Well, as usual I just couldn’t help myself. I tried to convince myself a party of any sort wasn’t necessary and I will say I held myself back and kept the celebration as small as possible (Your Godparents, our neighbors and immediate family) but once Bapa cleaned out his classroom and gifted me some really cool maps and globes for the kids (future) schoolroom that I knew could double as some pretty cute party decorations, it was all over. My creative juices were brewing and there was no holding me back 😉 I hopped online and to my surprise there were so many creative ways to incorporate maps and globes into birthday themes. I only had to make a couple trips out to get some discounted fabric, supplies to make 4 large hot air balloons and unexpected thrift finds like monogrammed napkins and I think it came together nicely 🙂
The DIY hot air balloons started with white paper lanterns. I added the hot pink stripes with paint, glued skewer sticks and added the mini pendant banner. Your big(gest) sister enjoyed helping me quite a bit cutting triangles, painting & decorating one of the mini suitcases in the picture above! The most time consuming part (& it was very time consuming) was hot glueing the super thin twine around the plastic baskets (from Dollar Tree). I should’ve found much thicker twine to cut down on the time it took but I made it work and it was good mental therapy to concentrate on something rather mindless in the evenings with a glass of wine to drown out the noise of “crazy” hours leading up to bedtime! 😉
Little details I added to your high chair in the wee hours of the morning when I realized an all-nighter was inevitable and sleeping for a few hours would have been more harmful than helpful…
As always, Bapa helped tremendously the week of the party taking the 3 big girls on an all-day outing so I could grocery shop with 2 instead of 5 and doing odds and ins like patching and painting walls and hosing the backyard patio. We had an early “PJ and donut” gathering, so a brunch spread was in order…
French Toast casserole, egg & bacon casserole, fruit kabob’s, broccoli salad, croissants and cheese, and of course Donuts!!!
A sleepy but happy taste tester…
The kids table…
And those napkins I scored at Goodwill for $1 …
Her 1st bounce house and she loved it! (& suddenly my toddler and “baby” look HUGE!)
Piñata time…
The happy crew…This is only 3 families worth of kids 😉
Just some of the cutest boys on the block…
Taking her cake very seriously …
“Whatchoo looking at?”
“Just Kidding!”
Already acting like a big bossy lady 😉
Oh my Sweet Adorable Yvette! This year has flown by. It seems like yesterday I was nursing you around the clock, holding you to my chest in the sling for hours at Disneyland or at the park and now you are walking and babbling and feeding yourself and pointing to your nose and pushing everyone’s arms away. You are such a doll! I wasn’t sure how I would do life with a 5th child and now I can’t imagine life without you!!! You adore all your siblings and want to be wherever they are! You are definitely a Daddy’s girl and cry when he turns his back on you and you melt in his arms…Your smile is contagious and brightens up my day even if I’m not in the best of moods. You are more of a contemplative, peaceful, happy temperament and you are SMART! You are tough and fearless, as seen most obviously in the water when you dunk your face repeatedly. You nap really well, especially considering the noise level surrounding you in these tight living quarters (thank the heavens for white noise/sound machines) and you sleep pretty well at night barring any constipation or teething issues 😉 You are just the cutest and you have my whole heart!
I’m excited to see how your personality and your heart unfold this coming year!
HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY!!! WE ALL LOVE YOU SO VERY MUCH!
Everything turned out super cute as always. Happy 1st, Yvette!