First Birthday Party

We had a wonderful first birthday party for Elena, after thinking I wasn't going to do anything, I decided to have some family and close friends over to the house for Elena's birthday. In true Rebecca fashion, I do nothing halfway, so naturally I found myself going from not even having a party, to making decorations, pulling together pictures from the past year and making her cake/cupcakes for the guests.

Elena was a riot and totally loved having all of the attention on her. She had a blast playing with all of the kids, and was very into the unwrapping and opening of boxes. Some of the hits of the party were a puzzle, a computer laptop and her very own Elena sized chair.

She seemed to like the cake, although she didn't dive into it and make a huge mess like we may have hoped. She sat nicely and smiled at everyone while they sang happy birthday and then she watched Chris and I blow out the candles. As soon as I placed the cake in front of her she reached for it and begin taking very small bits of frosting off the cake and putting it in her mouth. Elena clearly loved the frosting, complete with "mmmmm..." sound effects. After watching her take off a good portion of the frosting, I took both of her hands and let her mash the cake. This was a crowd pleaser, but Elena definitely felt differently and immediately held out her hands to me to clean them off. Once I pulled a chunk of cake off she definitely got more into it though.

Looking back at it all, I am really glad that we had a party for Elena. It was great getting everyone together and was so wonderful to see Elena surrounded by so many loved ones. I think all the little details came together nicely as well. Although, after all that work, I think that every year is going to have to be pink and green themed, and I will just substitute out the year, hopefully she likes those colors for a few years!

Here is a snapshot of the details in photos:

The cake I made Elena

Cake topper and Candle (the cake topper ended up being one of Elena's favorite things to play with at the party)

Floral centerpiece

One year photos hanging on the mantle

The cupcakes I made, with the toppers. So worth it to order the appropriate tools (ie Cake decorating bags, tips and awesome food coloring all from Wiltons)

Not a party without a party hat, true to form Elena had it on her head for all of .2 seconds

Monkey balloon (had two pink/green balloon bouquets)
Monkey sign I made, that was hanging on the door

Treat bags with stickers "Thanks for swingin' by my party"

Another view of the cupcakes/festivities

Happy Birthday Elena sign