Thursday, January 17, 2013

Baby Bean's First Birthday!

If it's not TOTALLY obvious (and I'm afraid it is), 

I am working on my blog makeover.

First and foremost, I MUST give huge KUDDOS to the founder of the fabulous organization Arkansas Women Bloggers (AWB) -- Stephanie Buckley, aka The Park Wife.

She has been putting up with my non-techy, ignorant self.

She has helped me SO much and I truly appreciate it!!

If you have not checked out Arkansas Women Bloggers or The Park Wife for that matter --

you should.

I've had the best time these last few weeks participating in linkys.

We even did an ornament exchange!

I feel like I'm not worthy to even try and hang with some of this awesome bloggers.

 But what is wonderful about that?

They don't discriminate! Yay and hooray!

I was perusing some blog post drafts and came across this one I have yet to publish.

Baby Bean's FIRST birthday party!!

(need I remind you she is now 20 months? yes, yes....pitiful I know! and, yes, yes I've had to change that number several times while composing this post!)

Let me fill you in on a little info.

This absolutely PRECIOUS little latte has always LOVED to eat.

From very early in life......

to present.

She can eat,

and eat,

and eat!!

During the tiny, baby food stages, she would open her little mouth as wide as she could, and wave her little wings and kick her legs as she waited for each bite to come. 
She was and IS my little bird.

It didn't take me long to decide that A LITTLE BIRD party was the perfect theme for her very first birthday. (AND it just happened to be a very popular year for little birds)

I LOVE to plan and execute a birthday party.

This one was particularly fun in which to prepare.

Like I said, there were little birds EVERYWHERE!! That helped matters, a lot! My mom and I had little birds on the brain. Everywhere we went....."little birds here", "little birds there", "little birds EVERYWHERE!!"

Thankfully so, my Mom is EXTREMELY talented and crafty. I'm not sure how I did not inherent one little iota of craftiness, but I did not. I can plan, and design and dream up a beautiful birthday party, but I rely heavily on a support crew! And once again, THANKFULLY, I have one!!

We really did have the best time making discoveries of the perfect little birds in surprise places that would fit perfectly in the party scene. Some required a little adjusting here and there, and some were ready at the word GO.

I am BEYOND excited to get these pictures uploaded. I am hoping to receive advice, suggestions, and guided hands on how to improve my blogging and photos. I see the beautiful blogs of you ladies out there........PLEASE HELP!!

Without further ado...

Shall we?




My sweet Baby Bean

this sweet little face....(tear)

party hat made by the talented Babay (that's to be read in a French accent. Or, you can say it like we usually do -- Bebe!)


this frame was a fun find. Mom changed the colors to match our scheme, and when I put this picture in the frame  -- it looked as though the little bird was giving her a sweet kiss on the cheek!! Oh the little things!

My sweet Sugar at the "Color a Bird" table (the kiddos enjoyed this)

Sugar and sweet M 

my sweet nieces and nephew (B, B, and G)

My SIL and sweet T

sweet B and AB (yes, if you haven't gotten the point by now EVERYONE is sweet!) -- how precious are those LITTLE BIRD dresses?!!?



Sweet Sugar and Spice kept a close watch over Bean as she was about to dive into her smash cake!!


Bean has had a sweet tooth ever since!


Bean and yes, of course, sweet Miss L

feeding my little bird


Bean and Babe



Love my Hot Coffee!


My sweet niece LOVES to hold Bean!


Bebe and Bean

Papa and Bean

Bean and Poppy


My Brother's sweet family and of course, Baby Bean

My SIL, and sweet nephew and niece with Bean

So sweet!

Babe, Bean and Poppy

A few pre-party pics...
(Bean was really into it...)

yeah...
not so much!

yellow roses from our yard made a special touch




home made birdseed feeders were fun (and a little messy) to make

once again -- a fun find! These little bird houses on a stick were in the $1.00 bins at Target around Easter! AND they were already BLUE and YELLOW!! SCORE!!


we glued bird paper cut-outs to brown paper bags in which to take the birdseed feeders home 

the egg has "Happy Birthday" written on it!

fabulous bird wreath made by Bebe

traditional mailbox balloons (they were obviously on their way down!)


My little Spice in my front door scene

I did a photo timeline of sweet Baby Bean
oh, how time flies...




And the FOOD...

this was the only shot I got of the birds nest cookies with eggs
 (the timing of her party really worked out well with finding Easter candy and goodies on sale)

How cute are these?!? (compliments of Bebe and Papa)

I was responsible for the not-so-fabulous cake pops. 

Notice one missing on the plate of yellow ones. That was my little Spice in action!!

arrangement by our very own Bitsy Carter of Hope Floral
 (and yes, I did request the Peeps. Little Birds, people!!)


I would tell you where I got this fabulous cake from, but......
to put it as nicely as I am able --
I no longer patron their store.
(for the REST of the story: message me! ha!)

Little Bird canvas by Bebe

halved jello eggs. blue, of course.

"birdseed". I found this bowl and plate with little blue and yellow birds on it during an outing to 
TJ Maxx. No WAY could I pass them up!

fresh BLUEberries and pineapple




I found these cute little trees on sale at Target after Easter. We then found the little birds for .50 or less at Ellis Pottery. They turned out PRECIOUS!! (thanks to Bebe, again!)

Our little birds found their way out on the patio

A little bird find from Hobby Lobby -- love it!


Hot Coffee did a great job as always hanging the traditional party paper lanterns


How cute! Made by Bebe

Did we pick the right colors or what? Our bounce house is even primarily BLUE and YELLOW!!






This special necklace was given to Bean by Bebe. You can find them here (and they say they will try and make WHATEVER you need!). This little charm was less than $10, AND my mom sent her a pic of what she wanted! SWEET!!

Birthday outfit, by....
you guessed it -- BEBE


She thought she was such a BIG girl sitting at the fun picnic table given to her by Babe and Poppy


The day before party day, I scheduled our family pictures. Not the smartest plan (in hindsight), but one that proved to be worth every bribe and threat!
The following images were taken by a fantastic photographer, Shannon LaDuke. She captures little moments that you enjoy holding onto and LOOKING at forever!

This pic is special to me because Bean is holding two hand-carved wooden spoons 
made by Papa (my Dad).


so very special...
(Bean, reaching for Bebe (my Mom))



 when Shannon posted a "sneak peek" of our session she labeled this one "a perfect ten". 
I couldn't agree more.


Bean's first milkshake. She loved it... the all-over-her-face kind of love!

what a jewel!!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful Baby Bean. You are a true joy, an absolute blessing, and one of the lights of our lives!! We love you!!