Anatomy of a birthday

Sorry I've been MIA, y'all.  A week in the hospital followed by a week of party planning followed by said party can really take it out of you.  Oh yeah, and let's throw some cold-turkey weaning right into the middle of that little swirling vortex of chaos to make it really fun.  But we'll talk about that later.  I put up a really bitchy woe-is-me post but I deleted it, because I need to focus on the happy, and what's happier than Sofia's birthday party!  Nothing I tell you, nothing.  So let's recap before she turns three, shall we?

I got her invitations from Melissa at Sleeping Owl Creations

and was so happy with the way they turned out!

I put them on some cardstock to beef them up and dropped them in the mail!

Originally, Sofia's birthday party was supposed to be April 6th, but she got out of the hospital on the 5th, so that wasn't going to happen.  Even though she was pretty much back to normal when they discharged us, we all needed time to settle back in, so I pushed it back a week to the 13th.  My mom had arrived on the 5th and was going to stay until the 14th, and it was really important that she get to be there for her grandbaby's birthday.  I thought an extra week to plan would help with the stress, but of course we had to start weaning that week, so yeah, there was much stress.  But that's a whole different post.

Sofia's actual birthday was the 11th, and just the four of us had a little party.  I made a small cake and like the true procrastinator that I am, I got a tin of Betty Crocker frosting and a generic candle from Rite Aid when I went to pick up the pizza we ordered for dinner (which wasn't Domino's.  It was from the 'authentic' Italian place in town and it was still disgusting.  Guess I'll be making my own pizza from now on...)

The good news is, Sofia didn't mind one little bit.  Please excuse my ridiculous high-pitched mom voice.

Ironically, Sofia doesn't have much of a sweet tooth,

 but she was digging the chocolate frosting.

Tearing into her present from Mommy and Daddy.

At first, she was really delicate with it.

Then she started getting all Jerry Lee Lewis with it.

Butts and feet are just as good as hands on a piano, don't you know.

It was a nice, chill evening with just family but soon enough it was time for the big show.

I told myself that this year, I wasn't going to go overboard.  I told myself that I'd keep it small and simple, that I wouldn't stress out.

Yeah.  Right.

I went to Party City and lost my mind.  I snatched up everything they had in the rainbow Gabba colors.  They had a small selection of Gabba party supplies and I cleaned it out.  I walked out of there loaded down with everything rainbow and Gabba.  My house looked like Gabba exploded in it and I loved it.

I bought some foamcore and cut out a number 2 with an exacto knife.

My mom dyed the coffee filters and glued them on the board and I loved how it turned out.

You know I have to have my ombre somewhere, and I've decided that every birthday

from now on has to have some ombre element.

Sofia loved the backdrop.  She was running up and slapping each character, going

"This! Muno!  This! Plex!  This! Toodee!  This! Brobee!"

There was a ton of food.  We had subs, meatballs, fruit salad, veggie cups, beet chips, goldfish, cupcakes and cake.  We've been eating subs and meatballs all this week.

Look!  A tutu cake!

We got regular plates and cups from Ikea so we wouldn't go too crazy with the Gabba theme.

We also swagged the cheap tablecloths from the chandelier and put balloons at the corner but it was hard to get a good shot of them.

You can sort of see it here.

You get the idea, right?

I even got some DJ Lance glasses so everyone could put them on and get their pictures in front of the backdrop.

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3.  Well, it was a good idea, anyway.

Then we took the party outside for some bubble blowing time.

It was definitely a high point for Sofia and Gracie.

After that, the party moved to the playroom for the cake.

I will completely admit that I corralled everyone downstairs solely because we 

decorated and I wanted everyone to appreciate Drew's and my mom's hard work.

This party would not have happened without my mom's help.

She and Drew worked so hard to bring my vision to life.

How awesome is my mom in her DJ Lance glasses!

I tried to color the cake with raspberries but it came out gray, so I caved and put a few drops of pink food coloring.  I was sad because the cake didn't turn out as well as I would've liked, but because I have awesome friends, no one said a word.  

Besides, Sofia just liked blowing out the candle.

And I'm totally due for a playroom update because this table is new, 

along with lots of other stuff!

Sofia and Carter gettin' down on the karaoke machine.

"When I say Hey, you say Ho! Hey! Ho!"

You have to use your imagination but right here, Sofia was singing

Biz' birthday song and it was HILARIOUS.

The party was two hours long and that was perfect.  We had a lot of fun and everything went off without a hitch.  I wasn't able to get pictures of everyone in their glasses in front of the backdrop, but that's ok.

I had a vision of getting a picture of all the kids in their glasses, 

but this was the best I could do.  Babies don't understand vision.

Everyone got their own t-shirt as a party favor.

The onesies were my favorites.

After everyone left, we started opening presents.

Sofia is one lucky little girl, I tell you what.

I mean, Grandma got her some Sperrys!

I'm nowhere near cool enough to pull off Sperrys and my kid does it with ease.

It was an amazing day and Sofia had a blast.  However, if we're being completely honest here, I'm glad it's over.  As much as I want to just do things small, when it comes to Sofia and celebrating the day she was born, small just isn't in my vocabulary.  The day she came into our lives is no small day and I just can't celebrate it in a small way.  And yes, I know Sofia could care less about a tablecloth canopy or streamers or even cake, but I just can't see having a birthday party without all that.

That's why I'm not even bothering to make promises about next year.  She's my baby, she always will be and there aren't enough balloons, cake, or streamers in the world to match how happy she makes me.  So even though I was up until two in the morning hanging things and making beet chips thirty minutes before the guests came, I'd do it all again.

I'm just glad I have a year to recover.

Happy Birthday Sofia.  You're my best gift and I love you.