nautical themed birthday party

This past weekend, we celebrated Baby D's first birthday. I love working with a theme when planning a party. I thought long and hard which theme would suit my soon-to-be one-year-old. After contemplating for awhile, I decided a nautical theme would suit our little man perfectly. He loves the water, beach, and sailboats!

Here's how we sailed through Baby D's birthday party...

I captured a few photos of our handsome man when we were in Cape Cod and used them throughout the party. We welcomed our guests with a picture of Baby D in this frame.

We also had a table where we displayed some of our favourite shots from the beach.

My beach bums.

We used the mantel to display a large picture of our handsome man enjoying his time on the beach.  Old glass bottles, wine corks, a few nic-nac's, and hand-made garland finished off the look.

I used fabric I found on sale, cut it into triangles, and then hot glued  it to red ribbon. 

I love the look of old high chairs. They have so much character. We took an old, wooden high chair and painted it this awesome blue colour for Baby D's birthday chair. 

I wrapped twine around the cutlery for this look.

I found two of these wire trees and knew they would work perfect on our food table.

The cake table was the best spot to put this cute picture.

Every cake table needs a little candy. The Swedish fish were a big hit.

Cake table.

Seaweed anyone?

Yum, cupcakes!

It was love at first sight when I found these cupcake wrappers and toppers.

Smash cake!

Red, white, and blue! Thanks to my awesome baker friend Jenn for making Baby D his first birthday cake. It was as good as it looked folks.

Cake.

This little guy hangs in Baby D's room and gave me some inspiration.

Instead of goodie bags, we let Little Miss L. pick out one surprise for each child. Each was wrapped in red paper and tied with blue ribbon. 

We had pictures of Baby D printed with "thank you" for each of our guests to take home.

baby shower for a boy

Who doesn't love to throw a party?!?! Blue was the colour theme for this party, as I hosted a small get-together to shower my good friend Megan. This momma-to-be, will be welcoming her first child (a son) at the start of September. I couldn't be more excited to meet the little guy (it could also be the fact that I don't have to push this one out.) Whatever the case, I love love love watching my friends bring new bundles of joy into the world. This means more love to share, buddies for my kiddos, and now they can jump in on all the talk about spit up, vomit, and poop.

We gathered for an afternoon of baby-talk, laughter, and some yummy food. We wish you a safe and fast delivery my dear friend.

The momma-to-be has arrived.

I decided to go with a simple vintage feel.

Yum!

I found these adorable lanterns and knew I had to have them.

Desert table anyone?

Yes, please! Our awesome friend who is super talented when it comes to baking made these scrumptious blueberry lemon cupcakes.

Lemon blueberry cupcakes.

Goodies for Baby C.

The kids decided to crash the party at the end.

Group shot.

Baby D chatting it up with Baby B.

birthday boy

Our son is now a one-year-old! I still need to pinch myself to believe it. This past Friday, our son woke up to a crib full of balloons surrounded by people who love him dearly.

Over the weekend, our little boy was spoiled, and I mean SPOILED! We can not thank our family and friends enough for all the birthday wishes and celebrating with us. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful people in our son's life.

Check-in later this week to check out Baby D's nautical bash!

and now he is One!

Dear Son,

Today is your birthday. Today you are one. It truly does feel like only days ago we welcomed you into this world. I still remember the feeling of you kicking about in my belly, the moment I saw your handsome face, the moment I held you in my arms for the very first time, the moment you smiled and giggled as you looked into my eyes for the first time, your ability to roll all over the place like a champ, those chiclet teeth breaking through adding to your fabulous grin, the moment you said "momma," the countless hours we practiced crawling together, and how could I forget your very first steps.

You have accomplished so many milestones in the past year and you continue to grow into a loving, kindhearted, and handsome boy. There are so many things I love about you - I could go on forever, but here are few that make me smile on a daily basis...

• Your morning smile followed by a big hug and kisses.
• How I have to pin you down like we are in the middle of a wrestling match so I am able to change your diaper, and at the end of it you always look up at me and laugh like I am the crazy one.
• I love the way you make a slurping sound after you finish your drink.
• I love your jazz hands.
• I love how you must open every door as you pass and then slam it shut.
• I love how you attempt the hand actions when we sing "If you are happy and you know it."
• I love how you make farting sounds on my arm when I am holding you.
• I love your stubbornness, even when I am at the point I want rip my hair out. 
• I love how you tease your big sister.
• I love how I have to hold you like a sack of potatoes over my shoulder to put you to sleep.
• I love your deep down giggle as you stick out your tongue.

I could go on and on but we would be here all day. I love everything about you, every single inch of you. You, my child, make me a better person, you encourage me to do my best. You bring pure joy into our lives and each day I am thankful for that.  Always remember to be you and that is truly all I can ask for. Happy Birthday - here is to another year my baby boy!

Love you always and forever,
Mom

cape cod: day four

Day four was all about the kiddos. We woke up bright and early and headed straight for the beach. I love love love the beach first thing in the morning. The kids loved walking up and down the coast to see what the waves had washed to shore.

After taking in the fresh salty air, we headed to the local zoo. This was a great little zoo which takes pride in having all rescue animals. The kids loved feeding their new friends and we even had the chance to take in a bird show.

We sure were tired after our visit to the zoo, and what better way to pick up our energy than to hit up the most popular ice cream shop in town. I love the old ice cream parlour feel. I definately had high hopes for the ice cream we would be digging into and we were not let down. It was one of the most creamy, fruity, and all -around scrumptious ice cream cone I have ever placed my lips on. The kids absolutely loved it too, Baby D had a full-on fit the minute the ice cream was taken away from his mouth.

It was wonderful day spent with three of my favourite people.

Baby D is about to show us how he can stand all by himself.

Here we go...

Look at those leg muscles...

I did it! He was so proud of himself.

She always has to go in for the headlock. 

I love love love these sandy toes.

Always goofing around.

Little Miss L. stepped on this guy and it didn't feel pretty.

My little man.

Baby D, Little Miss L., Mommy, and Daddy.

Zoo time!

Baby D fell in love with this little guy.

All aboard the Little Miss L. train or as she would say, the dinosaur train.

What are you looking at?

Kisses.

Little Miss L. wasn't too sure if she wanted to meet this guy.

Cooling off before going to the ice cream shop.

Getting ready to order her delicious treat.

Yum!

Wish we had one of these little shops around our house.

Her first lick of the good stuff.

Little Miss L. loved sharing her ice cream with her brother.

He wasn't too happy when she took it away.

Good right down to the last few bites.

Bellies full of ice cream. Now it's time to head to the park.

We had to burn off all those extra calories we consumed.

Baby D showing me how it's done.