Penelope's 1st Birthday!

Penelope's 1st Birthday had no real theme, other than the colors yellow and teal.  I originally wanted to do a Fall colors theme and go off the colors of mums, like purple, orange and lime green.  But then I saw this fabric and fell. in. love. 

Here is the birthday girl in the dress I made and matching hair bow, which she promptly ripped off her head.  I double lined it with a thick cotton, for extra warmth, and I made a bit big so she could wear it for as long as possible.  Here are a couple of other pillow case dresses I have made.

Yes, that's right, I was color coordinated.

All the kiddos, hanging out in the backyard.  It was such a surreal experience to see them all running around in our backyard and playing-and it made us realize we need to get a swing set or sand box or something other than a vegetable garden for them to play with!  It was a beautiful day and to have our back yard full of kids and families we love, made my heart oh, so happy.  It really was the perfect party.

Home-girl did not like her cake!  I made the tastiest cake, all organic and homemade, but it did not please her highness.

View from the front of the house.  We tied a big bunch of balloons to the mailbox.  Papa and Omi were on balloon and cupcake duty that morning, good job guys!

This is the what the sign on the front door looked like.  It matched the Footprint Decoration I had on display on the back wall in the play room.

Here are the play room decorations.  It was the area for her gifts and the party favors I made.  I made the banner in the background.  It was very simple to make.  I just cut out triangles with pinking sheers and stuck them inside yellow bias tape and sewed a straight line.

I even had color coordinating wrapping paper for her gifts from us, which made me feel very Martha-like.  I actually just happened to have it on hand, which was cool.  And I had tons of tissue left over from making her number 1 sign.  I got that idea here. I taped the fabric to the canvas to easily take it off and I also hot glued the tissue paper to a paper number one and then lightly taped that to the fabric, so once I get up the nerve to take it apart, I can use the fabric to make something else later.

I had yellow flowers of all kinds throughout the house.  We bought them a few days before, so that they were in full bloom the day of her party.  That was actually a tip from my husband, he is an engineer, and apparently a closet, flower designer.  Who knew?

A close up of the Footprint Decoration.  Everyone loved looking at her pictures and tiny footprints!

The party favors all wrapped up.  Remember when I made these way back when? I put three flower crayons in each box, lined with yellow tissue. Then I cut out a piece of cellophane, then laid down a piece of tissue and wrapped it up and tied with a piece of teal ribbon.

The food.  I just did a couple of appetizers, I did Feta Black Bean Dip and Raspberry Cheese Spread from the cookbook I helped put together,  A Thyme to Celebrate, and then of course we had cupcakes and cake.  We had her party in the late afternoon, so it was perfect.

I got as creative as I could using things around my house in order to do this party on the cheap. This table cloth is actually a shower curtain!  I also took down a picture from from her bedroom to use as decoration and used mason jars for the flower vases.  Then, I went a little bow happy and tied bows to everything I could.

I made the cake, but we ordered cupcakes from the Cake Shop.  I added teal blue sprinkles on one bunch and yellow ones on the other myself...apparently they don't do any icing coloring for you...

I got the little elephant platters at IKEA years ago.  We were in there to get something very specific, but when I saw these plates my heart stopped and I had to have them.  They matched perfectly with decor! 

Here's a close up the of the flowers at the food table.  I LOVE mason jars!

The cake!  And borrowed cake stand. I must, must, must buy a cake stand soon!  Oh, and the glass in the background has lemon drops candy in them.

Her highchair all decked out with her mini banner and balloons.  That butterfly still has air in it, I kid you not.

I used three different fabrics throughout the house and on her decorations.  I could just stare at this fabric all day long.  It makes me happy!  I made her invitations with the same fabrics as well.

This is not exactly a masterpiece.  The party date was looming and I still hadn't figured out what to do with her hat, so I just came up with this last minute.  Whatever, it wasn't a showstopper, but it was cute and color coordinating.

The drink station.  We bought teal blue plates and cups and yellow napkins at Party Station.  I happened to have the drink tub on hand, and I think I got it at Target.  The drink dispensers we got at Bed Bath and Beyond.  I ended up taking them back because they didn't dispense very fast.

I used 12 organic lemons in the glass jar as the centerpiece. I debated about not getting organic lemons, since they were just decoration and all, but I am so glad I did, because my common sense kicked in after the party and I made fermented lemonade with them!

This is the view from the backyard.  Those pom-poms were pretty annoying to make and store, but they looked gorgeous.

Here is the tutorial on how to make them.  Do not stack more than 8 sheets.  I tend to over exaggerate when following directions for crafting and cooking, but stay inside the lines on this one folks.

And lastly, I had some left over flower petals from her decoration in the play room above, so I hot glued them to some wooden sticks and made an easy, cheap flower arrangement.

I modpodged this $5 glass vase from Micheal's, I have the need to modpodge anything I can now, it's really addicting!

That's all folks! My beautiful girl's first birthday!
I am so proud of myself that I pulled it off and managed to stay calm. I kept reminding myself to enjoy the moment and in the end, I did. I loved the whole process, I started crafting and planning, months and months in advance and did everything is slow bits. I hope when Penelope looks back at these pictures one day, I hope she feels loved, not by the end result but by the thought and care that went into each thing.

Penelope's Birthday Cake

It came out a little lopsided, but as Peter says "it's ok, it just looks homemade!"

And it was, well semi-homemade I guess, to be exact. I used an organic cake mix box and tweaked to make it healthier and tastier.

Again, the credit is due to my friend Tara for the recipe. Thanks Tara!

I made a cream cheese icing, from the Red Velvet cupcakes icing in the cookbook A Thyme to Celebrate.
Then I decorated it with teal blue sprinkles on top and lemon drop candies on the sides.

I made two cakes the night before her birthday, so she had one mini cake on her actual birthday on Thursday, and then she had a piece of the bigger cake at her party. On her birthday, she wasn't a big fan on the icing but really liked the cake. At her party, she wanted nothing to do with either. All her guests gobbled it up and gave me compliments, so who knows why she didn't want it.

Here are the ingredients:

Raw milk
real butter from grassfed cows
real range free eggs 3
Dr. Oetker's organic cake mix
One bag of thawed frozen organic strawberries pureed with 2 tablespoons of Rapadura

I used the recipe on the back, but substituted melted butter for vegetable oil and decreased the milk from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup to balance out the liquid ratio because I added the strawberry puree.

Here is what the mix looks like. When it cooks the batter looks kinda of brown.
I buttered a glass pie pan and poured it in. For Penelope's personal mini cake I used a little ceramic bowl from my friend.

Don't let her face fool you, its a very moist and tasty cake!

Let me know if you try it. :)

Baby Footprints Birthday Decoration

Remember this post? Well, this is what I ended up doing with them for her party!

 

These were my supplies. I went a little nuts in the Martha Stewart section of Micheal's but it was worth it!

 

I made this sign to hang on the front door. Nothing like some glue and glitter for a craft project!

 

And then made these to go in the front play room as decoration.

 

Each month had a foot print and a picture of her during that month. Before I pasted the original's to the scrapbook paper, Peter scanned them for me and uploaded them to our computer so we always have a copy.

After the party, I took them down and put them all in a scrapbook as a keepsake.
I am so thrilled with how the decoration and scrapbook keepsake came out. Mostly, I am just stoked that I managed to keep my shit together long enough to remember to stamp her feet each month!

I am tempted to do it again for her second year, but maybe just do it quarterly, instead of monthly??
:)

Penelope's First BIRTHday!

I don't know where to even begin.  I kind of feel like I am in a haze.  How did a year go by?  How did I get here already?

I started crying yesterday when everyone was singing Happy Birthday to Penelope at Baby Time at the library, like a dork.  I couldn't help it.  I have never sung Happy Birthday to her before, it's her very first birthday. Ever.

I am not sure why exactly her birthday has me so emotional.  I know that I have so much more wonderful things to look forward to, but it also feels like a door closing.  The end of her babyhood.  Her babyhood, that I will never, ever get back. 

Someone once told me that post partum lasts three years, and one of the reasons it lasts that long is because it actually takes three years to process the event of giving birth and transforming into being a mother.  When your baby arrives, the old you dies, and a new you ascends from the ashes.  Pieces of the old you may still be there, but they are buried deep, gestating for the next phase your life when they may come back to serve you.  The new you, may still look like you, but you are different and you can never go back.  It can take some time getting used to wearing your new mama shoes, they may feel funny at first, but eventually you get comfortable in them and get your stride back, even if you are not the same person.

Penelope has changed so much this year, and so have I.  I have come such a long way as far as cooking and nutrition goes, among other things. I still have much to learn, but I am proud of the new me.  I can't believe I used to be a vegetarian and that I used to think that was the "healthy" way to eat and that by being a vegetarian I was being environmentally responsible!  I look back at the vegetarian I was in college, and think "what a silly girl!!"  Not trying to nock vegetarians, just noting that my diet is one the biggest things that has changed so much.  If you are vegetarian, please check out  the Weston A. Price Foundation.

I never thought I would do EC, or not do a single vaccination (I thought I would do selective and delayed, but once I laid eyes on Penelope, I knew I didn't want a needle to come near her, ever.)

I thought that Penelope's birth would require me to muster all the survival skills and courage I had within me, I never realized that it would be her post partum, her baby hood, that would require those things from me.  I can not believe I have pumped for an entire year.  I hope to go another year, at minimum another 6 months.

This year has been the happiest/hardest year of my life.  I can't believe a year has gone by.  Just one year ago I was pushing her out and pulling her up into my arms.  I am thankful beyond words that I was able to stay home this year and just be with my daughter and not miss a single moment.

I wonder what the next year will bring.  Year 2 of post partum land.   Maybe Penelope will sleep through the night before she turns 2?  A Mama can dream.

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY PENELOPE!!  My beautiful, beautiful girl.

Here are some birth and brand new post partum pictures: