Baby Girl’s 1st Birthday!

Recently my baby girl turned 1year old. It was a bittersweet day for me because she is the last baby I am going to have but yet, I am so happy she is a happy, healthy, thriving baby. She is just growing up so fast, it is like a whirlwind for me.

Since Party Planner is another role I assume in my household I had the responsibility of coming up with the theme and plans for her 1st birthday party. As with most mommy’s, I wanted to’ make this birthday a memorable one for her. She may not exactly remember it, but in her baby books, and scrapbooks I make, she will be able to see everything we did to make her very first birthday a special one for her.

There are a ton of party themes out in stores and in magazines for a baby girls first birthday and most are soooo adorable, it was very very hard to choose. There was everything from butterflies and flowers, to character party themes, to princess, and of course most were all beautifully in pink and purple.

One of my main focuses was to keep her party within my budget and still make it fun and beautiful. I decided when planning that since for a babies first birthday one of the main focuses is her cake (besides her herself). When everyone thinks of a babies first birthday one of the first questions I have always gotten is, “are you gonna let the baby play in her cake and make a mess?” So I decided to spend more attention and detail to her cake then I would for other parties.

I decided to get her a 1/2 sheet cake that is 1/2 red velvet (a lot of chocolate allergies in my family),and 1/2 white. The store I was buying this from didn’t have plain white batter, it was white almond flavor (YUM). I always get whipped cream topping for cakes, butter cream (which is what most stores offer) is too rich and sweet for me and usually makes me ill, whipped cream is more light , to me. I wanted a Hello Kitty design on her cake but the bakery made such a fuss about me wanting a design on a whipped topping cake, I was like forget it, never mind. So I told them just put tons of pink and purple flowers and Happy 1st  Birthday Whitney Marie.Which is what they did. But for a little extra flair, I decided to spend a bit more money and get her cake filled with raspberry filling (YUM AGAIN). This particular store also gives a FREE “smash cake” when you purchase another cake for babies first birthdays. The smash cake has a rainbow on it, and it was pretty darn cute

My daughter (and basically everyone else too) loves ice cream. And what a better compliment to a birthday cake than ice cream! It is like oil and vinegar for your salad, one without the other is just “missing” something! I had heard a lot of people on twitter and on other blogs I read about Blue Bunny Ice Cream, and how they have a birthday cake one that is out of this world. For about a week or 2 before the babies party, I looked around every store I was in for this blue bunny ice cream, and it was NO WHERE to be found. I was starting to think that we were not in their market, but after using the blue bunny websit and becoming an iscream member, I used the store locator on there to find out where the closest store to me was that sold it. To my surprise (DUH) Walmart (5 min. from where I live) had it, and I never thought to look there!  So I made a special trip, with my $1 off coupon (from the blue bunny website) I may add up to Walmart to check it out and hopefully score the blue bunny birthday ice cream. Well, YAYE I FINALLY found the Blue Bunny ( all of my kids were helping me to look for the Blue Bunny, lol) ice cream! But to my dismay they didn’t have the birthday one   So I decided to go ahead and try another one, I choose bunny tracks. I also DID find some novelties which WERE the birthday cake one but on vanilla ice cream sandwiches. So I bought both!

Since I decided to go with Hello Kitty (even though I couldn’t get it on a cake) I went with Hello Kitty tableware, treat bags for guests,and some party favors. Hello Kitty is a timeless design that I can remember from when I was a child. It just never seems to go out of style.

I decided to get her 2 statues that I placed on top of her cake, one is a baby (that looks like my daughter, If I may add) and she is holding a baby bottle and teddy bear. The other is a baby on a rocking horse. I figure these are items she can have forever and will be keepsakes for her.  I got dollar store Mylar balloons, which – Have you seen the selection there lately ? (Dollar Tree) It amazed me, for a buck a piece I was able to get her 5 Mylar balloons! She got Disney princesses, a butterfly, a flower, one that is a crown shape and says Happy Birthday Princess, and a flowery one. That was pleasantly surprising and since I spent a bit extra on the cake, I saved with the dollar store balloons.

Because Whitney is my summer baby, I decided to go with a cook out. She LOVES BQ RIBS, yeah I know she’s 1! I think they help her gums feel better since she is still getting teeth in. So I gave daddy the job of grill master, which helped me a ton because that was LESS food for me to prepare.  I made a pasta salad, and asked grandma to bring a macaroni salad, and the other grandma brought a watermelon. I also threw together some Bush’s Baked Beans (which is another food we LOVE). TA -DAH… instant party !

I dressed Whitney in a party dress (that hardly fit, cause she is just getting so big) and my other daughter as well, and everyone else dressed nicely for her party.

We had a great day, the weather was fine, the family time was wonderful, Whitney was soooooooo tired by the end of the day she got her bath and practically passed out in her bed. All of the kids were satisfied with their little “thank you” treat bags, and everyone went home with a full belly and then some (because I was able to send leftovers home with everyone). The birthday was a hit and by the pictures, Whitney had a wonderful birthday that she can look back on and know how much she is loved and how much mommy planned her day out so it was perfect for her!

ps. A Side note on the Blue Bunny Ice Cream -  I had mentioned that the flavor I bought was called “Bunny Tracks” because they didn’t have the Birthday one I wanted. My children (except Whitney) wouldn’t try the ice cream because of the name. After a long talk and me telling them that bunny tracks means footprints, not bunny droppings, they finally agreed to take a taste. And they LOVED it! To be a BAD funny mommy and add a joke into the party mixx. I said to them, wasn’t those bunny tracks good?, Since bunny droppings taste that good we should go buy a bunny! With that said, the looks I got were as if they were going to throw daggers at me with their eyes, and my poor darling 3 yr. old was about to cry! Then I said, oh that’s nothing, I hear someone make a moose tracks ice cream, and I bet that one is REAL chocolaty !!, ROFL

Blue Bunny Bunny Tracks Ice Cream is made with – Vanilla flavored ice cream with thick fudge, Peanut Butter, Caramel ribbons, chocolate covered peanuts and peanut butter filled chocolate bunnies.  It is totally awesomely good, and I would recommend it to everyone I know!!!

If you enjoyed this post, you can also find me on the Party Planning Professor Website. Also, right now the Site Creator of  Party Planning Professor is having some medical issues and  would love if you can visit and give her your support ? She is a wonderful mommy of 2 and has a HUGE heart ! – THANK YOU

The Plus Size Mommy