Some Party Details

Her gold fish party was so much fun to plan.  Everything was decorated in orange and blue.  It was outdoors, so I couldn't get too fancy, but there were a lot of fun details I thought I would share (you know, in case you want to have an awesome gold fish party too). :)

I tried not to include people in the photos for privacy reasons. Also, blogger hates me and made it really difficult to upload and comment on these photos. So if the format is all screwed up I'm sorry, but I'm over it.

These were the invitations. A friend of mine so kindly cut the shapes out with her cricut and I put them together

Then I used the same fish to make labels for the 8 different types of fish crackers!

This last part of the banner shows the true colors better


 






 



The backside of the banner



Most of the kids that came to the party were babies and toddlers, so we had some Cheerios in container that had fish on them for favors. We also displayed Lillian's "First Year" scrapbook

 

And of course you can't have a gold fish party without gold fish. They also went home with some guests.




I hung blue streamers from the beams above (and placed blue and orange balloons around)

We also had a bubble machine :). It was $5 at walmart in the party section.

She had gold fish shoes!

I found this plastic container at a party store, and the window clings came from CVS! I just stuck them on the dish to decorate it for Lillian's yogurt parfait (instead of cake).  I also covered her high chair with a disposable orange table cloth for easy clean up!

  

She doesn't look thrilled in this photo, but I guarentee she had a good time :)





The bubble machine was up on one of the beams.





Clean up was easy peasy!  We changed her outfit and continued with the party!




Healthy food options.



The spinach and artichoke hummus was delicious with the pretzel crisps!

Yogurt parfait buffet instead of cake (organic yogurt, granola, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries served in small clear cups)

We provided organic milk for the little ones



The party was held right next to the Tot Lot in town.  A playground for kids 5 and under, with miniture playground equipment.





Hanging out with her cousins.





Partied OUT!





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You know what sucks?

.... Macy's and Bloomingdales threatening to sue me for using the name 'Lil' Bloomies' to sell my baby hair accessories.  I even sent them a very nice letter informing them I've never stepped foot in a Bloomingdales and had no idea they "owned" the word Bloomies, but it held meaning to me because the name comes from Lillian, and the town I was born in, Bloomington.

Whatever. There are other names out there.  I have until November to use my etsy and then I guess we'll move on to Facebook because honestly loading everything to etsy, and being charged for every item I post is not cool. 

You know what else sucks?  Knowing that they're probably just doing this to scare me out of the name, because they know it's not worth it for me to go to court.  Jerks.

Anyway, you know what doesn't suck?  Having an awesome 1st birthday party and no time to load pictures because my 1-year-old is too much fun to play with and hogs all of the spare time in my day.

She rocks my world.

Some 1 Year Thoughts

The past few days I haven't had much time to think about this "anniversary" for us.  It's Lillian's birthday, but it's also our Birth Day, and a year from the day our lives changed forever.  Yeah yeah, of course anyone that has a baby has a life changing experience, but what I'm talking about is the way PWS has changed our lives forever. 

When Lillian was born she was very lethargic.  She had a weak little cry, and sounded more like a newborn kitten "meowing" than a baby crying out for the first time.  We heard it once when she was born, and then for the second time 3 or 4 days later.  When she was born she was taken immediately to the special care nursery to be observed over time to see if she just needed to "wake up" from the traumatic birth experience (aka forceps delivery).  After 2 days of being in the special care nursery, her pediatrician came to our room and explained to us there was nothing more they could do for her.  She would have to be flown by helicopter to the children's hospital about an hour away.  That was the worst day of my life. It was officially the day we knew something was very wrong.  That was the day we lost our baby.

I have a hard time writing this, because I know there are people out there who have lost their child physically.  They lost a child that they can never hold again, never see again, never touch again.  But there's no other way to describe what we went through other than saying we lost our child.  We lost the child we dreamed about.  The child we talked to for 41 weeks inside my belly.  We lost the dreams we had for her.  I grieve the child I thought I gave birth to.  The little girl we were expecting for 9 months.  We wondered what she would look like, what her favorite subject in school would be, what college she would go to, who she would go to prom and homecoming with.  What her children would look like.  What colors would be in her wedding, and if she would let me help her plan it or elope to some exotic island with the love of her life.  We lost that baby.

Having Lillian in our lives has blessed us more than we could ever imagine.  I remember wondering if we would ever be happy again.  If Lillian would be alive for her first birthday.  I wondered if she would ever hit her milestones or know who we were.  We didn't have a diagnosis.  Nobody could tell us what to expect. 

The day they took her from the hospital I birthed her in and separated us was the worst day of my life.  After they took her from us we were numb. We must have looked like zombies when Phil wheeled me out of the nursery and back into my postpartum room.  Once we got there we just closed the door and sobbed.  We both just broke down and sobbed on my hospital bed.  I don't know how long it lasted, but we had to wait hours before I could be dismissed from the hospital to be with Lillian in the NICU at the children's hospital.  I remember numbly walking into our empty house to collect some extra clothes for our stay, not knowing how long we should pack for.  Feeling like I was in the twilight zone after carrying a baby past full term in my body, and then suddenly being completely alone in our house. No baby in my belly, no baby in the carseat, no baby in the house.  Just empty. 

Tomorrow, one year from that date, we're having a party.  We're celebrating life.  And were celebrating BIG.  Because this life we were given, this new life, a new baby, a baby we didn't plan on having... She makes us happy. And it's a damn good life.

She might not look 100% like us, she might not meet every milestone on time or make honor roll in high school.  She might not have a wedding or elope with the love of her life one day, but she will have a good life.  We will all have a good life.

Psalm 139:13-16

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Birthday!

Guess who's birthday's today?!  I'll give you one hint...

I suppose this would be a good time to write a big long sappy blog about how the year has gone by so quickly.  How we've been through so much to get to this point, and how much I love and adore my little birthday girl to pieces.  But we're too busy having fun, so that sappy blog post will have to wait :). 

Today we had her 1 year photos taken by a local photographer and I can. not. wait. to get the photos back!  They are really adorable.  She was cat crawling (get it? cat walking...) all around the studio soaking up the attention.  This girl knows how to win people over! 

After that we spent the evening at the local fall festival with some friends and family.  I snapped that picture of her with her grandma (my MIL) and the balloon on my phone.  I really wish I would have taken some pictures today when she was in her birthday outfit, but I'll get some Sunday at her birthday party.

Oh, and I'm slowly but surely updated my etsy.  One of these days I'll put everything on there, but for now I'm just trying to get at least fall items listed. http://www.etsy.com/shop/LilBloomies

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(Kind of) Wordless Wednesday

I thought I would take time to blog while we were in DC... but I was wrong. We were so busy every day and I was exhausted by the time we got back to the house. Here are a few pics from our trip.

Walking around Mt.Vernon

Playing around the Washington Monument

This is how we fed her while walking around DC. EXHAUSTING!

At the Lincoln Memorial



Hanging out at George Washington's home in Mt. Vernon

It's been a long week!  We're looking forward to celebrating Lillian's birthday this weekend.  I can't believe she's going to be ONE on Friday!  Very mixed emotions about that.  I spent some time last night reading through some old posts from September/October/November 2009 and cried my eyes out.  It just doesn't feel like it was that long ago.  All of the memories are so vivid.  Hopefully over the years it will get easier to celebrate this time without the painful memories of her first few months and the loss we felt when we were given her diagnosis.


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A little birthday something

I'm not totally finished with it... unless I run out of time. Here's her birthday onesie!  I've contemplated not sewing down the fish, just to give it a "swimming" look.  And because I am really short on time.  I might add a few bubbles coming out of the fishes mouth though.

Jenny over at The Adventures of Two under Two (see her badge over to the left) sent me these adorable baby legs, which gave me the idea for the onesie!  Lillian will wear this during the "cake smashing" (aka, yogurt parfait smashing because we don't do cake). 

The rest of the party she will be wearing a party dress, but that's a surprise and you'll have to wait to see it :).

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Challenge Fail

I am SO busy. Trying to make dozens of hair bows, clippies, and flower clips for a local store, friends, and a festival that I *might* have a booth at when we get home from Washington, D.C.

Speaking of D.C., our flight just got cancelled for Wednesday, so we're leaving Tuesday, which means one less day to get ready for Lillian's birthday... and all the hair accessories I'm trying to catch up on. Oh yeah, and packing.

As soon as we get back from D.C. we have another small trip to make for 3 days. We'll get home the day before Lillian's birthday party. ::insert freak out here::

I HAVE SO MUCH TO DO.

And while I'm stressing about this all, guess what we did tonight? No, I didn't work, or pack, or finish up decorations for Lillian's birthday. We went boating :). And Lillian got to see her mama wakeboard for the first time in 4 years. It was so much fun!








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Things I don't want to Forget

I don't want to forget your high pitched "dadaaa da" when riding in the back seat.  The way you play "repeat" with me when we're riding in the car.  And how after I repeat you, you think it's necessary to be the loudest each time :).

I don't want to forget the way you scratch your head through your hair when you're tired.  You run your little fingers through your hair and it cracks me up every time.  Usually you're trying to find a bow.  If you find one you rip it out along with a few hairs and try to chew on it. It's cute that you remember to check daily for the bow that appears on your head.

I don't want to forget how in a room full of toys, you choose to crawl for any paper, extension cords, or picture frames on the TV stands.

I don't want to forget how easy it is to tell when you recognize someone.  You literally light up with joy when you recognize somebody (friends, family, therapists).  But when you see someone you don't recognize, you're instantly quiet and very aware of them. You study them trying to figure out what they are doing and why they matter to your existence. People at the store always comment on how attentive you are. 




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Wordless Wednesday

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