I am really loving using my old pics for posts so let's take a look back at the past 8 years...
2003 Her First Birthday
We had her 1st party at home under our carport. The theme was rubber ducks. Her invitation was written to the tune of "Rubber Ducky, You're the One" that Ernie sings on Sesame Street. One unforgettable memory from this party was her cake falling apart the night before the party. It was a bathtub and it just collapsed. After that experience, I started ordering flat cakes because the stress was awful. Chad had to meet the lady who made it late that night with the broken cake and she baked us another one. All of the children got to take a rubber duck home and we still have ducks left in our tub toys from this party.
2004 Her 2nd Birthday
Claudia's 2nd birthday party was also held at home under our carport. She had an Elmo party because she loved Elmo. She called herself "La La" and we figured she thought Elmo was talking to her when he would sing, "La la la la..." at the beginning of movies.
2005 Her 3rd Birthday
When Claudia turned 3, she was anxiously awaiting the birth of a baby brother. We moved her party to the backyard and put on a fall festival for all of her friends. The kids came in costume and we had games all around the yard. They got their faces painted, won prizes, and had fun on the hayride. Her invitation had her picture in her Snow White costume. She was so beautiful and so happy to get to dress up for her party. All of the kids really seemed to love this party and we enjoyed seeing all of their costumes.
Her 4th Birthday
We loved her fall festival so much, we did a repeat. She was Raggedy Ann and Cooper was a Tiger. The kids were all so cute in their costumes and we had beautiful weather for our day. We did it much like the 3rd party. PawPaw brought his hayride and Poppa built us a couple of new games. It was a fun day to celebrate our little rag doll.
2007 Her 5th Birthday
The Disney Obsession Begins...
We celebrated #5 with our 3rd fall festival in our backyard. We had been thinking about a possible trip to Disney in the next year so it was perfect for our birthday party theme. Claudia was Minnie and Cooper was Mickey. We had no idea Santa would surprise us with a trip to Disney and we would be going shortly after Christmas. Claudia even wore the ears from her birthday costume while we were at Disney for our first trip. Turning 5 is such a milestone because it is the end of the "before school" years and every birthday after 5 is associated with her grade in school and includes a school party. I was thankful for her fall birthday so I didn't have to face her starting school for 10 more months...
2008 Her 6th Birthday
With a High School Musical craze in full swing, Gabriella the Lifeguard was the perfect costume choice for our last fall festival party. We added the blow-up slide for this festival and a few different games. The kids were excited to dress up and we had a backyard full of people. The fall festival parties were huge and so much fun. They were a ton of work but I always enjoyed them so much and Claudia had the time of her life every year.
2009 Her 7th Birthday
While Claudia loved her fall festivals, she wanted something different for #7. We made plans to treat she and a few friends to Build-A-Bear in Montgomery. The hardest thing about this party was not being able to invite all of her friends. Our stipulation was that we all had to fit in our Suburban and Cooper would take up one seat. That left 4 seats for friends. I worried and worried about all the friends we were not inviting but in the end I just had to let it go and trust that it would be ok. I wanted Claudia to choose her four without any guilt or worry. She invited Hallie, Mary Madyson, Isabella, and Gracie. All four were able to go and we headed out early on Saturday morning for our adventure. After several years of all the work that went into the fall festivals, I was amazed at how stress free this party was. We stopped on the way at a rest area for snacks and pictures. After making their new friends, we went into the mall for lunch and then headed home. One more stop at the rest area for cupcakes and gifts and we were on our way home. I loved just getting to enjoy Claudia and her friends and not being so busy with party details. As much as I loved the other parties, I spent little time on those days truly enjoying Claudia and this party allowed me plenty of opportunity to share the day with her.
2010 Her 8th Birthday
After the easy 7th birthday, I knew I wanted us to keep it scaled down and not go back to the huge parties of the past. We considered another small party but there were several friends we did not get to invite for #7 and we really wanted to include them this year. I reserved our new Family Life Center at church and started making plans for a few surprises. I had told Claudia we would do a craft but I surprised her with several crafts. We had the best day and it was such a fun party. All of the girls seemed to really enjoy it and Claudia was thrilled. We added a spend-the-night guest, Izzy, for the first time on party day. That night, she and Izzy had a spa in the basement where they gave me the royal treatment. Every year I think it is my favorite and I hope this year I can pull together something just as special for our sweet girl.
Her 9th birthday is just around the corner. We are making plans for another craft fest because she loved it so much. We are working with a zebra/pink theme and trying to pull together all of the details. I hear so many moms complain about the parties and I know they are so much work but I also know I will miss planning these special days when my babies are all grown up. I am trying to make the most of celebrating their special day while I can. The days are slipping by so much faster than I desire and I only have a short time to make as many memories as I can for Chad and I to treasure.
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