Hayden Birthday Part II

As promised here are the deets of Haydens 2nd Birthday party!!

 

My BFF/H's godmother designed the invite and I printed it via VistaPrint. I could not have been happier with the results. I ordered 40 invites (they come with envelopes) and 50 Thank you cards (also with envelopes) for about .56 a piece. Not bad in my opinion..especially considering the quality :-)

Figuring that cake plus kids would equal the need for wipes and wanting to keep with the owl theme I made this! It was on the gift table along with the adorably arranged party favors and this sign:

This sign was on the drinks cooler while a sign by the food table read "Whhooooo's Hungry??"

 So Sew Lovely on ETSY

I spent a little more on favors than I wanted to but I really wanted to give the kids (and parents) something that they would all love, use and not just throw away like a lot of the common stuff found in goodie bags. I contacted several Etsy shops and Wendi from So Sew Lovely was SO SO wonderful (yup..that just happened.) She made me these pre-filled crayon wallets which are normally super inexpensive at $8.50 for $6! I also sent her a picture of a fabric I loved but she didn't have in her shop and she got it and made them no problem. The quality rocks, everyone loved them and they come in mighty handy when you spot a meltdown on the horizon.

Next I went to Oriental Trading for my decor since none of the owl stuff in stores was cute enough..especially since I knew we would be using these owls throughout the party (invites, signs etc.)

The kids all got these plates but everyone else got plain white ones from BJS :-)

JMB Three Designs on ETSY

And finally, the birthday girls attire! I found this dress after a long search on Etsy. While I love the construction, colors and fit of the dress we did run into some issues. I asked Valerie to make the dress with the cap-like sleeves she offers in her shop but by mistake she sent me the halter. No biggie, I just put 2 buttons on the inside of the back and made it like a tank. Valerie wanted to make it up to me so she sent me the matching ruffled bloomers but they were huge. To make up for that she sent me another pair but they were even bigger lol Valerie tried and it was very appreciated but if I order from her again (which is possible since she has such cute dresses!) I will definitely take the size issue into consideration.

Regardless of what we had, who wore what and what was served the day was fabulous. Aside from wishing I took detail pictures instead of ripping them off the websites I loved all the details and can't wait to do it again next year!!

Haydens Birthday-Part I

yes, you read that right: part I...that means there is MORE!
 
Its official-- my baby is TWO!

(actually its been official for a few weeks, I just haven't had a chance to blog)

We celebrated on June 4th with a family and friends gymnastics party!  

I apologize in advance for the horrific picture quality. The flash blew everything up but without it it was so dark so some are blown out and some are (poorly) lightened up in photoshop.

H was overwhelmed at first so this weirdo instructor tried to do a one man show of Jackass to make her happy..as you can tell she was not impressed.

Aunts, Grandmas and all sorts of relatives and friends came!

One of the reasons I loved this particular place was because all the boring adults non-kid-toting attendees could still watch all the fun from the comfort of the party area.

My brother is essentially the BEST UNCLE EVER. He was set on making sure H had a good time so he went all out into Crazy Uncle Jarry mode..and she ate it up!

eating it up..

Jumping with Aunt Casey!

Jumping with Aunt Jess!

Enter everyones favorite thing: the foam pit!

my parents in the foam pit...i think this is their next holiday card, don't you??

just chattin with some school friends :-)

So I am an asshole and forgot to take detail pictures..but here is the kids picnic area (they didn't have kids chairs so I thought this was a safer plan.)

the adults tables

Naturally we served Haydens favorite food: Pizza

"Happy Birthday"

Its not a kids birthday party until someone has a melt down! :-)

I specifically asked for no flowers...they're lucky it tasted amazing. It was vanilla and chocolate cakes with raspberry preserves!

there were all sorts of picture issues this day as you can see.

H's Godmother :-)

though we were tired we went home for some present opening!

..and some nose picking

thats why we have kids right? To relive our childhoods by playing with their toys??

birthday kisses!

checking out her new Olivia purse while playing Daddys flut-o-fone from the 90s...yup.

she stole my piece of cake off the counter and devoured it...like a ninja!

THEN..it was her actual birthday on June 8

...and I had work then class so Gammy hung with H and got her to sit on the potty using her super cool new potty thing!

She opened her present from Mommy & Daddy (spoiler alert: it was a bunch of books)

she sang and danced while she ate

she practiced being embarrassed of me so she is all set when shes a teenager

again...

yup..this is the best pic we got.. :-(

but I did make Anthony record her eating her birthday cake since I was at class and here is that cuteness:

...and if that wasn't enough there is a part II so stay tuned because that will have all the details of the party (using pictures taken after the fact of course since I totally forgot)