Balls, Circles, & Everything Round!

This post is so overdue! When it comes to blogging about big events, it kills me.

Tons of pictures to edit and words to write; it is completely overwhelming.

Almost two months ago we celebrated Claire's 2nd birthday at my parent's house. I decided to hold the party there because I knew things would go a lot more smoothly being at someones house and not an outside location (park) like Claire's party last year. I picked my brain to try and remember if anything went wrong this time and I couldn't recall any hiccups. It went great! When it came to planning her party this year, my enthusiasm took a huge nose dive. I was so excited to plan her first birthday party but this one I was dreading. Parties are a lot of work when you want everything to be done perfectly. Why do we do this to ourselves?! The theme I decided on was BALLS. Everything revolved around balls or being circular. Claire has loved any sort of ball since she was a baby, so I rolled with it. :)

Before I knew it, I was running out of time and needing to get the ball rolling. I quickly took a few photos of Claire for the invitation that I had designed and got them in the mail. Then it was onto the details. Originally, I had planned roll (round) sandwiches with all ingredients being round as well: provolone cheese, turkey deli slices, tomatoes, etc. I realized that is way too much stuff to prepare so we went with the easiest (and also round) thing I could think of: pizza. On the side we had round waffle cups filled with circular fruit (grapes, watermelon balls, and blueberries) as well as cheese puff balls and round chips.

For the dessert table I managed to keep everything round as well. Powdered donut holes, jelly beans, cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies, lollipops, glazed donuts, Oreos, and other sugary treats. The kids could not keep their little hands away; they loved it!

Claire's favorite thing to eat at her party were the cheese puff balls. Every time I looked she was stealing more and more out of the bowl. I think her face was stained orange before the party even began.

One thing I didn't do last year that I wanted to incorporate this year was a photo booth. Claire was a squirmy wiggle worm all day so getting her to sit and smile for a photo was more difficult than usual. We must have bribed her with more cheese puffs to get these shots. :)

Below are a few shots of Claire's cousins and friends that were able to attend her party. My favorite has to be her cousin, Blake, who wouldn't sit on the bench even for a second. He's definitely going to laugh at this picture someday.

Top: Vivian and Soren Moffat, Halle McBride, Blake Taylor
Bottom: Ty Pearson, Ashlyn Taylor, Soren Moffat

Khloe didn't enjoy the afternoon too much. Besides being mad at Erik for giving her an ugly haircut the night before, she was extremely nervous after hearing random balloons pop (probably due to the heat) all afternoon. She absolutely hates the sounds of things popping: balloons, gum, bubble wrap...it freaks her out. Thank you Mom and Dad for comforting her all day.

The highlight of the event was having my sister and her kids in town, and of course, all of our friends and their kids who joined in on the fun. We are so grateful to our family and friends who came to celebrate Claire's special day. Here are some photos of the party goers:

Next on the agenda was present opening. Claire enjoyed the unwrapping part the most and seemed a little uninterested after every present she opened was just a box filled with something inside. Thank you to all of you who gave her a gift. She was completely spoiled! Stay tuned to find out what gift the guests voted to be the "best present".

For our gift, we gave Claire a fancy new balance bike. She started to get the hang of it after a few minutes, but then had her first fall. Thankfully, there were no tears. She is still intimidated by the bigger size and hasn't really taken to it yet, but we are excited to watch her cruise around the neighborhood once she finally figures it out.

Before I knew it, the party was ending and we hadn't even sang Happy Birthday to the birthday girl. Claire had just recently gained an interest in blowing out candles so she was actually a little excited. However, we couldn't keep the candle lit due to the wind so there was no yellow flame to blow out. We sang to her and she just stared at the cupcake like "what am I supposed to do with this?". Then, we told her to blow out the candle so she did. At least, she thought she did. :) Thankfully, she didn't care that there was no flame and enjoyed "blowing out the candle" anyway. 



After she realized she could eat the weird thing sitting on her high chair, she devoured it. Now, her face was no longer stained orange...it was red.

One thing I almost forgot...a family snapshot. The one we got wasn't so great, but at least it documents that we were all there. I also tried to get a cute shot of me and Claire together. She was not having any of it. 

All in all, her birthday party was a success. I was so glad it was finally over and hope everyone had a ball!