A Garden Party

After perusing Pinterest for a bit of inspiration, I finally decided on a theme for Olivia's first birthday party: a garden party!  I love our yard this time of year and it seemed like the perfect way to celebrate my little sweetheart!  It could not have been a more beautiful day.  It was 79 degrees with a light breeze and plenty of sunshine.  Just gorgeous.

Aunt Sandy dropped off a huge bucket of flowers to use for decorations, so I got to work arranging them, filling in a few gaps with some of the flowers from Patti's garden.  They turned out beautiful and so festive.

We had a nice group of family members that came to celebrate with us.  Great Grandma Edie and Great Grandpa Arnie drove all the way from Durand!  Great Grandma Ruby was there, too, along with all of the grandparents, Uncle Tom, Auntie Brigid, Great Uncle Rick, and Great Aunt Deb.  Livi took a turn snuggling with everyone and soaked up all the special attention.

Snuggles for Great Grandma

She still loves to suck her thumb.

And she loves to blow bubbles!

4 generations

Both of Livi's grandmas really helped with the food.  We had croissant sandwiches, orzo salad, tomato basil tart, caprese skewers, a fruit floral arrangement, and some amazing desserts!  On top of the cake, we had raspberry lemon bars, pink lemonade cookies, and pink princess popcorn.  It was all delicious!

After we finished with lunch, it was time for Livi to open her presents!  She really liked playing with the paper and just about leapt off of my lap with excitement several times.  She got many lovely gifts, including some new clothes, a set of her very own dishes, a few new toys, lots of new books to read, and a Finding Dory car which she had to try out right away.

After the presents, it was time to sing Happy Birthday and let her devour her cake!  Nolan still had some anxiety about the singing of Happy Birthday, so he went inside, but Livi thoroughly enjoyed the singing.  However, Mommy almost dropped the cake!!

 Fortunately, disaster was averted and we were all able to enjoy dessert.  Livi dove right into her piece, picking the whole thing up and mowing it down as quickly as possible.  She clearly preferred the chocolate cake at her party to the white cake at her cake smash the week before.  Both my children are chocolate hounds...no idea where they get that from...

For me, a birthday party is simply a celebration of Hey...we made it another year!  We cherish our sweet Olivia and the many blessings that she has brought to our family in the past 365 days!  And so, we celebrate!  Happy Birthday, sweetheart!