Bailey's party went without a hitch. Well there was one. Not many of the kids showed up. Eight of the fifteen I was counting on came. Five of those had to cancel last minute, and two of them-their father completely forgot and made other plans.
Bailey looked amazing in the outfit a dear Justmommies.com friend made. Due to wind and slightly chilly temps, I added a long sleeve shirt under her birthday onsie and a pair of leggings under her tutu, but she still looked great! Especially with the bow I had just found one day before her party.
My amazing
Not having a meal worked out perfectly! We always have a lot of food, (burger and dogs with all the usual salads in the summer; baked ziti, meatballs, cold cuts, etc in the cooler months) but this time we stuck with snacks. Veggie platters, fruit platters, pepperoni cheese and crackers platter, jalapeno poppers, chips and dip, nacho's and salsa, was all that covered the table. I am very, very grateful to my parents for supplying the fruit, veggie, and cheese platters, and my aunt for bringing the poppers.
While everyone ate, I made my rounds socializing and the kids all played with the toys at my parents house. Bailey and Katie's son (just a few months older) fought over the purple car that we found months ago on the side of the road.
When the cakes were set up everyone ooh'ed and ahh'ed, exactly like I hoped for. I was so proud of the cake, cupcakes, and smash cake. My visions were brought to life perfectly. And while I did not do the icing, I did keep my tradition of making my children's 1st birthday cakes. I baked everything and added the candy bits, tiara's, and candle's. Katie took my wish of putting a "letter block" on the smash cake and totally rocked it.
Because my niece's 3rd birthday was on the 6th and my in laws do nothing to celebrate birthday's, I had Katie ice one cupcake especially for Lizzie. Liz was given the only purple cupcake. Sadly, just like with my nephew, my sister in law did not show to see her daughter blow out candles for the 1st time or actually rip open wrapping paper for the 2nd time ever. (1st time was Christmas with the one gift we got her.) Breaks my heart.. Anyway, because I found Bailey's bow last minute, I let Lizzie wear Bailey's birthday hat. It matched her, and the cakes wonderfully. It did bug me that my daughter didn't wear the hat I bought her, but it made me so happy to see my niece's face light up when I gave her the "shiny" hat.
Tom held Bailey while we sang Happy Birthday to our princess and 'helped' her blow out her candles. It was so sweet watching them. I love those two so much.
Of my three children, Bailey was definitely the neatest with the smash cake. It took her a while to even touch it. She just sat there staring at it as if to say, "What am I supposed to do with this?" She eventually dug in, mainly eating the "B, 1 block" on top and just digging off the top of the main cake. She was so sweet! Only got a few spots of frosting on her actual outfit! I was originally going to undress her but it was too chilly and I didn't have anything cute other than her other birthday outfit she was supposed to wear after cake. (Didn't happen) Now the smash cake pictures I know we are all waiting for!
First tastes.
Only two real messes; her hands and face.
My big girl using a spoon.
(Clear shot of her 1st tooth, the top right.)
My favorite; digging in.
After the cake mess was cleaned up we did presents as the few guests we had were starting to leave. Lizzie opened her two presents 1st and her face lit up when she opened the Snow White dress up doll set Tom and I got her. The only photo I have though is her opening the present my parents got her. Not even my in laws brought her (or Bailey, or anyone ever, unless you count hand me downs and good will finds in a plastic shopping bag) a gift to open on what we tried to make her day as well. I am not usually this angry about people not bringing gifts. In fact I usually ask people to bring a dish in lieu of gifts. It just bothers me that my in laws always ask us to purchase gifts and other needs for these two kids, but only ever give my kids old clothes, that they never had new to begin with, including old used toddler underwear with actual poop still attached. Yes, call me materialistic but if you are going to ask someone to buy a gift for your kid/grandkid, at least give that kid a gift instead of wasting all your money on Wendy's and booze.
Bailey could care less about the gifts, although she did enjoy the bows and paper. I am so grateful for all the clothes my daughter received! This poor girl had almost nothing in her correct size! I can finally pack away all the 3-6 month stuff that she is still wearing! (She can still fit in a lot of it..) The three toys she did get, she loved. Stacking rings, a musical butterfly she already had in a different color with working batteries, a play cell phone, and this leapfrog reading thing, that plays music, reads a story as you press the buttons, and names, shapes, colors, numbers, and letters. She was also given two pairs of sneakers. One she can wear now, from us, and one she will be wearing in a few weeks from my Aunt-the surrogate Nana I've mentioned in previous posts. And her favorite gifts of all were the 2 books she was given, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (collection of nursery rhymes and lullabies) and Brown Bear, Brown Bear; a new family favorite.
After presents Bailey just sat, relaxed, and then climbed on a chair while Mommy packed up everything that had to go into the van.
At this time all that was remaining were the two sets of grandparents, and maybe two other people, with out kids. So we finished the clean up, hung out with our parents for a bit, and left. We arrived home at 7 pm, and Bailey was out cold. Would not wake to eat whatsoever, didn't even wake when we changed her diaper. She even slept through the night! She was pooped!
Mommy was pooped as well! Between not going to bed until almost 4 am on Saturday night (Sunday Morning?) and getting up early for the party, I was exhausted. I ended up in bed by 11 pm Sunday night (early for me) and sleeping straight until just after 11 the next morning. So glad for Columbus Day and for Tom being home and getting up with the kids.
I do wish I spent more time with the kids enjoying myself, or at least taking pictures, but everyone was in a rush from the moment they got there that I just tried to keep food/cake/presents flowing to get it all done. This was our shortest birthday party ever and I do not remember much of the in between food parts at all. And while this is common with me, I do not have many pictures to look back at. They are all of decorations, cakes, and Bailey eating.. I hope in the future this good enough for her to look back on. I know she definitely enjoyed herself, and, well, that is all that matters.
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