Happy Birthday, Layla

Our baby girl turned one today.  It doesn’t seem like it could be possible, and yet it is.  We spent the weekend celebrating her little life with most of our family and many friends who prayed her into existence not so long ago. 

I started pinning ideas and planning for Layla’s first birthday party several months ago.  I remembered planning for Amoura’s party getting pretty stressful, so I started earlier this go round.  When I was pregnant with Levi and not sure of his gender, I pinned some adorable hot air balloon nursery decorations that I just loved.  But then we found out he was a boy and went with the surf theme and I didn’t think about hot air balloons anymore until I was looking for 1^st birthday party ideas.   When I saw a few hot air balloon themed birthday parties, I was hooked.  Previously, I had contemplated copying my blogger/babyloss-mama/idol Brooke who did a doughnut party for her baby Coco a few months back.  It was cute and simple, but ultimately, I decided it was too simple; I she had to have the hot air balloons!

The decoration crafting began with some online ordering.  I would need Chinese lanterns and small lightweight baskets to make hot air balloons.  I picked up scrapbook paper, twine and ribbon at Hobby Lobby and started by adding the ribbon to the baskets.  Then, I cut what seemed like a hundred oblong strips of scrapbook paper to Modge Podge to the Chinese lanterns.  Except, my Modge Podge was nowhere to be found, so I made the first 2 balloons with puzzle glue. (The Modge Podge surfaced at school while I was looking for something totally unrelated to birthday crafts!)  The hardest part of the whole ordeal was tying the strings onto the balloon and then onto the basket in a way that made them look like actual hot air balloons.   I read a few tutorials but ultimately ended up doing my own thing.  Skip got interested in the crafting when I was about half way through, so he joined the fun and, of course, his balloons were much better than mine (and took twice as long!). Layla loved looking at the finished products and throwing around the extra lanterns, so I knew I’d made the right choice with the theme.

Two of my best teacher friends have Silhouette machines, so I recruited Courtney to cut out little 4-inch paper hot air balloons and Jessica to cut out letters for “Happy Birthday Layla” and “one” banners.  I made the balloons into vertical hanging garland by folding 4 balloons in half and gluing them together and stringing them on fishing line.  I probably made 45 3D hot air balloons that ended up dangling over the food table.  The “one” banner adorned the most precious wooden high chair borrowed from Jenilee’s parents and the “happy birthday” banner looked perfect on the pallet wall in the party room.  I’d made several picture banners from photos I’d printed and strung together one afternoon while my kiddos were taking a test.  I’d planned to print two from each month of her life for a total of 24 pictures.  I ended up with over 50 pictures I cut into squares and hung in order from youngest to oldest baby Layla.  The pictures hung behind the food table and I really enjoyed hearing people comment on their favorite photo of our girl. 

I used Chinese takeout boxes for the party favors and the table decorations to kill two birds with one stone.  Lots of people did not take their favor, so I’ve got boxes for another holiday (Valentine’s Day maybe?!) and S’more trail mix for days.  We tied balloons to the boxes, so they were a big hit with Layla who is currently obsessed with balloons.  We’ve got more than one picture of her being held by a partygoer whose face is totally covered by a balloon Layla is enjoying.  The decorations were pretty perfect if I do say so myself.  They filled the space nicely, but were not overkill.  The party room at our church made a beautiful backdrop for our creations and everything was just lovely, especially the birthday girl herself!

For refreshments, we served chicken salad croissants (stuffed with love by Aunt Kaylee), fruit cones (chocolate rimmed by Nanny and fruit chopped by Uncle Ben), cheese doodles, chocolate pretzels, cheese and crackers, and cupcakes by my talents bestie Kimberly.   I made strawberry lemonade to drink.  It was yummy.

Layla got lots of great presents including clothes, baby dolls, a little rocker, and a tricked out red wagon from her Daddy.  He was so excited to see her reaction to the wagon and she did not disappoint. She loved it and all of her other gifts. Unfortunately, it’s rained every day since her party, so she hasn’t gotten to use it much yet.  The cousins got a little ride in after the party, but it’s been parked ever since.  Stupid rain.  Skip picked out and purchased the wagon all on his own.  It was something he wanted Layla to have.  He is so invested in her life and I never want to take for granted his willingness to string lanterns and buy presents for our girl.  Plenty of good Daddies don’t get involved in the tiniest detail of their girls’ lives, and I’m so grateful he does without prompting. 

The guest of honor thoroughly enjoyed her party and all the attention she received all weekend.  She went to anyone who would take her and flirted with everyone at the party.  She got to spend a little time “chatting” with our walking buddy, Quinn, who she usually only sees in a stroller.  Quinn’s mama, Kimberly, and I have waited a long time to have birthdays to celebrate with our babies and I was tickled they could be there for her first party. When we invited folks via Face.book (ain’t nobody got time-or money- for paper invites these days) we invited Layla’s aunts and uncles as a gesture, not thinking many of them would be able to make it since they live several hours away.  We were thrilled when Ben and Kaylee AND Sarah and Andrew and their babies RSVPed.

One afternoon while I was talking about crafting balloon garland, Jessica said, “you know it’s her FIRST birthday, right?” and I said, “I know, I am SO excited!” I know she won’t remember this weekend or the balloons or the time I spent stuffing tiny boxes with golden grahams, chocolate chips and marshmallows, but I will.  And, I don’t mind admitting that this party was more for her parents than it was for her.  We are so freaking happy she is here; everyday feels worthy of a party.  The past year (and the 8.5 months prior when she was cooking) has been the most rewarding of my entire life.  Watching her grow and learn has been such a gift this year, we don’t ever want to take it for granted or omit an opportunity to show our gratitude. 

Happy Birthday, Layla June, you are the best gift we’ve ever received.