emme's first birthday party.

i have been a fence-sitter about one year old birthday parties, but when we found out justin's brother and family were going to fly in for the weekend, we decided to just go for it.  i have been psychotically busy with work and emme's transition to school and everything else with day-to-day life, so i was not nearly as organized as i hoped to be for the event, but family and friends were super gracious and we had a good time despite my spaciness on certain fronts.

the first thing was that i wanted to create invitations, but i wanted to keep the party pretty small.  this led to me only ordering a few invites and probably forgetting to invite people i probably should have.  alas, next year!  the invitations:

the next thing was decorations.  i found an idea on pinterest and decided to go crazy with it, so thanks to some late night scissor and glue stick action by me and jb, and some additional glue stick and hot glue fun by marilyn, billie, and kk, we created the emme wall.

finally, there was the ever-important issue of dessert.  since i've been calling emme bunny and/or bunny cake since day one, i wanted to make something bunny inspired.  the idea (also from pinterest) looked WAY easier (and cuter) than mine turned out, but they were made with lots of love (and i absolutely know what to do better/easier next time).

mom helped me make a big chicken and sausage gumbo the night before.  her gumbo is always SO delicious, and this one was no exception, as we RAN OUT of food during the party.  whoops.  clearly something else i forgot to factor in was additional food options and a back up plan.  emme ate gumbo and loved it, though.

my parents stopped and got balloons for the party as well.  they were a big hit with all the kids (and are still FULL of helium and emme is relishing having them on her high chair for every meal).

and then, there was the quintessential singing and cake-eating.  emme did not disappoint.  she ate her whole cookie (she tried to shove the whole thing in her mouth at once, but eventually settled for large bites) and then moved full-force into the cupcake and icing.  i think it's safe to say she was a fan.

everyone was super generous with very cute, fun, clever gifts for emme.  she is having a BALL discovering all her new things.  she also loved having most of her family in town to celebrate with her - her cousin maddox, in particular, is so good with her and helps her figure things out and tells her how pretty she is non-stop.  it's unbelievably sweet to watch.

i'd say year one was pretty successful.  we have loved every day of it.