Happy Birthday, Sunshine!

 Of course, we had to have a Little Miss Sunshine themed birthday party for our 'Sunshine Girl'.  This was by far my craftiest party yet and I loved working with the theme.  We decided on a small family party which is ironic because our family is huge.  I didn't want the party to be about entertaining other kids.  I wanted to focus on 'Munchkin' on her special day.  It turned out perfect.

 

The treat table

 

'Munchkin's' smash cake

Yummy lemon cupcakes

 

Little lemon cakes

 

I bought this book for our guests to write a first birthday message in.  I love birthday keepsakes that we can have forever.

 

Sunny yellow decorations around the house and pictures of the birthday girl everywhere.

 

Birthday banner on doilies

I loved this...I clipped pictures of 'Munchkin' from birth to eleven months to some twine and strung it along the fireplace.

Outdoor beverage table

Banner I made.

 

Mason jars for everyone to drink from. 

Party Time...

The birthday girl making her birthday face.

 

The big kids just played with toys and on the playground in the backyard.  So simple and nobody even missed the bounce house.

Our play stuff holds up pretty well.

Trever and Calli.

 Miss Natalie.

 'Munchkin' and Daddy going for a ride on the Shetland Pony.

 Dinner was super easy.  I made a salad and deviled eggs and the grandparents brought the other side dishes.  We picked up some delicious sandwiches from Togo's and that was that.  I may never cook for a party again.  It was so relaxing.

The food table

My party face. 

'Munchkin' says "yum".  She loved the food.

I'm pretty sure 'The Boy' ate a few strawberries out of the fruit salad and decided to save lots of room for cake.

Handsome Delton.

And here is the section in the post that I like to call pass the birthday girl...

Then, it was time for some birthday cake.  And let me just say, we don't mess around with baby's first cake.

 She really wanted that candle.

 She got a little help form 'The Boy' and Mommy.

 Then she dove right in.

 She ditched the party hat and let her brother in on the action.

It wasn't until someone asked if I was going to let her eat the whole cake that I had realized she had gotten more than enough.

 And she continued to lick her hands well after the cake was taken away.

 Someone else wanted to be the Birthday Girl for a bit.  That hat must have looked very interesting to him.  He had been asking to wear it all week.

 We opened a bunch of adorable girlie presents...

 She liked this stroller and her new baby doll the best.

We finished up the night by watching the city fireworks from our front yard.   Our small little town does their Fourth of July show the weekend before so she will always get birthday fireworks as long as we live here.  'Munchkin's' first birthday was so fantastic.  I still can't believe that it has come and gone.  Thank you everybody for celebrating with us. 

At One Year

 Dear 'Munchkin'...

Well, here we are.  You are no longer our little baby but now our one year old girl.  This year flew by so very fast.  It seems as if just yesterday, we brought you into the world.  In this year, you have brought so much joy and sunshine to our lives.  You have captured all of our hearts and filled us with your light.

At one year, you are sweet and smiley and have a personality all your own.  You are the happiest, easiest, most mellow little girl.  You light up a room with your smile and you draw attention from everyone around you. 

When we though of having a little girl, we expected a very timid, cautious, gentle baby.  You are the total opposite.  You jump into things without a though or a care...you will try anything.  You love wrestling with Daddy and spinning with Mommy.  We think you will be Daddy's roller coaster buddy.

You haven't taken those first steps yet but, you stood alone without holding on a few days ago.  You have a lot of keeping up to do with your brother so we think you'll figure it out real soon.  You love chairs!  You  crawl up in a chair, big or small, and try to get it to rock.

You love to play peek-a-boo and so big, though you only put up one arm.  You adore chasing after your brother and, much to his dismay, you always want to play with what he's playing with.  The two of you love each other and have a special bond.  I am excited to watch you two grow together.

You are still such a petite little thing.  People often assume that you are about 9 months old and you're still holding strong in your 6-9 month wardrobe.  Our sweet petite.

You love playing with Daddy.  He makes you giggle like no other person can.  You are definitely a Daddy's girl and you reach for him to hold you most of the time.  You always want Mommy when you are sad or hurt or want to snuggle. 

You are such a foodie.  You will eat anything and everything.  We are weaning you off the bottle and hope to put them away a week after your birthday.  You drink well from a sippy cup but you much prefer drinking from a straw.  If you see someone drinking for a straw, you have to have it...now!

You still suck your thumb when you are scared, unsure or tired.  You have a language all you own and have foreign conversations with us all the time.  You sometimes babble in your sleep and you have a sweet little snore that we hear almost every night.

You are such a girlie, girl!  You still love shoes...playing with them, eating them, tapping your feet in them.  You help pick out your clothes every day...you usually grab for frilly colorful dresses and then we put you in something more conducive to playtime.  You grab your brush from my hands and brush your hair already.  You also love baby dolls!

We just adore you, our little one.  You have brought so much to our family and we feel complete with you here.  Thank you for the sunshine you have brought into our lives.

Happy First Birthday!

 Thank you so much to my super, awesome, talented friend, Sarah Middleton of Itsy Bitsy Photography.  Her work is fantastic.  Check her out here...http://itsybitsyphotography.com/