Mommy Brain: Mommy, Daddy, & TODDLER Makes 3!

Well, the much anticipated first birthday has come and gone. In the blink of an eye the first year of my daughter’s life (and my own personal inauguration in to the highly coveted “Club Motherhood”!) has come to an end. When you reach certain big milestones in your life—high school graduation, college graduation, your engagement, your wedding day—it’s impossible not to reflect back on the years and marvel over the sheer speed in which life flies by. How is possible that a mere 365 days ago (well, 365 days ago from April 7^th), I had yet to meet the love of my life? The one person on this Earth who I undoubtedly and unconditionally love? Now, don’t worry—my husband (and mom! And sisters!) are still the loves of my life as well—but the saying “there’s no love like a mother’s love” does not exist for no reason. The love a mother has for a child really is like no other version of love to exist. Let’s be honest here—nothing but unconditional love could be the catalyst for waking up hour after hour, night after night, surviving on mere moments of sleep to tend to every need of another human. I mean, I am still madly in love with my husband—but when we both suffered from a nasty case of food poisoning years ago, there were limits to the amount I was willing to do for him. One thing I’ve learned as a mother though is that there are no limits to what a parent will do for their child. Baby needs ten diapers changes in one night because she just can’t stop pooping? Mommy will be there for you—and she’ll be apologizing to you for having to feel so crappy (pun intended). How messed up is that? I’m the one wiping your booty… and somehow, in what can only be labeled as “love,” I find myself feeling sorry for you. Oh, motherhood- you’re really something else.

To the opposite degree, how is it possible that it has already been one whole year since Lacey first waltzed her way in to our lives? They same time flies when you’re having fun. Well, time also flies when you’re changing diapers constantly, nursing around the clock, trying to decipher the meaning of squeals of varying multitudes, and well—yes, having fun, lots and lots of fun, in ways you never could have imagined. Looking back on the changes Lacey has made in her first year is enough to leave me in awe for the rest of my life. Our little baby came in to this world and grabbed our hearts—but let’s face it, that’s about all she was capable of grabbing. I’ll never forget the first time she grabbed my finger—I literally never wanted to let go. Soon those grabs turned in to smiles, and those smiles turned in to giggles, and those giggles in to crawling, and those crawls in to steps… and suddenly, in one million blinks of an eye, I find myself here—my cuddly baby girl all-too-quickly replaced with this intelligent little human being—capable of mimicking our gestures and asking for (well, pointing to) what she wants. Where before our only ways of communicating were with cuddles and cries (hers and yes, sometimes even mine), we now have a surprisingly foul-proof way of talking with each other. Pretty amazing accomplishment when you think of where we started (AKA: her crying and me frantically checking her diaper, her hunger level, her comfort!). In one year, we’ve become a team.

And like I stated in my first post here on Mommy Blog, the team we’ve built isn’t just the three of us. It’s our village—the village who is raising Miss Lacey. And what better time to get your team together than to celebrate the very first anniversary of the day in which all your lives changed for the better? So celebrate we did.

Over the last couple of months, I have been feverishly planning Lacey’s first birthday. I took it upon myself to give her the best birthday party I could plan—I mean, she deserves it (and so do her dad and I-- we survived the first year!). Thanks to the Internet, there is no shortage of adorable party ideas out there. In fact, the problem wasn’t finding enough to do—the problem was trying to wean out the great ideas from the good ideas. I’m so glad I started early on this process because there were so many decisions to be made (and re-made and re-made!) until the final draft, if you will, was complete.

Since we live in a small apartment (for one more short month!), and my mom and sister were flying in from Phoenix (yay!!!), we decided to reserve a hotel room for the occasion. Knowing that Lacey’s birthday fell on a Monday, that we wanted to have the party the weekend before, and that we wanted to spend her actual birthday at Disney World- we decided to look for hotels in downtown Orlando- about 30 minutes away- so that we’d have less of a commute to Disney on the morning of her birthday. We finally decided upon the Hilton Grande Vacation Suites at Sea World. The suites there are HUGE and very affordably priced. The pool area is basically a family’s dream (two pools, large playground, outdoor eating, and billiards area)—you name it, they have it. Coincidentally, we’d stayed at this hotel before—once when I was in high school and once when Ross and I first starting dating and my parents came for a visit. All in all, it was the perfect fiesta location. I booked the hotel for the weekend and moved on to planning decorations.

For decorations, we originally planned on sticking with the Disney theme and throwing a pink and black Minnie Mouse celebration. However, in the months leading up to her birthday, Lacey fell head over heels in love with a little Disney Princess named “Sofia.” So, pink turned to purple and all-things Sofia became our mission. I scoured Etsy each night—picking out cute cups, and banners, and birthday outfits. I love Etsy for helping those of us who aren’t so crafty (or let’s be serious, don’t have the patience to dedicate to crafting) still be able to have awesome (personalized) decorations.

Below, I’ll share with you some of my favorite party finds:

Sofia Cupcakes- My very favorite Etsy find was these adorable cupcake toppers. The Sofia printout was attached to a toothpick—turning a normal purple cupcake into the Princess’ ball gown. So cute, so easy, and such a great way to spice up everyone’s favorite part of the party: the cake!

Month Banner- Like many of today’s parents, I took to the Pinterest-popular idea of documenting each month of your child’s first year through adorable monthly stickers placed on your favorite onesies. I loved taking a few moments each month to capture how Lacey looked, as well as her current likes and dislikes. From the beginning, I knew I’d want to display these pictures somehow at her first birthday—I just didn’t know how. Well, Etsy to the rescue once again! Vendors sell adorable banners that allow you to attach the monthly pictures and display them with pride. I found a purple, sparkly one (of course!) and turned those monthly pictures in to a beautiful decoration. This will be so cute to hang in Lacey's nursery when we move as well!

Outfits- Like any Princess, Princess Lacey needed some adorable outfits to sport on her special day. Like any mother of a Princess, I obviously fell in love with several outfits. Luckily for me, Lacey had both a party and a Disney day to attend. My mom also happened to see these outfits too (without me even mentioning it!) and decided that she would order the one I wanted for the party—and I would get the one for Disney World (thanks, mom!). Since we had a Sofia-themed party, we picked an adorable Princess Sofia onesie and tu-tu combo for the fiesta… and a Minnie Mouse one for her birthday at Disney World. They turned out sooo cute—I’m so sad she can’t wear them again… but they make the perfect addition to her baby box for me to take out and cry over how quickly she’s growing each year. ;)

Cups, Water Bottles, and Candy Bars- At our wedding, one of my favorite personal touches was the personalized water bottle labels and M&Ms we displayed- so it only made sense to do something similar for Lacey’s special day. I found some really adorable labels to print out and place on otherwise boring objects- such as the cups, water bottles, and Hershey Bars! I love how easy it is to turn bland drinks into festive keepsakes!

Lacey's Crown- Since all of the guests were wearing crowns or tiaras, it was only fair for The Princess Lacey to have her own personalized crown as well. She wouldn't wear it (diva!)-- but we did get some cute pictures!

High Chair TuTu- What princess doesn't deserve a tutu for her high chair?! Above the high chair, you can see the photo collage I made shaped in, no other than, a "1"!

On top of my favorite Etsy finds, we added in a couple other personal touches to help transform our hotel room into Princess Lacey’s party local:

I came up with the idea of creating a “Welcome” to-do list (blame the teacher in me for wanting organization and order everywhere—even at a one year old’s birthday party!) with fun ways that we were planning on capturing Lacey’s birthday.

We bought a copy of Dr’s Seuss’ Birthday Book for everyone to sign- so that every time Lacey reads it she could remember everyone who was there for her special day. We also created a time capsule out of this fun luggage shaped box I found at Target and a video greeting (which we will make a CD of and place in the time capsule) that we will give to Lacey on her 18^th birthday. We urged party-goers (and long distance family) to write down a special note to Lacey about life in 2014, we added in a newspaper from the day of her birthday, some pictures, and mementos and can’t wait to give it to her in 17 years (here’s hoping we don’t lose it!).

We also had crowns and tiaras for guests to wear to help bring to life the party-feel—as well as photo albums spread throughout the hotel for guests to enjoy the 50,000 pictures we’ve taken this year (Yes, I take even more pictures than the 500 I post online each week.) And finally, my mom came up with the great idea of creating photo albums of all of our favorite pictures (these can be seen in the picture above with Hershey candy bars) to give out as thank-yous for the guests. It was a great way for our family and friends to take home their own special piece of Lacey’s first year with them!

We made sure to serve lots of good food and even set up a mimosa bar outside for the adults-- but it was too hot so we quickly moved that back in to the air conditioning!

And of course, what is a first birthday without a smash cake!? I love this cake and the glittery gold candle on top of it! Lacey, however, was skeptical of the whole thing!

Overall, I am absolutely thrilled with how Lacey’s first birthday came out—I really feel like I made my mark in the party-throwing world! I’m so thankful for my mom, sister, and husband for helping transform our hotel in to party central… and so thankful to all our best friends and family for attending her special day! It truly was a day (and year!) that I will never forget.

Got a special party coming up? What decorations can’t you live without? Are you an over-party planner like me? Or do you prefer to just wing it? Feel free to leave a comment and let me know—we’re just getting started in this party planning business!

See you real soon,

Lacey’s mama

Your Daily Dose of Lace-