs HT 35.5in. Both register in the 75th percentile, 60th combined.

Party Time!

So, this party happened last Saturday, the day before my little boy turned 1. It was a good turnout for the brutal cold snap we were experiencing. Note to self: five space heaters + 1 fireplace do not a shelter house heat (in 4 hours time anyway).

To start the day, Max got his first haircut. He didn't pitch a fit, so I will consider this a success:

Then it was PART-AY TIME! (notice Max was all about the kisses that day!)

Some of the peeps:

Some of the gifts:







The Cake:





He was being "Mr. Clean" so Poppo stepped in to help...

Did it help? A little : )


I guess we should have had Kolten demonstrate first!!

All partied out. The End.