We're still recovering from the sugar coma that was last week. The pandemic posed an interesting obstacle for Ellie's first birthday, but COVID couldn't stop us from celebrating! We had our close friends and some family over to shower miss Ellie Grace with love. I still can't believe we have a O N E year old. You'd think after doing this twice already, I'd learn that they grow...fast. But, I was still blindsided with how fast this year came and went.
Initially, I had started planning her first birthday party BEFORE she was actually born. I had all the cute spooky ideas for a Halloween themed first birthday (I was due on Halloween). She quickly put me in my place, when my due date came and went, without her debut. So, there went my Halloween idea. I didn't think about it for another 10 months, but when I finally had to come to terms that she, in fact was going to have a birthday (despite my best efforts to keep her tiny forever) it didn't take me long to come up with a theme.
D O N U T S.
This was hands down my favorite party to date. It was intimate and the theme was so much fun! Who doesn't love sticky sweet donuts? It also goes along with my idea of "donut grow up." I made her donut tutu (you can see the tutorial here) and her onesie. I also painted her ONE letters, which has become a tradition. The twins had a toy story theme and Cooper had a baseball theme.
The Menu
We kept it super simple this year!
- nuggets
- waffle fries
- mac n cheese
- donuts
- donut holes
- birthday cake
- snack board
We decided to cater through Chick-Fil-A which was surprisingly affordable. I also decided to buy donuts from Krispy Kreme AND Round Rock Donuts, instead of making them. Although, I did make them for her donut smash because I wasn't too keen on the idea of her stuffing countless sugary donuts into her mouth at one time. To make the donut holes more festive, I whipped up a quick glaze and rolled them in sprinkles (we like these dye free ones). We made the mac n cheese (from a box, thank you Annie's), and I quickly threw together a snack board with fruits, cheeses, and crackers. Do you see my theme of simple here? I did, however, make her donut shaped birthday cake from scratch. I may have made it during the party, but at least it was ready before presents right? #momwin
Most of the day consisted of the kiddos running around like crazy people, chasing run away balloons. They had SO much fun seeing their friends, and it made my heart so happy to see them all together. It's been so long since we've seen any sort of normalcy. It made me realize how much I miss those little pockets of freedom.
After the kids thoroughly ran off their sugar highs, we sang happy birthday and got to opening presents. She was more interested in the tissue paper than the actual gifts, but it was still fun to watch her unwrap everything.
We are incredibly grateful to everyone who came to celebrate her, sent gifts, or reached out to say happy birthday. It was a great day celebrating our baby girl's first trip around the sun.
On her actual birthday, we got breakfast to go from Mimi's Cafe, celebrated her, and finished the day with dinner from Panera and a cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes. It was a perfect, slow relaxing day!
Her Stats
The day after her birthday, we went to the doctor for her one year check up. She's a perfectly healthy baby (err toddler?) weighing 19lbs 2oz and standing 29 inches tall. She definitely towers her brothers at this age. She also has 20/20 vision and thankfully isn't anemic!
She's got about 7 teeth, with more popping through. She is constantly impressing me with how much she learns. She's running around like crazy and climbing E V E R Y T H I N G. I can't wait to see what this next year has in store for her.
Credits
photography-Rosey B Photography
catering-Chick-Fil-A
donuts-Krispy Kreme + Round Rock Donuts
bundt cake-Nothing Bundt Cakes
high chair garland
balloon garland kit (she was sweet enough to give me a code for y'all to use! Use CODE::THANKS15 for 15% off. You can also use think link)
sweet one balloons-Etsy (PartyHaus)
donut straws and sprinkle straws
milk bottles
donut hair bows
donut letters
sprinkle table cloth
donut napkins
donut wall
donut banner
