Nelia's First Birthday, Part 2: The details

As many of you know, I LOVE throwing parties!  If I could do it as a job, I totally would!  I love seeing and hearing people's reactions - it makes me so happy! And who doesn't love a good party?!

I began planning Nelia's party about two months ago.  I decided on a pink and orange theme - polka dots, stripes, and flowers!  I chose orange because that was my brother's favorite color. He was crazy about orange! I also knew how excited he was for Nelia's 1st birthday so this was my way of honoring my brother. Not only was it fun to plan her party, but it was also very therapeutic in many ways. With all that said, here are some pictures from her celebration - hope you enjoy!

The candy buffet/cupcake display! I absolutely love how this turned out!  Strawberry taffy, orange taffy, peach gummy rings, pink melon gummy rings, orange gummy bears, strawberry gummy bears, orange slices, strawberry rock candy, orange circus peanuts, and strawberry wafters - yum! The sign says 'Thank you for making my 1st birthday so SWEET! Grab a bag and fill it with treats!'

21 favor bags, filled with bubbles, a pink/orange crayon in each child's initial, and a CD that Patrick made of kid's songs. The bags said, 'Thanks for making my party so sweet! Love, Nelia'  We made and frosted all the cupcakes and topped them with these adorable cupcake toppers!

We served Costco sandwiches and wraps with an assortment of chips and fruit.  Of course we had to serve pink lemonade and orange tang:)  So many people commented on how many years it had been since they had Tang:) Seriously, old school!

Party hat, bib, and sippy cup! In my next post, I will share with you Nelia's party outfit:)

Nelia's smash cake!

Pink and orange tissue paper dahlias as the table centerpieces!

Nelia from 1 month - 12 months!  This was such a fun way to see how our sweet girl has changed since she was born.  Our guests loved looking at the pictures.

Hope you enjoyed the details from Nelia's 1st birthday party! Next up, the guests!

Here is a list of the sellers we used:

Invites, cupcake toppers, candy buffet sign: Etsy seller, Dimpleprints (Carli designed everything and I printed, assembled, etc. She was fabulous to work with!)

'Happy Birthday Nelia' banner: Etsy seller, Bellabini Designs (Eva did a beautiful job! Her banner got so many compliments)

Custom made bib and party hat: Etsy seller, sockmonkeyshop (So accomodating and easy to work with! She even went to the fabric store to find orange fabric for me!)

Poms: Etsy seller, orangekisses

And of course, I got much of my party inspiration from TomKat, who designs and throws fabulous parties, and Amy Atlas Events.

Nelia's First Birthday, Part 1

The easiest way to tackle Nelia's 1st birthday is by doing it in bits and pieces:)  When she woke up at the wonderful hour of 5:45am (she must have been really excited, lol) on her birthday, Patrick and I went into her bedroom and sang 'Happy Birthday' to her.  We took her downstairs so she could see her birthday present, which was an Everyday Chair from Pottery Barn Kids.

Hmm...what is this???

I love her little belly hanging out in this one:)

I think I like it!:)

She also got a new orange ball for her birthday, which of course was a hit!

It is definitely something that she will grow into and hopefully enjoy for a long time.  Next, she ate her favorite breakfast - mini pancakes, string cheese, maple puffs, and strawberries:)

We spent the morning playing and then met our friends Stephanie and Grace at Ben and Jerrys. Grace and Nelia have the same birthday - Grace is just a few hours older.  Steph and I met through our neighborhood mom's group and have become great friends.  Anyways, we thought we would treat the girls to their first scoop of ice cream. Neither of them seemed too into the ice cream though, which is probably a good thing.

Awww...such best friends!

Dancing to Twinkle, Twinkle....

Nelia opening up her gift from Grace - a toy SUV and a cute onesie!

Next up, Nelia's 12 month update and her birthday party!!!

Nelia - 11 months, weeks 3-4

Nelia wearing her pajama shorts...these are just the cutest things! I love her little chubby legs:)

Hanging out with her BFF Grace - such cool girls wearing their shades in the house:)

Helping daddy open his Father's Day present, which was a bike seat for Nelia (that green thing) and a helmet, which she is trying to open.

Giving daddy her Father's Day gift:) We also bought Patrick a concrete stepping stone that we will put Nelia's handprints in, the new Tom Petty CD, and a Costco pack of gum:)  He got to spend Father's Day relaxing at home while Nelia and I went out and ran errands.  Later on we had a yummy dinner with my dad and my father in-law.

Helping Opa with his card

Her newest thing is talking on the phone...she is such a silly girl!!!

Picture post! 11 months, 2-3 weeks

Nelia has a very cautious personality - she doesn't take risks - she is very tentative.  She has been quite comfortable crawling for a few months and most of the time pulls up to her knees. But lately I have looked up and seen her like this! She is getting brave...and she is getting so big! Where did the time go?

Playing peek-a-boo with daddy's hat

Peek-a-boo with her sunglasses:)

Is it bad that I think my daughter is absolutely adorable when she is having a meltdown?  Well, I suppose I would feel differently if we were out in public, but at home, who can resist that cute, pouty face?

Loving this new hat!  We took her to the Farmer's Market and she got so many compliments on it:)

Aren't these hilarious???  First of all, she has just started wearing her sunglasses, but more than anything I just think she forgets that she has them on:) She has also recently become quite intrigued by us talking on our phones - as you can see in the pictures above, I think she wants her own Blackberry too:)