This is the first of three birthday posts! There is too much to share for just one :) so we will share the love.
To celebrate Lucy's birthday with friends we decided to have an open house the Saturday before her birthday so that people could come and go as they pleased and we could visit and share some yummy food (aka: cookies). We handed out most of the invitations at church, but mailed invites to grandparents (we knew they wouldn't be able to come, but wanted to send them one them anyway).
The morning of the open house, Lucy got to see her pom-pom garland for the first time:
She loved it! :) One of the "new" things she is doing is putting her hand over her mouth (like she is shocked or bashful) when she is excited. It melted my heart when she did this new trick when she saw her banner for the first time. :) Mamma's hard work was ALL worth it.
I tried to manipulate Lucy's schedule for the day so she would be rested and cheerful for her party (since I scheduled it during the same time as her afternoon nap - good thinking). Thankfully it worked. I put Lu back down in her crib after she had her morning milk and she slept til 10!!! Success! I put her back down at noon and woke her up 5 minutes before party-time. :) Since she slept so well during the morning/early afternoon - I had time to decorate and get the house ready (and make up the last of the cookies).
Not many changes outside, other than a balloon (thanks Carol!) and a fun colored rug.
I moved three dining room chairs into the front room, to add extra seating, and on the hall closet there - I added a fun activity for guests:
Pictures of Brad and I at 1 year - there was a pink marker hanging from the door knob and guests had fun voting. I won. By a land slide. 23-6! (and 4 of Brad's votes were from a 4 year old... hehehe) I thought, after the fact that it would have been fun to compare birth pictures AND 1 year pictures (Brad would have won the birth comparison contest), and some people suggested that a picture of Lucy would have been nice to help with the comparison too. (So if you choose to do this idea - there are the things I would/will change next time)
The dining room was cleared of chairs and decorated in "Lucy colors" (pink, grey, green and white).
The pom-pom banner up close - it turned out SO WELL! (A giveaway is coming soon that will help YOU, yes - YOU, make one of your own!)
The side of the refrigerator was turned into a gallery wall - showcasing Lucy's monthly pictures. This was a crowded area during the party - perhaps my 2nd favorite decoration (my 1st favorite is the pom-pom banner!) Both the banner and this picture display are still up - I don't want to EVER take them down. :)
Lucy's quilt was the table runner of choice - all of the party colors are in it - and it provided a nice backdrop to cookies, veggies and dip and chips and dip. :) I shopped my house for the centerpiece - the apothecary jar came from the Master bedroom and the hollow yarn balls are left over from church's Easter brunch, they are mixed with a few twine balls. The lantern hasn't found a home here yet, but I have had it since High School and was happy to pull it out again. I've had the green cross for the same amount of time - but it usually lives in Lucy's room. :) (I love shopping my house! It is so inexpensive!)
Elephant sugar cookies were the star of the show. :) Some of the teenage boys who came to the party commented on how morbid it was for Lucy to be eating elephants when she loved them so much.... lol.... I thought that was funny. The elephant cookies made me happy, so I made them - not thinking about the implications. They tasted yummy yummy!
The other side of the centerpiece. Baby Ellie and Edward, some of Lucy and I's favorite books (which just happened to match the party colors) and a cute little owl (no vignette is complete without at least ONE bird) I bought at Hob Lob earlier this year, he usually lives on a shelf (with the green cross) in Lucy's room.
The buffet got some pretties too! It would be a shame to have left it out.
No party, even if it is for a boy, is complete without flowers. Brad picked these ones out at Sams - such a good man - they opened up beautifully and smelled so good!
This side of the buffet was graced with thrift store finds - my white candle sticks and the pretty white bowl I found when my sister Becca visited earlier this year - paired with some candles (thanks Mom K!) and a few more yarn balls. :)
All I did in the living room was raise the screen, move some chairs, put out coasters (for guest's beverages) and put a special picture frame on the red trunk:
I love this frame. It helps you focus on Lucy's different facial expressions - I've stared at it for hours.
The birthday girl approved of the decorations! Yippee!
Lucy's "friends" started arriving and she had no problem with convincing them it was a good idea to share food with her. I think she ate 5 oreos! Oh well, you are only 1 once. :)
She tried ranch dip for the first time - loved it.
It makes me so happy to see a bunch of people in my living room...
...especially when they are visiting. :)
My sweet girl, and Oreo remains. :)
We opened a few gifts when friends were still at our house, but decided to wait on the majority of them. I would much rather people visit during a party than focus on one thing (opening gifts) for 20 minutes. Some people really wanted to see Lu open their gifts (a few of Lucy's little friends were SO excited to see Lu play with the toys they picked out for her) and she was all too happy to oblige. :)
It was SUCH a fun afternoon. I forget how much I get an emotional high from having a TON of people over to my house (I'm weird, I know...). Plus my friend Misty helped clean up - so once we had an empty house, there wasn't that much to do! A great way to end a great afternoon. :)
A big THANK YOU to all our friends who stopped by! We so enjoyed seeing you - thank you for coming and celebrating our Lucy's birthday with us. :)
1 comment:
Ah that looked like fun.:) sorry we could not make it.:(
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