Mary Elizabeth's Birthday Party

Even though Mary Elizabeth's first birthday was August 7th, that also just happened to be the day of the worker sale at Encores and More North so we decided to push her party back until we could really celebrate without all the stresses and chaos of the sale.

So, August 30th was the day of the shin-dig. We decided to go with a bumblebee theme and in true "Brea" fashion, I completely didn't send invites (hey, we were busy)and just let people know by this blog and by the old fashioned "word of mouth" invite. Basically, if you knew Mary Elizabeth and wanted to come celebrate with us, you were invited.

I should take this moment to side bar and say that since we started the adoption process in early 2007, we can't begin to put into words the love and support we have felt from all of you. The prayers. The hugs when times were tough. The crap you gave us for yard sales to help raise money. The love you had in your eyes for M.E. the minute you laid eyes on her. As Jonathan and I stood at our front door looking into our home during the party, we were once again reminded of that love and support. We are very blessed to have so many people love us so much and please know that we don't take that lightly. We love you too.

Back to the party.

We had a bumble bee cake. Actually, the beehive was M.E's cake and then all the little cupcakes were for everyone else to eat. The kids took yellow and black construction paper and made birthday signs and decor for the house. Anna did a fantastic job making labels for the "goody bags" that were complete with bumble bee stickers.

Our menu included mexican food and more mexican food. I made taco meat and had all the fixin's for tacos, Aunt Ali and Uncle Josh brought cheesy/meaty/yummy dip, Papa Eddie and Juju brought homemade salsa and then some other tacoey chicken appetizer thing that was super yum. Angie brought homemade banana pudding that we didn't tell anyone about but secretly ate after the festivities were dying down. Aunt Kim and Uncle Chris brought YUMMY homemade gaucomole (I probably just spelled that wrong). Gram and Papa Sam brought everything I forgot to get (taco sauce, etc.) Grandma Norma brought her own Diet Dr. Pepper, hot dogs and hot dog buns because she doesn't do tacos. Did I mention I love this woman and she completely cracks me up!

So, the 45-50 people descended upon our house (did I mention that not everyone got to come-Beckie and her fam were out of town, Sarah and her crew were MIA, Julie M. got food poisoning so her crew was absent and Bethany M. had a child come down with strep throat that morning) and we kicked the celebration into high gear. M.E was styling in her black/yellow dress complete with bumblebee clip. I also custom ordered a birthday hat which I totally forgot was sitting upstairs but Alison B. got this great pic:


Everyone dug into the food and then we decided it was time for gifts. She got some great stuff: money, a Gymboree gift card, some adorable clothes, a ride on inch worm, an adorable baby doll, the most adorable Maggie Moo original bumble bee outfit and a beautiful framed bumblebee pic, this adorable penquin toy, and so much more!

Then, it was time for cake. Before we could even finish singing, Mary Elizabeth already had a fist full of cake. She loved it! She ate and ate and ate and even wanted Daddy to have a bite:


She ate until she was exhausted. This was when she decided she should rub her eye. With the yellow icing hands:


Needless to say, the little girl that is always so happy soon turned a bit sour and it was time for the tub. As we cleaned her up (and I might add she was sobbing!), everyone else donned their swimsuits and headed out to the backyard. We had two slip and slides set up and everyone just enjoyed watching the kids be kids and talking. M.E. and I went out and enjoyed everyone for a while and then snuck inside and discovered the above mentioned banana pudding. M.E., Norah, Maggie and Jack had a great time playing together but soon it was time for everyone to head home. Everyone dunked their kids in our tub, put them in pj's and headed home.

As J and I sat here and reflected later that night, we decided it was the perfect party. Should I have sent out invites? Probably. Should we have spent more time on decor? Yeah. Did anyone notice? Nope.

I hope you will take a few minutes and check out both of these AMAZING photographers' blogs. Both of them were at the party and got some fabulous pics. Thanks to BOTH of you for allowing me to not have to worry about taking a single pic that day! You guys rock! Uncle Josh's post is here and Alison B's post is here.