Gwen's Winter 'One'derland Party

Happy Birthday to my snow babe!

Well the weekend was anything but snowy; high 50's on Sat(!) and high 40's on the party day, but we had a Winter Onederland theme with a lot of special touches.  I found some great ideas and inspiration on Pinterest and ran with the theme!  My parents were nice enough to host the party at their new condo in MA.

First, the details!

Lady Gwen's Attire:

I was eyeing this Gap dress but the website was all out of her size, so I finally made it to the store and found it on waaaay clearance for a whopping $16 - which I paid for with a gift card. Woot!










Of course she couldn't get her party dress messy, so the smash cake required an outfit change!  I made leggings out of women's knee high socks from Target and cut out this felt snowflake that mom stitched onto a Carter's onesie with metallic thread.  I also had some silver tulle so I made her a fun, sparkly headband that morning.

Food:

The cake was awesome - pics to come...

The night before the party, mom and I decorated some 

sugar cookie snowflakes!

Decorations:




I found a ton of awesome birthday banners on Etsy but decided to try it out on my own once I found these foam snowflakes at Michaels.  The blue squares are just cut up card stock, and the letters are stenciled on.








The rest of the snowflake decorations I used were from Dollar Tree, Target $1 sale area, and Oriental Trading.  For a span of about 3 months, any snowflake I spotted made me giddy - I ended up overdoing it a bit and didn't use everything I bought, but if anyone ever needs snowflake decorations, I'm your girl!





By the way, did anyone spot the light up snowflake I hung in the bathroom the night before and completely forgot to take off the cardboard?

OOPS! ummm...maybe no one noticed because the cardboard color was similar to the wall color? And that "Rite Aid Home" logo totally doesn't stand out at all.  I had no idea I did this until Kristen sent me this picture a few hours after the party had ended.




My take on the day:

We woke up nice and early, I wanted to tire Gweny out so that she'd take a good morning nap.  It worked!  She went down for 3 hours, maybe even a little longer, and we were able to decorate and relax before the party.
I have to say that I was a bit nervous leading up to the party, that it would be too overwhelming for Gwen because I knew there would be a lot of commotion and attention placed on her.  I ultimately thought she would do ok because we're around enough people and other kids on a regular basis that she's pretty used to it.  However, anything you read about first birthday parties (where it's more than just family) tells you to expect a meltdown.
Can I tell you, the girl was a rock star! I swear that she knew everyone was there for her!  One of the most adorable moments of the day was when her friends Morgan and Rena Lynn arrived and she spent at least 10 minutes hugging them at the door.  It was the sweetest thing I've ever seen.  As if that wasn't cute enough, they found each other again later in the party and continued their love fest.
When it came time for the "cake smash", I didn't know what to expect.  I was almost positive she wouldn't dive right in, it's just not her nature.  Actually, here was my prediction:  touch frosting, look at hand, rub frosting covered hand in hair, realize she has frosting in her hair, cry.cake smash over.  The reason for my prediction was because that is exactly how her first [only] finger painting experience played out.  Here's how it actually went: sit in high chair, smile charmingly at surrounding family and friends, take a sampling of frosting with pincer grasp, taste, enjoy, repeat....for like.20.minutes.straight.  Everyone was laughing at how much like her daddy she is - so neat and tidy - until mommy took her hand and smashed it into the cake to get things going!  I honestly think that if we didn't take the cake away, she would've finished it (sure it would've taken a few hours, but she would've finished it).

With all of the excitement of the day - our little Gweny learned to clap!  I just thought that was the coolest thing, to learn to clap on your first birthday.  She was doing it non-stop, even after everyone but family had left - we were all exhausted and she was still smiling and clapping!  That night, as I set her down in her crib, she lay there clapping (I'm seriously not making it up).  What a perfect ending to a perfect day.  My little girl knows how to put a smile on my face, I just love her so much.

OK, now on to the party pictures!!!  A special thanks to Meghan Davis of Davis Creative Services for taking many of these photos.  I realized a few days beforehand that there was no way I would be able to document the day sufficiently with everything going on, so both Megs and my sis, Kristen were awesome enough to help me out!

...ahhhhh the cake.  It was a bit of a splurge, but totally worth it right?  I fell in love when I saw a similar one by Andover Cakes.  It's the same place that did my MA baby shower cake.  They did an awesome job!  We also got a smash cake for the bday girl.

Gwen in her party dress and headband that I made for her

Mommy & Daddy with the birthday girl!

Here she is in her cake smash outfit

this pic showcases how everyone had fnished their desserts and moved on,
but Gweny was still going and completely content, alone, with her cake

a shot of the favors - toys for the boys and bigger kids
and leggings made from women's socks for the little girls

Here's the adorableness I was talking about before!:

Some of our lovely party guests:

Thank you to everyone who made Gwen's first birthday such a special one!

Happy 1st Birthday, Gwyneth Rose!

 

We made it!
In my best attempt to avoid gushing all over the place, I can honestly say that the past year has been the best of my life.  The most fun, fulfilling, satisfying, exciting year!  A year ago today, my hours-old daughter looked into my eyes as I felt a change come over my body.  My heart swelled and the feeling that this little one is a part of Justin and me, totally dependent on us, completely overwhelmed me.  I felt what it's like to LOVE someone more than life itself.  Besides complete physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion, I was, and am nothing but one-hundred percent happy and excited to be able to experience this world through her eyes.

We've come a long way in a year!  When Justin and I decided that I would stay home with Gwen, I was thrilled - it's what I've always wanted.  Still, I have to admit that a small part of me questioned how I would handle it.  I've heard that it can make you stir crazy - it's all baby all the time, with little adult interaction.  Perhaps this is why I set out during my pregnancy to find some things to do once she arrived!  I joined a couple of mom groups on meetup.com, found out about mommy and me exercise classes, library events, etc.  Today, I could not be happier with our decision - I seriously have to pinch myself sometimes.  Justin works harder than anyone I know, and I'm so thankful to him for it.

Some stats from her 12 month visit:
Weight: 19lbs 6oz - 22%
Height: 30.5in - 89%
Head Circ: 17in - 7%

For comparison, here are her Newborn stats:
Weight: 7lbs 3oz - 39%
Height: 20in - 72%
I don't have her newborn head circumference measurement.

Gwen's pediatrician told us that no food is off limit now!  YAY :)  She's been doing SO awesome with her eating.  We pretty much have been feeding her everything that we eat (with the exception of nuts, shellfish, and honey - which the Dr says are now all fair game).  I have to say that we have been so lucky ::hoping not to jinx myself:: with Gwen eating and liking just about everything that we give her - as long as we follow a certain order, that is!  Here's how it goes: vegetables first, meats next, carbs and dairy last.  Start her out with cheese, and that's all she's going to want!

Nursing:  We're still going strong, nursing 4-5 times a day.  I'm still doing a middle of the night feed around 4am or so - which I may cut out.  Last night, I tested it, and after fussing/crying for a little while she eventually went back to sleep.  We'll see how it goes tonight.  There have been a few days lately where I've gone 6 or 7 hours without nursing her and she seems to do just fine.  I'm going to start giving her some whole cow's milk with meals and more water throughout the day, but I'll continue to nurse at least a few times a day until...well who knows when!

Sleep:  The girl is a rock star!  (well, with the exception of her middle of the night feeding)  She goes down around 7:30-8pm with ease.  Around 6 months (I think?) we let her cry it out, and it was the best decision we ever made.  It took about 2 nights for her to learn to soothe herself to sleep, and ever since then, she has gone to sleep within minutes of me putting her down.  She's normally up for the day around 8am now, but I know that will change once I cut out her 4am feeding (a little nervous about this heh).  We have also been very lucky in terms of naps - she always has a 2-3 hour mid-late morning nap, and sometimes a shorter afternoon nap.  If we're out during nap time, she'll just take her nap later on when we're home.  I'm so thankful for my quiet time during the day.  Otherwise, among other things, this blog may not have happened!

Let's see, what else -
She's becoming more confident with her walking, turning corners, etc.  She still looks like Frankenstein, and requires a destination (mom or dad, chair, table, etc), but she's been doing a great job with it!  She's been so cuddly lately; hugging, kissing, resting her head on us.  She's SO excited to see Justin when he comes home that it just makes both of our days.  She still LOVES playing peek-a-boo - she started hiding behind me and then peeking out to the side and giggling until I turn my head, and say boo, which just sends her into a fit of giggles!  Her birthday party was yesterday and she started clapping! Like, non-stop.  To the point where I put her down to sleep last night and she was still clapping (literally).

Gwen's Horoscope

I wrote about this back in May, but thought I would re-visit to see if she still fits the Capricorn Baby personality:

"Your little Capricorn will have a quiet, meditative nature ruled by reason instead of impulse and may seem older than his or her years at times. These children are thrifty, reserved, diplomatic, deep thinking, and determined. They are cautious in what they do and say. They know what they want and they usually get it by methodically planning every detail ahead of time-they like to take their time with things, learning lessons well along the way.

Capricorn children are receptive to down-to-earth activities. They feel a deep sense of responsibility and love being praised for a job well done. Parents should take time with their Capricorn child to show them the joy of touch and sharing comfort. Though typically practical and serious, the Capricorn often has a well-developed sense of wit and humor and is also known for being reliable." -babyzone.com

Like I said in my last post, I'm really not a "horoscope follower", but it blows my mind how dead on it seems with her quiet, cautious, reserved, but determined nature.

Her Winter 'One'derland birthday party was yesterday - a party post to follow!!  Here is a sneak preview of the party:

Thank you, Aunt Kristen!

I'm drafting a couple of posts for Gwen's first birthday and her party, but in the meantime I wanted to share a video that my sister made for Gwen.  It was such an awesome surprise, and so cool to be able to see Gwen's first year through her Aunt Kristen's eyes!  Click the link below to watch the video:

Gwen's First Year - by Aunt Kristen