In keeping with my “keep it simple” approach to Penelope’s birthday, I decorated the kitchen very sparsely. I hung the banner I made the birthday banner for Penelope’s first birthday, added a white tablecloth to the table and wrapped her gifts in white butcher paper.
The thing about kids’ toys: they never come in a simple box. They’re always in an annoying blister pack or odd-shaped rectangle. That was certainly the case with the gifts we gave her this year. I was just in such a hurry to get her gifts wrapped before she wandered into my bedroom, somehow I channeled my inner short cook and came up with a really simple and fast way to wrap her awkward-shaped gifts.
I’m not sure about you, but I figured I’d share this technique in case it would come in handy for any of you. I think the gifts turned out quite nicely, considering their shape and the simple paper used. Click the link below for the whole tutorial (and video!).
We kept Felix’s birthday celebrations really low key, just like I did with Penelope’s. Interestingly enough, we’re in a similar work situation for Felix’s first birthday as we were for Penelope’s first birthday. Except, we didn’t have to move 800 miles.
I had originally planned on doing a monkey theme, but that quickly changed to a bear/brown/red theme. Next year we’ll do monkeys. I sent out the above invitation via facebook and called it good.
I made chocolate cookies and chocolate cupcakes with sour cherry frosting. We had a little frosting station for friends and family to decorate their own cookies. I made my sisters-in-law blow up balloons and Shelley make the “I’m with adorable.” sign. I’d say I did a pretty good job of delegating party tasks, since I never delegate when I need to.
Felix had just eaten beets. His favorite food. I think he was pretty excited for the festivities to begin.
He was so funny! At first he didn’t know what to do with the cupcake on his tray. As soon as we fed him a couple bites, he was all over that thing. He even cried for another one just after he had finished his first. This little boy is just too cute for words.
I had planned on doing a little photo booth with Felix in the middle, but this was the only shot I managed to take of felix and family. My sister-in-law, Shelley, is on the left and my sister, Emily, is on the right.
I snapped this photo just after they left. He sure loves getting lots of attention. We had a great time getting together. It also just so happened that my Mother-in-law and my youngest sister-in-law were in town for the weekend, so having them around made the festivities extra special.
I made sure to record the cupcake carnage at his party and I’ve edited it down from 25 minutes to 2 and a half minutes. This video is mostly for my mom and dad who didn’t get to enjoy his big moment, but I thought y’all might get a kick out of it as well.
Felix went in for his one year appointment yesterday and he’s doing really well. He’s 99th percentile in head size and 60th percentile in weight and height. His head is really holding him back with a lot of his physical milestones (crawling, sitting, walking, standing). He just can’t balance with that giant head on his shoulders. We’ll have to take him into a physical therapist, but that shouldn’t be too bad. As any parent, I’m really eager to see him get up and move, but I am enjoying all of the cuddles and quiet time we’re having in the mean time. Felix really is the best baby. Ever. Happy Birthday, Feli-monster!
It was Chris’s Birthday on Saturday! Sadly enough, we spent the whole day car shopping. It’s probably the worst thing ever, besides getting all of your teeth pulled all at once. We had already planned on having family over on Sunday so we treated Sunday night as his real birthday. We had his brothers & sisters over for dinner, cake & a rousing game of Bridge. Chris’s request was to have chocolate instead of cake. I found this to be the perfect mixture of both.
Back to Chris. I just want to say how happy I am that he’s here and in my life. He’s hilarious, smart, goofy, an awesome dad & is really, really strong. Here are a couple of things that I love about him:
He’s a fast learner & his enthusiasm for learning is contagious
He’s a fantastic guitar player, even only a year after starting (and teaching himself!)
He writes the best songs that make me smile
He’s a fantastic dad & doesn’t shy away at a chance to play/cuddle with the kiddos
EEE! Christopher was so sweet and bought me a wacom tablet for my birthday and it arrived in the mail today! Boy, am I spoiled. Chris even threw me a surprise birthday party. All I gave him was a fanny pack for his birthday. Looks like I need to step it up for Christmas. Now that I have a fancy, handy dandy wacom tablet, you’ll probably see some printables coming your way. SQUEAL!
Here’s the first thing I did upon starting up my new toy. I’m such a newb, but I’m having SOO much fun!!
Pingg and the telephone were a great back-up plan for Penelope’s invitations, but I just still was a little sad that I didn’t have the time to make her a more personalized invitation. But if I had time, here’s what it would’ve looked like. . .
These invitations were inspired by the square petal envelopes at Paper Source (I’m in love, seriously–Paper Source is my favorite). Well, I didn’t have a chance to use these invitations, but if you have something coming up, Penelope’s fill-in-the-blank invitation is available for download, right here!! For free*.
*Design and design elements are Free for personal use ONLY.
Thanks to How About Orange for linking to this post! If you’re new to IS•LY, welcome, welcome! Feel free to look around and as always, comments are encouraged!
