A month ago we had Maclyn's FIRST BIRTDAY PARTY!!!! It was actually over a month ago. But I have been insanely busy since then and I also am in a tad bit of denial that my baby has turned a year. Yep. Denial. I always wrestle with throwing a baby a huge birthday party but then ultimately Go Big or Go Home. And I have concluded that it is all for me. And I have no shame in that. So I threw myself a huge first birthday party for my sweet baby girl. And it was stressful and imperfect and I don't regret a bit of it at all! :)
Of course, since I have been throwing boy parties for years I was excited to go all out on an all-girlie theme!! So we did a luau flamingo theme! And wouldn't you know, it was the hottest day of the year so far! (You will notice this with everyone's shiny faces and sweat!)
The cakes:
Maclyn was blessed to have both of her sets of grandparents at her 1st Birthday Party! Here she is with Grandma after just waking up from a pre-party nap!
Waiting for her party guests to arrive!
All of her friends were running around slipping and sliding and swimming! Haha!
Food Time!!!
MeeMee (the kids' babysitter), her daughter Haley, and Haley's daughter Caroline. Our family is so blessed to have these women in our lives!
Baby Mac adores her MeeMee!!
I couldn't resist. Look at this sweet girl! Caroline and Mac are big buddies...but I cannot wait to watch this friendship blossom as both girls grow. Caroline had to step on each and every stepping stone!
Another important buddy in Mac's life is Eleanor! Eleanor just turned a year old yesterday!
Sweet hugs!!
Look at ALL these presents!! What a blessed baby girl!!
This picture just looks like a baby girl surrounded by all her presents. But it is actually mere moments before Maclyn scooted off the step, landing face first on the concrete. It was a very dramatic scene and Daddy felt horrible (it didn't help that Mommy got upset with him), but it happened too fast for anyone to do anything about it. Poor Mac-ie was left with a pretty good size abrasion and goose egg right on her forehead. Thank goodness for a bow!
The rest of the evening kind of went downhill from this point. Poor baby was hot, overwhelmed, and now had a bump on her head. But we made do and pushed on! Present time! The littler girls at the party loved to help! Caroline kept repeating "Oh My Goodness" with each present opened. It was adorable!
Josh and I made her a bow holder for her birthday!
Keagan and Caroline have a sweet, special bond!! She adores him and he treats her so good.
Smash Cake time!!!! This was interesting. She could care less and really didn't want much to do with her cake. But all the other little kids went nuts with it. It was funny and fun!! I have a bunch of pics from different angles that people took with cell phones along with the pictures Stacey took with my camera:
After a bath Mac came out in her flamingo jammies and said her good-nights and thank yous. What a blessed baby girl she is to have such an awesome turnout at her 1st birthday party!!
Our awesome party guests!!!
The Hickman family
The Moryl Family
MP and Mac!
The Malone Family (real life!)
MeeMee, Haley (with baby Hudson born not long after), and Caroline
The Robinson Family
The Pogue family
The Harrod family
Gamma and Poppy
Grandma and Grandpa
What a fantastic turnout and party!! Honestly, my heart is so full from all the love that people showed towards our baby girl and our family. What an amazing community of close friends within which to raise these babies. And a HUGE thank you to my best friend Stacey for taking the reigns and manning my camera all night!!!! >smooch<
The next morning (and for several days) my sweet girl enjoyed all of her wonderful presents. She didn't have much pink in her toy bin before, but she sure did following her party!!! (and the boys enjoyed her presents, too!)
