McNuggets 1st Birthday: the Prep

It finally happened, our little McNugget turned 1. It took me more than a month to plan and prep for, but the event was a huge success in my eyes. The first thing we did was pick a theme - and I wanted it to be something special to her.

Several months ago, we realized she has a special place in her heart for the color yellow. How did we know this (since she can't talk yet)? Well, anytime we'd wear clothes with yellow lettering, prints, etc. she'd  trace her little finger on the yellow spots; when she saw the yellow craft bumble bees at school that was hanging on the ceiling, she'd reach for them every day. And then if you give her two of the same toy, one yellow and one not, she'd always pick the yellow one. Cool, right? So when I saw this Macy's department store advertisement, I knew I had my theme.

Invites were next - I pulled a photo from each of her months to show her age progression over the past year. Obviously I've removed all the sensitive data (like our home address), but otherwise this was the invite. We only had about 25 invites to send, so we printed 10 (using 1 hour 4X6 photos at Target) and emailed the rest. We asked everyone to dress in yellow - which is apparently not a color most have in their wardrobe because while half everyone showed up in yellow, the other half said "this was as close as they could get".  

Then it was time to arrange for the cake. My husband's coworker has a side business for cakes and we loved the one she put together for McNugget's christening, so this one was a no-brainer. I just sent her the Macy's add, asked her to do something using the couch and flowers, and the below is the BEAUTIFUL cake that they came up with. It seriously made me cry when I saw it, and I have to say that it was everything I could have ever wanted.

I also sewed two lemon table runners that I know will be useful for the next few parties or summer get-togethers.



The next part was party decorations. I bought 21 yellow and white paper lanterns from "5 and Below" (they were $5 for 3). I figured I could use them for future parties or as decorations in the new nursery.

We bought some faux lemons on clearance ($4) at target for filler - which I've wanted since our wedding (where we used real lemons as vase filler). They always remind us of where we spent our honeymoon in Italy.

And my sister brought us wildflowers from the place where she was interning (free).

A few lemon scented candles from Homegoods (9 in a pack for $4). You can see the gift table and flags captured in the photo as well.

The kids favors were yellow bubbles tied with either a tie or bow (for the boys and girls). The idea was to keep them entertained at the party and afterwards, but we forgot to have everyone take them when the came in. I've been passing them out as we saw the kids in the weeks since. ($12) We used some of the leftover yellow ribbon from our wedding- kids don't care, right?

For the adults, I had lemon and vanilla salt water taffy and yellow-white striped swirled candy sticks (which in the chaos we also forgot to give out) that we bought down the shore (McNugget's first trip to the beach) two weeks prior.  

I spent a few hours sewing a yellow and orange flag streamer (apparently called bunting), and found the most fabulous Cinderella-inspired card cage which I will be keeping out on our porch and use for future parties. We (the husband) had to spray paint it yellow (original color in the second photo below). This was the most expensive item - at $30 - but I knew we could get years of use out of it in the garden or just as decoration for future parties. Heck, she may even be able to use it as the card cage at her wedding!! You can see it painted in the middle of her gift pile below. I was originally going to get a regular old bird cage to spray paint yellow, but couldn't muster the $30 for something so "normal". When I saw this though, they had me.

(before)

So that was our successful first adventure into birthday decorating. There were details we overlooked (like a special birthday candle - fortunately I had some leftovers from other events in the cabinet), but overall it was exactly what I had envisioned to help our little girl celebrate her birthday.

Happy 1 Year McNugget!

My little McNugget,

Its been a year; a full year since we've first held you, kissed you, and sat in absolute amazement that you were here - and you were ours. And while people say "I can't believe its been a year" it feels strange to think that there was ever a time that you weren't with us. You and I have spent time together every day for the last 365 days (plus), and I am so lucky for that; this has undoubtedly been the best trip around the sun I've ever known.

I can't remember much about you being so little; I already have to look at photos to remind myself that you weren't always the big girl you are today. You've become an official toddler, taking your first unassisted steps the week before your first party (one one day, one the next, then three over at our neighbor-friend's house). After another week and a half of you just crawling, you started to really walk. You took about ten steps at daycare for that same neighbor-friend, and then a few minutes later another dozen to me, tumbling proudly into my arms. Its only going to be a few more weeks until walking becomes your 'preferred method' of transportation.

You're down to one bottle now, and still a terrific eater and sleeper.  Whatever sleep difficulties you were having last month are long gone, and because you're so active it only takes a minute or two of  rocking you for you to want to go to sleep. You have kept your blue eyes and sandy-blond hair, and are now saying "Mama". You're growing more beautiful every day - if that is even possible.

You've had your first trip to the pool (at Great Aunt Linda's) and you took your first trip to the beach a few weeks ago with me and your daddy, grand mom and aunt Valerie. You loved the sand but were quite scared of the ocean (mostly, we think, because it was so loud!).

You're very interested in babies at school, and have learned to mimic us rocking your dolly and being gentle with babies and pets. You've found a love for throwing yourself onto fluffy pillows and giving us the most adorable glance to see if we're watching you. You prefer me and your dad to other people, but are still a major social butterfly and flirt; having your first birthday party where everyone wanted a little bit of attention from you was a gift in itself for you :)

I hope you've had a very happy birthday darling, and that every year gets even better for you. You have given me the best days of my life so far, and I thank God for you every moment we get to share together.

Happy first birthday baby girl. xoxo.

Mama