The Big ONE

Front door decor.  The bunting above spelled out "Chapter."  The "1" was made out of ruffled crepe paper glued to foam board.  It was a bit humid and it started to come apart by the time I photographed it.

...and just like that, you were one.  I could go on and on wondering where this year went.  I'm sure I've done just that in many a post.  But we have a party to talk about!  On your actual first birthday (a week and a half ago!), friends and family gathered in our home to commemorate the first year of your extraordinary life.  You were lavished with gifts and love and attention.  You were fed even more unwanted sweets.  Our house was turned upside-down, swapping furniture around and decorating walls, all in the name of celebration.  Your birthday party theme was "Chapter 1".  It was vintage book-inspired, recalling the 70's style Little Golden Books artwork: round-cheeked, barefoot children with wispy hair (you always remind me of those illustrations), and very homespun, granny-chic.  We borrowed family china and crocheted doilies from Grammy, went thrifting for many items, and made basically every single other thing.  It was a pink and gold affair, full of ruffles and lace and ribbons and doilies.  I wanted everything to be soft and beautiful and meaningful.  You were charming and lovely, if not a little sleepy.  And the two-hour party that we planned flew by in the blink of an eye.

The invitations.  I made them using scans of vintage wrapping paper and overlays on PicMonkey.com, topped them with gold "F" stamped doilies and a flower, tied together with a bow.  They were book-style with multiple pages and a little rhyme inside.  The pink version was the standard one for most guests.  I couldn't help myself though, and made a gold "bootleg" version, too!

Gathering Supplies.  I used a lot of clean, re-purposed jars I had saved.  The were wrapped in lace and doilies.  The held everything from straws and food pics, to utensils and favors.  The blue mason jars were Goodwill finds!

One favorite detail: Walkway stakes that read "Once", "Upon", "A Time" on the way in and "Happily", "Ever", "After" on the backside (on your way out).  They were made by using a free doily png image (here) edited with text and glued to a real doily and then layered onto a gold tissue rosette.  Dowels were painted gold and tied with ribbons and lace that blew in the breeze.  I love them.

Odds & Ends: Doily bunting and antique gold frames as wall decor, homemade bubbles (labels are a free download here) with gold glitter and pipe cleaner bubble wands, stripey straws and homemade flag food picks (scrapbook paper), pink vanilla sugar in jars as favors (recipe and inspiration here), and detail of ribbon wands (on dowels, painted gold) also as favors. 

The dessert table.  I was short a cupcake stand, so I made one by stacking plates on tin cans wrapped in lace (you can tell from this angle, but couldn't if you were standing.  There were white cupcakes with pink frosting, pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting and a chocolate fudge cake with a whipped buttercream frosting.  The table itself was a dresser, covered in a vintage sheet that I found with just the right colors.

Despite the fact that months of planning went into your party, things (as usual) did not all go according to plan.  I wanted a sweet and simple party for you.  Somehow I got it in my head that "homemade" equaled "simple."  I will never make that mistake again.  I made so many things from scratch for this party it isn't even funny.  It was the least "simple" party I've ever thrown.  It makes it personal and special, for sure, but there are many things that I planned to make or decorate that just never happened.  However, I suspect nobody was the wiser.  In addition to the incomplete checklist, you were extremely restless the night before, resulting in a sleepless night.  This threw off your entire nap schedule and you were ready for bed by the time guests arrived.  But you pulled through like a champ.  I never did find the gold sandals I had hunted for, so you were barefoot.  I handmade a headband for you.  Crocheted band, handmade flowers...you wouldn't wear it.  Not even for one picture.  The weather was decent, but pretty warm.  Consequently, guests stood and sat around our living room all day even though we moved the big table and bench to the patio.  Your dad and I initially tried to open up the house to encourage guests to wander in and out, but the temperature sky-rocketed instantly inside.  Because of this, the icing on your smash cake began to melt and the whole thing started to wilt and slide around.  It did not end up looking like the pretty cake I envisioned when I planned this fete.  The lighting in the house wasn't ideal for photos and I was too busy setting up and then greeting guests to get any proper "before" photos.  Oh, and Sydney threw up.  In the middle of your party.  But despite all of this, it was a perfect day.  

More details:  Pumpkin cupcakes, doily & monogram backdrop, "Choose Your Own Adventure" Activity (guests were asked to predict who you would become, makeshift cupcake stand closeup, stripey straws at the beverage station (your sister's desk, covered in the same vintage fabric, favor station (your bookshelf) with favors like re-wrapped crayons in scrapbook paper, cookie pops and a vintage "Let's Party" printout that I turned into a black & white coloring page, the main food table- mid-setup, and an overview of the big cake (doily stencil with cocoa powder and a mini pearl bunting)

My other favorite feature: The photo wall.  It was so hard to narrow them down.

You were a bit clingy when the house first filled with people, but come present-opening time, you realized you were center stage and loved every second of that spotlight.  After opening the first gift, you threw your hands up in a "touchdown-like" pose with pointed fingers.  Everyone laughed and you knew you had us.  You were such a ham opening the rest.  I believe that for your sisters' first birthdays we got through about three presents, max, before they began to lose interest. Not you.  No sir.  You opened every single one and made a huge mess in the process.  Christmas is going to be a blast.

The star of the show.

When it came time to serve you some cake, we swapped your sweet party dress for a "Birthday Girl" t-shirt. I handed you your half-melted cake on its pedestal and you couldn't have cared less.  We ended up having to feed you a bite just to get your attention. You made a mess alright, but basically just on your hands.  I think you thought you were finger-painting.  This is actually fine by me.  If I had to choose, I'd take my spinach and broccoli-eating baby over one who dives into sweets any day.  

Melted smash cake and a homemade cake pedestal.  Dollar Store plate + painted  thrifted candlestick , et voila!

A little messy.

And that was about the extent of it.  Nothing major.

And because it's a birthday post, it's time for:
What Finnlee's Digging: 12 Months

• Music/Dancing: This is my current favorite thing that you do.  Every time you hear music you throw one hand in the air (or both if you're sitting) and do the most enthusiastic bounce.  I call it your "Raise the Roof" dance.  It is hysterical.  
• Kisses: You have become quite the love bug and insist on showering those closest to you with tons of kisses.  A lot of them land on our knees, shoulders, biceps, and backs.  And a lot of those kisses involve a baby tongue.  But you won't catch us complaining.
• Sisters: You are obsessed with your sisters.  You started saying Sydney's name a couple of weeks ago (Nid-nee), and Kylee's name has gone through and evolution.  It started out "Ya-Ya" and now is closer to "Da-Da".  We're working on it.  Just yesterday I believe you were trying to say Ashley's name, but I can't be sure of that pronunciation yet.  A lot of things are sounding similar to "Da Da" these days.
• Dogs: The obsession continues.  You can spot a dog a mile away.  I can barely walk down the toilet paper aisle these days because so many of the packages feature puppies.  
• Our stereo equipment: It's a "no-no", which probably explains the initial draw, but you can't get enough of all of those buttons, lights and noises.  You love opening up the cd door and watching everything light up.  You really delight in finding the power button for the surround sound and watching mommy jump at the sudden noise.  And no matter how many times I tell you to stop, you always find yourself back over there.  Electronics have a hold on you right now.

After everyone left, I took you outside to try to capture you at exactly one year old.

The light was beautiful and so were you.

But you were also very tired.

Very, very tired.

First birthdays are always special, of course.  But there is something so bittersweet about watching your last baby try to make the leap from babyhood to toddlerdom in one day.  It's not lost on me that I won't be planning another first birthday.  Not for my babies anyway.  And as much as I told myself to soak the day in, it seems like a blur.  There's never enough time.  In the last month, you have started looking older.  Your hair is coming in thick and getting longer.  You follow understand directions.  Words are making sense and some of them are making their way to your lips.  You have the best sense of humor.  You know when you're being funny and you thoroughly enjoy making us laugh.  You eat, or at least gum your way through, just about anything that I am eating.  And you play in the big kids' playroom, toy kitchen, dollhouse, toybox and all.  One of my favorite features at your party was the photo wall where I hung an assortment of pictures from your first year by clothespins.  It is painful to look through those images and see how rapidly you changed during this year.  It's sad to realize that it's only the beginning.  That in a very short time I will be looking at pictures of today and marveling at how you've grown.  But I would be lying if I said I wasn't excited to watch you become a little person.  I look forward to chasing you at the park, having conversations with you and hearing what your little voice will ultimately sound like.  I feel so blessed and fortunate to have had this year with you.  I'm sure my memory will, in time, block out the sleepless nights, fussy days and messy rooms, and leave me with rosy happy times.  I'm okay with that.  I anticipate the next stage, realizing that it too will have its challenges.  I welcome it all.  But I have no desire to live in the past or future.  I want to stay in the moment with you always.  Today you are a sleepy, fuzzy-headed, music-loving one year old. We are making your Halloween costume, doing a little housework and getting some fresh air. There's no place I'd rather be.

It was a long day.  Until next year...

Happy One Year, my dearest little Finnlee!