The Israel Family: Party Time!! (Part 1)

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Party Time!! (Part 1)

On Sunday, the day before her actual birthday, we had Caroline's birthday party. It was so much fun! I had seriously been planning her party since she was about 6 months old. I had been joking with Adam that we would have to wait a while to have another baby because I needed lots of time to plan a 1st birthday party... In the end, it all came together and was a huge success! Our house was PACKED. We are so lucky to have friends and family that love our sweet Caroline! I took a bunch of pictures before the party and only a few during the party because I was having so much fun! Caroline had only taken a short nap and didn't want to eat lunch so I was pretty sure that she would have a major melt down during the party, but she seemed to have a lot of fun as well - which was the whole point.

We had balloons on the mailbox, letting everyone know where the party was!

The banner on the door

Our foyer table

Close up - the sign says "Please sign Caroline's birthday book. We are so doggone happy you are here!" When I was pregnant with Caroline, we gave the baby (since we didn't know boy or girl yet) a few Dr. Seuss books for Christmas. Last year, for C's first Christmas she got a few more Dr. Seuss books so it's become a little tradition. We thought it was perfect to have everyone sign Dr. Seuss's Happy Birthday to You. We plan on giving the book to each of our children on their first birthday. (I also sewed the table runner!)

As you turn to the left, you walk into the kitchen. I put up some pictures of Caroline and Daisy over the past year.

The banner in the kitchen

The kitchen table. I put my pregnancy journal and Caroline's hospital album on the table for people to look through. Also, there are a few of the professional pictures hanging on the ribbons in the window. The first was my maternity phtotos, the second is C's newborn pictures, and the third is her 6 month pictures. All the pictures were done by Brandon and Stacey Gresham and they will be doing her one year portraits soon!

We also had a bowl of puppy dog ears for guests to wear.

You simply must wear dog ears at a dog party!

The only thing in the kitchen that I didn't get a picture of was the drink station. We had wine and cherry limeade punch inside and water, beer, and soft drinks outside. We put the punch in our punch bowl that we got as a wedding gift - it was the first time that we had a chance to use it and it looked beautiful!

The spread (with Daisy underneath, hoping that food will magically fall on the floor). I put little signs by some of the food. A couple of them said what the item was, like "Puppy Chow" (chex muddy buddies) and "Doggy Treats" (pretzels with kisses on top) and some told a little story - "Caroline loves snacking on goldfish and teddy grahams and specifically requested them at her party." Yes, I am nerdy...no need to tell me.

Caroline's smash cake.

Daisies in Daisy's treat jar! Also, that is Caroline's baptism candle. It was lit during her baptism and when they presented it to us they said to light it every year during her birthday.

Since it was such a special occassion and such a special candle, we broke out the nicest stuff we had!

Balloons and flowers in the living room. On the coffee table I put her album of "firsts" for people to look through.

Side table had a newborn picture, her hospital bracelet, and her album of ultrasound pics.

On the way to the back yard, I used Caroline's keepsake silver cup to hold a pick rose. Trinity United Methodist and Haleyville United Methodist displayed roses to announce Caroline's birth one year ago!