Our Ladybug Party

I have a daughter who is one year old...WHAT?

I am still amazed that she has been OUT of me longer than she was ever growing INSIDE of me!

**Note: I add details that you probably don't care to know about, but this is also a way for me to keep this memory for her. So feel free to pass by the details and enjoy her birthday weekend...**

Her birthday was on Friday, October 4th and all day she was talking up a storm! She was especially happy as if she knew it was a special day for her! :)

iPod quality pic of my birthday girl

Once she went to sleep I went crazy getting the party decor up and setting things up for her party the following day. I'm a list person, so I had already made a list of things that I had hoped to accomplish before hitting the pillow and then things saved for the day of the party.

Our little "Lady" had turned one and I kept things red, black, and white (minus the food). The previous week, whenever she went to bed and hubby was gone or playing his favorite video game, I went to town on making paper chains to hang up in place of banners or streamers.

A lot of our stuff is still packed away in boxes, but I was smart while packing and labeled the box AND packing paper inside of where to find our 8x10 of her newborn picture. It was displayed on the kitchen island as part of the decor.

For the dining room I found a red tablecloth my mom had, used recycled baby food jars to put candles inside, and my dad picked up some roses on the day of the party for me. We kept the flowers low, because who doesn't get annoyed with tall center pieces? On top of the tablecloth we used black scrapbook paper to add large black dots to fit the ladybug theme. The doorways also had the paper chains as well.

thanks to my mom and her bow abilities

In the kitchen my parents have a decent sized table where I had a plastic tablecloth, red hibiscus flower centerpiece from my parent's yard, and more black dots. Surrounding the table is a few chairs and a built-in "L-shaped" bench....perfect for all the eight cousins Ellie had at the party!

While she was still awake she had time to play with her cousins who came early (traveled over an hour to be there). And she also had time to poop where it got on her matching pants that are like leggings under her cute ladybug dress I got her. My mom went quick to the rescue to grab them and a few other things to throw in the wash real quick! Can't have bare legs on an October birthday! We hung them outside to dry in time for the party.... :)

When it came time to start food-prep...I couldn't help but chuckle. My sister's boys were at the house and I had Ellie down for a nap so it was my chance to get things done. My sister helped the kids block off space with Legos but then they decided to make something for Ellie. With my mom's help....they made a ladybug car for Ellie. I chuckled because how often do you have a firstborn's first birthday party going on in a two hours, and you have a craft going on in the kitchen at the same time? Only Ellie.... :)

Ladybug car almost done....

the hard working crew

4:00 was party time

I never know what time Ellie will be awake or asleep during the day, seriously. (She doesn't have the typical schedule of nap at 10 and 2 type of routine. At one point in her life I tried to do that, and it just didn't fit right with her. So I threw that idea out the window and let her tell me what she needed.) But anyways, I didn't plan the party at all for when we were going to do anything. I wanted it to feel like a one-year old birthday party....where you go with the flow of the baby!

I kept the food simple and had items that could just be set up like an open house. Eat when you want sort of thing. However, it worked out we all ate at the same time since Ellie was still asleep when it was around 4:30. We served a hot 9x13 macaroni and cheese, hamballs in the crockpot, nachos with meat and cheese dip, rolls, veggie and fruit tray, chocolate covered strawberries, and of course the red velvet cupcakes. We told people to eat the dessert whenever they wanted.

sorry no camera in use when the food was all out

*those silver tins holding the silverware I got from ikea
*plates & napkins from Nobbies

She woke up when we were almost done eating, so it worked out wonderfully. My mom fed her some baby food (her comfort food=sweet potatoes). :)

Before things got too crazy we decided it would be a good time to get some good pictures of the crew. HA! If only we had pics of the adults trying to get all the kids together.... :) Here's just a few...

the family of 3

birthday girl

ellie with 8 of 11 cousins

boys will be boys!

my parents and their grandbabies

ellie in her ladybug car

Then we decided to open presents to let her tummy settle before having her eat her cupcake (plus she was a little overwhelmed from all the pictures). It was so fun to see what everyone picked out for her! Jon "helped" her open presents and it was hilarious! Her sweet cousins even let her open them herself!

cousin Frank has the exact same toy and he was pretty excited!

Then the adults made the party more kid-friendly and started a game of their own--wrapping paper war! There were "balls" being thrown across the room from every which way! Very typical ;)

After the gift opening we let Ellie play around on the floor like she does on any typical day. She had fun having lots of company! You know it gets old after awhile just having her Mom around all day long....

But then at some point, she's like her Momma, she likes routine! She wanted something she was familiar with....and it was Mommy time. :) And let me tell you, this Momma was JUST fine with that!! :)

Then my mom and I looked at each other and knew...it was time. Time to have her try her cupcake!!! :) (Picture overload ahead....just fyi)

singing, Happy Birthday!

first touch...

Mom tries to interest me....

Licks taste good but....

tried giving her just a "bite" to play with....

a spoon wouldn't even make her try it!

ok guys, I'm done with this!

Hi, Aunt Liz!

The spoon is good guys!

Still our happy girl no matter what!

So, she wasn't getting "into" her cake like the typical one-year old should...but that was okay. It's who she is. :) I think the overwhelming amount of people surrounding her trying to see what she would do was a little much. Well, would you like numerous people taking pictures, video, and cheering you on to try to eat food that you have never seen before? It would be kind of crazy! Later that week she did eat some more cupcake and really liked it!

Anyways, after the cupcake we were typical party people and talked until everyone left.