Ella's 1st Birthday

On Saturday, we celebrated Ella's first birthday! Her birthday was the 6th, but due to some conflicts for family we decided to wait and have her birthday on the 13th. We are thankful we waited as the flu was passing through our family last weekend.

Ok, so here is the disclaimer. I am not a birthday party lover. I specifically am not a fan of themes and decorations. The boys had fun first birthdays, but after that they get a little more relaxed. The boys have been FINE with this and could really care less anyway. We will see what Ella's thoughts are as she ages. If she is one to love the theme and decorations, I will do them, and hopefully she can help! As I was going though my pictures from the party, I realized I didn't even snap pictures of a lot of the decor. Oops.

These were her invitations that I found off Etsy and had printed at Wal-Mart. Easy.

A little flashback to her birth announcement. It really is crazy how fast a year goes and how much they grow and learn. Yes, she was 9 pounds.

Our party wasn't until 4:00pm so we spent the morning just relaxing. I had to go get a few more groceries and I was able to get things decorated. Of course, we bought all of our decorations off Amazon. We also borrowed my sisters decorations from my niece, Scarlett's, first birthday.

• Happy Birthday Banner
• One Cake Topper
• Banners and Garland Package

The only decorations I took a picture of..oops!

Dan's parents, sister Josie, and niece, Harper came around 11:00am so we got to hang out with them for the afternoon.

Harper was a sport about letting Ella 'tackle' her.

Practicing somersaults!

Around 4:00, my sister and her family showed up. It was time for the party! The kids played and the adults visited.

Thankfully, Ella took a great morning nap and went down for an afternoon nap as well. She went down late for her afternoon nap so we had to wake her up for her party! She was a trooper. We basically woke her up and told her it was time for pictures with everyone!

Here is the birthday girl!

          

And some of her guests!

I mean, I'm just not sure how families with 3 kids get good pictures?

Auntie Beth and Ella

Grandma Jo and Ella

Auntie Josie, Ella, and Harper

Grandpa Kevin, Grandma Julie, and Ella

Trying to get a picture of all the kids.......quite hilarious.

 

                                                   

After we ate, the kids played around and our good friends and neighbors came over for cake. We are so thankful for our great friends! We got our delicious and cute cakes from Libby (check out her blog/website).

Everyone was anxiously awaiting to see what Ella did with her smash cake. I think it is safe to say she enjoyed it!

She had lots of encouragement :)

Then, everyone else had cake and I realized I was too busy dishing up cake that I didn't take any pictures! My mom also brought carrot bars :)

Finally, we opened gifts. We had lots of help. Ella opened a little bit but really couldn't figure out how it was done. She received a lot of great gifts! Everyone is so kind.

The girls had to set up the princess tent from Grandma Jo right away in Ella's room. It was a hit for everyone!

Ella just loves her cousins

The kids {and some adults} left with a cute and delicious cookie. These were so adorable. I think we spent at least 15 minutes trying to determine how they were made to look so beautiful & perfect. Our friendly baker, Libby, was giving us all the details on how this could happen! We were just all surprised how perfect they were and that they actually tasted good, too! I also got these off Etsy.

Aren't they cute?!

We had a great birthday. We all were tired after such a fun day. It really is hard to believe Ella is already 1. She has been such a joy this past year and was the perfect way to complete our family. I am so excited to watch her grow and learn even more this next year. We are so grateful for our family that made the {cold} drive up north.

Morning after the birthday party calls for snuggling on the couch!

Weekend agenda also included: getting out the 18 month clothes ;)

Meanwhile, we were able to spend some extra time with grandma Jo while Dan went down to the cities to enjoy the Vikings game. AND WHAT A GAME IT WAS! More about that on Wednesday! See you then!

SKOL Vikings

Kate