Our Little Flower's 1st Birthday

Today we celebrated Ava Kate's 1st birthday with a spring flower party! I started planning her party at least 6 months ago and if you know me very well this doesn't surprise you a bit. I wanted it to be a spring party since her birthday falls right around the beginning of spring. When I first began planning I was going to have the party outdoors and have stations set up where the kids could paint a birdhouse, play in sprinklers with raincoats, umbrellas and rain boots and plant flowers. At some point I came back to reality and realized this was a 1st birthday which means the honoree is a one year old who would be doing great to make it through gifts and cake. I also was reminded that in March the weather is very unpredictable so we planned for an indoor party instead. It is a good thing we did since it snowed on our spring party day! I really did enjoy planning all the details of the party especially the decorations! I tend to obsess over things a bit and this party was no different. Often when I host parties I get so worked up over everything being perfect that I don't really get to enjoy the event. I was determined not to do that with Ava's first birthday so I enlisted the help of lots of family and friends and started planning early. My friend Kimberly delivered cupcakes and cookies from the famous Mrs. Crumpler (aren't they incredible), she also took lots of photos for us, my mom prepared the delicious chicken salad sandwiches which were a hit as always, my inlaws helped get the house ready, run last minute errands and prepare the rest of the food, my friend Robyn and her mom helped arrange the flowers, another friend let me borrow the lovely cake stands and of course Justin was a huge help as always, he made the photo video, helped me get the invites cut and mailed out, helped put together the banners I made, assembled her playhouse and so much more. Surprisingly an hour before the party began I was actually able to sit down and rest before the guests arrived and during the party I was able to just be with Ava and enjoy the celebration! She was a trooper with all the attention and activity. She wasn't all that into opening gifts although once they were opened she loved playing with what was inside. She was very neat about eating her cake and picked small pieces of icing off bite by bite. It was a wonderful celebration with our dear family and friends! Thank you to all of you who helped make it such a special day! I can't believe our spring flower is already one!