Train potty

Cecelias Third Birthday Party Actual Birthday and Family Visit

We have definitely entered into the 'throw things together last minute' territory for birthday parties around here. I get overambitious with first birthdays but everything after that is low-key and does not include elaborate decorations/cookies/etc. In fact, Cecelia's third birthday party isn't exactly blog worthy but I'm doing it anyway just because. It also made me realize that Porter's first birthday is NEXT MONTH (OMG, hold me) and I do feel the need to be a little Pinterest-y with that party, since I did for the other kids. And he is my last baby and I really do like crafts and Pinterest, so yeah. Better start thinking of a few projects for Porter's big party.

But first, Cecelia.

We hosted Cecelia's birthday party on Sunday 5/31 at 4pm, making it a Sunday because Saturday didn't work for a lot of our guests. Mom, Dad, and also Memaw were all in town for the occasion and of course Tony and Lois were there, too. Besides our immediate family we also had eight other families there with 18 children besides our three. It was possibly our biggest party yet and thank goodness the weather allowed for us to be outside. I was panicking slightly when I realized that the cold snap and rain we had on Saturday would have meant a party inside of our house with 21 kids and 21 adults. YIKES. Thank you, weather, for being just warm enough to let us BBQ outside!

Cecelia and Porter both napped early this day so they were ready to go for the party at 4. Our house got all of the meat (burgers, brats, hot dogs, and mini-burgers for the kids), beer, juice boxes, water, and we cut up a ton of fruit to prepare the menu. I also had cupcakes (from a box mix) and made lemonade to sit outside on a table. Lois brought her amazing salads: the Black Bean Quinoa salad, her bow tie pasta salad that has a Ceasar vinagrette dressing on it, a Ramen Noodle peanut salad, and her famous homemade baked beans. YUM.

We set out some chairs, got most of our outside toys out for the kids, and I snapped a few pictures before our guests arrived. Cecelia had two brand new outfits for the occasion, both made by GoGo. CC picked out the fabric (chickens!) and mom made her a pillow case dress and also this tee shirt/skirt combo. CC picked the skirt for her party and then wore the dress once it warmed up a bit more, a few days following. She seriously loves the fact that these outfits have her age on them, and mom did a great job yet again, outfitting our girl!

Birthday Girl!


(the dress, worn a few days later)


Pre-party pictures: with my parents, who celebrated their anniversary on the day of Cecelia's party. FORTY YEARS married. Amazing. Inspirational. So happy they were with us to celebrate;)


The 'Goolias'. Love CC's face here.


My in-laws and Nate <3


And four generations of girls in our family. This never gets old.


Pre-party soccer with Papa.


Then the guests arrived! Didn't take enough pictures of candid stuff like this.




The kids played outside most of the time and the adults roamed around outside and inside. We served the food inside and most stayed around our table/family room to eat. Then we called all of the kids back inside so that CC could open her gifts---always complete chaos with 21 kids surrounding her! After that we sang to the birthday girl and she blew out her candle, and the children devoured the 24 cupcakes in an instant. I thought about having a real cake or some other dessert for the adults but figured most people would be super stuffed from the dinner, but really who doesn't want dessert? I will be sure to make lots for Porter's party, rest assured.











Post-cupcake crew.


Love my Memaw so much, happy she can still make trips to WI like this as an (amazing) octogenarian!!


My dad and Truman are kind of twins;) My dad and Nate golfed 36 holes on Friday and then 18 on Saturday...in the rain, but you won't hear them complain. Love that my dad and my husband have golf in common, I know they hope Truman comes with them in the next few years!


GoGo and her girl.


Just a few of the children jumping for my camera. It was the only way I could get them all to stay in one (relative) position for an action shot.


CC after her party, high on life!


Love this kid so much. Thank you, Henry, for the picture!


Everyone ended up staying until around 7:00 and I love that it's light out well beyond this time of night now. As always, it's a little frazzling hosting so many friends and family members for a party and I never feel like I get to talk to everyone and I never get as many good 'group shot' pictures as I hope to get, but overall I had a blast, too! Most importantly, Cecelia was on cloud nine the entire time. She was happy and running around with the bigger kids, only spending part of her time attached to my mom's hip. Truman was also in heaven and sweet Porter had enough by about 6:30 so Lois put him to bed around then. Having my in-laws and also my parents present for big parties is KEY for both child management and then the clean up afterward. We couldn't do it without them, and by 'it' I mean more than just have birthday parties like this! They are the best, for real.

CC didn't want her night to end and was pretty amped up over her new toys and clothes. Eventually she did fall asleep though and has loved playing with everything from her friends.

And on her actual birthday, she had another Amazing Attitude Day, which is understandable since we did make the day all about her. She got to open her gifts from us right when she came downstairs, when I returned from my run that morning. She scanned the two wrapped gifts and noted that neither seemed big enough to be the scooter she requested. 'Do you think Santa and St. Nick forgot about my scooter?" she asked. I reminded her that birthday gifts come from Mom and Dad (thank you very much, fictional characters that steal the credit) and she was happy to open the smaller gifts first. We got her the Hello Kitty umbrella she specifically requested, and then I also filled a pink pencil box with random crap she loves: two new EOS chapsticks, a Dollar Spot necklace, three nail polishes, and her favorite gummy watermelon candy. I figured this random box-o-stuff would be a hit and it is! After both of those were opened, Nate rolled out her new Micro scooter and so began her love affair with the thing. She literally rode the scooter all.day.long in our driveway, to and from Truman's school, and up and down sidewalks. She is getting really good at controlling it now after many hours of practice.



Sharing with siblings.


Genuine happiness here.


I can't.






We also went to a playground so that sister could swing (her bliss), and we also went to YoMama for frozen yogurt after dinner. My parents and also Memaw both arrived in the afternoon on CC's actual birthday so they came with us, Nate got off early enough to come for fro-yo, and then Tony and Lois came, too. The crew was all together and CC loved it! My new selfie-stick was used and life was good on the day Cecelia turned three;)



Selfie Stick FTW!!


YoMama!


'I'm three!'



Other notable gifts: My mom made Cecelia a giant doll, just like mom used to have as a child. CC has named her 'Big Baby White' and her ringlet curls are my favorite. When mom said she wanted to make this for CC, I was scared it would be....scary. But BBW (Big Baby White, duh) is actually very adorable.




'Aunt' Brittany made CC this rainbow tutu!


Other pictures from our visit with family: I couldn't figure out the selfie stick here but wanted one with my mom before she left. Mom was here Thursday-Thursday, Memaw was Thursday-Tuesday, and Dad was here Thursday-Monday. So many trips to/from the airport, so little time!


Dinner out one night, pizza outside and then (surprise) YoMama again!


GoGo cuddles. I don't want to talk about how hard it is when she leaves.


Memaw and Porter <3


Reading to Truman.


So yes, Cecelia's party and her actual birthday were big time successes and we love having an excuse for our family to visit us. I love seeing Cecelia so happy and I really do love making birthdays a big.fat.deal around here.

Three years of birthdays. She's changed just a little bit!