Yep, that's right, baby M is now 1 year old M! To be perfectly honest, I was kind of looking forward to baby M turning 1. She has been somewhat of a tough baby... an all I want is momma and I want her to hold me ALL of the time and I only want to drink milk from mom kind of baby. This would be fine if I didn't also have a 2 year old and work and you know, need to go to the bathroom every once in awhile.
As the weeks approached the big 1 year birthday, though, I felt less and less that I wanted her to be 1 and wanted more and more to keep her as baby M. She is so sweet and loving and she gives THE best hugs and snuggles - the nuzzle her head into your neck and wrap her arms tightly around me kind of snuggles! And really, can you blame her for just wanting to be hugged?! I get the feeling though that even as 1 year old M, she will always be a super loving and cuddly little one.
I threw a family party for her at our family beach house. I gave the party a bird theme since she was our early bird by 3 weeks.
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| Baby M at our family beach house when she was just 2 weeks old and 1 year old M at her party. |
Here's a look at what I did for the party...
1. Bubbles and Water Fun (for a hot hot day)
2. Adorable and Unnecessary Party Hat (from Etsy)
3. Bird's Nest Cupcakes
I combined a couple of recipes for these. I got the idea for the cupcakes from
here, but instead of their recipe for the cupcakes and frosting, I made chocolate chip cookie dough cupcakes from
here. Since I'm more of a chocolate lover, I made dark chocolate cupcakes instead of the white cupcakes from the recipe. Some of the cupcakes had coconut on top and some I left plain for those folks that aren't coconut fans. Oh and those cupcake labels came free with the party hat... aren't they adorable!
1 year old M's cupcake didn't have any coconut, but I added some sprinkles to make it look pretty. She ate the cookie dough in the middle, but wasn't so sure about the cupcake and frosting. She signaled all done pretty quickly. On the other hand, 2 year old B loved her cupcake!
4. Paint Bird Houses
As I was walking through Michael's, I came across these cute little wooden bird houses, so I bought a bunch of them and some paint and had the kids paint bird houses for a fun activity. 2 year old B was the funniest... she was the last to stop painting and she insisted on using every color in the paint container on just one side of the roof. It took all night to dry!
5. Party Favor -
Bird Seed Wreaths (click
here to learn how to make them)
These were so easy to make! 2 year old B helped me stir everything (I had to do the final stir to make sure it was all mixed well). Then she got her hands nice and messy by putting the mixture into the mini angel food cake pan.
It was a super fun kid activity and we'll probably make them again just for us to hang in our yard this summer! One little tip... you will need to put them out soon after making them. I had a few extra left over from the party that were in plastic bags for about a week and when I took one out to hang outside, mold had grown all over it. The birds weren't too interested in eating it then.
The party was a whirlwind, but so fun! It was made extra special by our family and friends that came to celebrate 1 year old M's big day!
Happy birthday sweet girl!!
