Eleanor's First Birthday Party!
Seeing as Eleanor's birthday is right in the hottest part of the summer, we decided to throw a pool party for little girl's FIRST birthday!! My generous parents opened their home to our friends and family for an afternoon of swimming, hot dogs and good ole summer fun! It was the perfect day - because Eleanor's FAVORITE activity is to swim... as you will see from the pictures below! I know she won't remember the party, but it really was the best day of her life.... hopefully these pictures will show you just a brief glimpse of how FUN you are, precious girl!
The party started with these fabulous invitations from my dear friend, Marina. She is SO talented... she created my blog, she did Eleanor's birth announcement and now her birthday invitation.... THANK YOU, Marina!!
We spent the night at my parent's house the night before the party so that we could spend the next morning getting things ready... Eleanor enjoyed "Happy Birthday" before every meal that day.... and obviously, she LOVED it.
Such a ham!! We had practiced and practiced the "Happy Birthday" song so that she wouldn't be freaked out when 50 people were singing it to her... obviously with the family, she thought the song was the greatest....
The party started after Eleanor's afternoon nap... she was greeted by Uncle Benny, and let's just say that Momma was grateful because my little girl NEVER snuggles as much as I would like, but her fear of her uncle (we are still trying to put our finger on this, but since day one Eleanor has been scared of her Uncle Benny!) meant she was all up in my business for a good 10 minutes... best birthday present to Momma, ever!
Enjoying her WHOLE milk.... cya later, never, formula!
Eleanor in her party dress..... this obviously didn't last long because it was a pool party, but she was just precious in it!
Eleanor's cousin Bella made the trip from San Antonio (along with Jana and Betty Jo, of course) and it was SO fun to have them there!! These sweet girls will be best of friends, we just know it.
The party was themed "Pinwheels and Popsicles"... lining my parent's driveway and around their backyard we put pinwheels staked in the ground... of course I forgot to take a picture. Awesome. Dot-Dot made the wreath on the front door and used the hospital sign we made for Eleanor before she was born (we filled in her name after she was here since we didn't know if she was a boy or girl!)
I went picture crazy... literally hundreds of pictures of our sweet baby girl were all over my parent's house.... my favorite though was over the fireplace where we put her monthly owl pictures up to chart how much little girl grew!
The food....
Typical grill-out summer menu was in order... (notice the pictures behind the buffet of Eleanor!)
More food shots....
Eleanor's birthday banner.... Aunt Katie and I spent all day the week before making this banner.... so don't judge if you see it at all her parties :)
We looked over after putting Eleanor down for a minute and had to laugh that she bee-lined it for the gifts... too funny. 
But, it was time to swim!! So we changed her into her little birthday swimsuit!
Eleanor and Daddy... pre-pool...
...and Eleanor and Daddy in her element.... she had SO much fun!!
Best friends and their kiddos..... BJ and Weyland have been best buds since 5th grade.... Tausten is his oldest...
And Emily (Weyland's wife and also friends with BJ since junior high!) with Harper, their second... Emily is pregnant with Baby #3 due just 4 weeks after me... we can't wait to meet precious baby girl, Chapel!
I wish I took pictures of everyone.... probably my biggest regret from the party! But here is a quick glance at the pool with the first braves souls....
And part of the crowd who never did enjoy splashing around in the water.... but, we were SO blessed that you all made the trip to Prosper and enjoyed the party with us!
Laura and Eleanor's little, big friend Spencer (we missed Christian!)....
The Simmons family.... Chris, Marina and big-boy, Owen!
In lieu of cake, we did cake pops... figured it was not only part of the theme, but the perfect bite-size piece of cake you need.... Eleanor's first cake is right in front...
And the real deal.... everyone singing "Happy Birthday".... let's just say Eleanor LOVED IT. She clapped, she laughed, she waved her hands... it was perfect! We even sang it twice because she was having so much fun with all of the attention.... shocked me because there were over 50 people singing!!! (**REGRET #2... my video camera did NOT work and I do not have it on video.... but I do have the second time we sang the song from a video taken from Aunt Kristen... phew!)
Looking at her cake wondering... is this really for me? What do I do?
It obviously didn't take Eleanor long to figure that out.... she went in like this once, twice.... over 20 times.... she LOVED her cake. Didn't use her hands for a while, just kept going in face first, very serious, eating cake and icing like it was her job!
Y-U-M-M-Y!
It was so good, in fact, that she decided she wanted to share with Daddy... so sweet!
The face of a cake - fiend...
We finally got her to use her hands.... she literally ate almost the entire top tier of her cake...
Then, we went back to the pool for some more fun!... with Jana and Bella....
With Mindy, Lucy, Marina and Owen....
Lucy and Eleanor loved sitting on the fountain.... these two girls are just too much for me. I love the little pictures we have of them, and I love that it always seems like Eleanor is telling Lucy something mischievous... we are pretty sure she is going to be the ring-leader of their getting into trouble in no-time....
Best. Day. Ever.
And Bella jumped off of the diving board... this is a big deal because for the few days leading up to the party she kept saying she would NOT be doing this... good job, big girl!
Momma and her princess.... my ONE year old! O.M.G.
Daddy and Eleanor, post-pool....
So, we said goodbye to the majority of guests and then Eleanor was SO excited to open her presents.... she received WAY too many and we are overwhelmed by the amount of toys and goodies that she received.... she was really excited to open gifts, as were her helpers Bella, Tausten, Harper and Spencer.... too funny!
Where do I start???
Eleanor pushing her new stroller for her dolly... she was SO excited to get this from Pa-Paw and Nanna...
Aunt Katie gave Eleanor her first sock monkey.... Eleanor loves it... notice in her other hand are her new Converse.... she went nuts over these and held them the rest of the time she opened presents after she opened them.... little girl LOVES shoes... she got 5 pair, and I am pretty sure she is stoked.
Her favorite present thus far? Definitely her xylophones from Uncle Benny / Aunt Kristen and Lucy Kate.... she has one at home and one stayed at Grandpa and Dot-Dots.... she plays them all the time... such a musician!
Our big girl opening some more gifts....
See... wasn't kidding about the Converse...
And this picture was actually taken the day before, but I just had to post it of her opening her first birthday present from Junior.... look at that SMILE!!
Baby girl, we hope you had the HAPPIEST Birthday... we were so blessed to celebrate YOU and can't wait for the years of parties to come! Celebrating you doesn't just happen on July 31, baby girl, but we celebrate YOU everyday! 
Thank you to everyone who came to our party... and for your overwhelming generosity to Eleanor! We love you all and WISH we had done a better job taking pictures to show you all!!
The party started with these fabulous invitations from my dear friend, Marina. She is SO talented... she created my blog, she did Eleanor's birth announcement and now her birthday invitation.... THANK YOU, Marina!!
We spent the night at my parent's house the night before the party so that we could spend the next morning getting things ready... Eleanor enjoyed "Happy Birthday" before every meal that day.... and obviously, she LOVED it.
Such a ham!! We had practiced and practiced the "Happy Birthday" song so that she wouldn't be freaked out when 50 people were singing it to her... obviously with the family, she thought the song was the greatest....
The party started after Eleanor's afternoon nap... she was greeted by Uncle Benny, and let's just say that Momma was grateful because my little girl NEVER snuggles as much as I would like, but her fear of her uncle (we are still trying to put our finger on this, but since day one Eleanor has been scared of her Uncle Benny!) meant she was all up in my business for a good 10 minutes... best birthday present to Momma, ever!
Enjoying her WHOLE milk.... cya later, never, formula!
Eleanor in her party dress..... this obviously didn't last long because it was a pool party, but she was just precious in it!
Eleanor's cousin Bella made the trip from San Antonio (along with Jana and Betty Jo, of course) and it was SO fun to have them there!! These sweet girls will be best of friends, we just know it.
The party was themed "Pinwheels and Popsicles"... lining my parent's driveway and around their backyard we put pinwheels staked in the ground... of course I forgot to take a picture. Awesome. Dot-Dot made the wreath on the front door and used the hospital sign we made for Eleanor before she was born (we filled in her name after she was here since we didn't know if she was a boy or girl!)
I went picture crazy... literally hundreds of pictures of our sweet baby girl were all over my parent's house.... my favorite though was over the fireplace where we put her monthly owl pictures up to chart how much little girl grew!
The food....
Typical grill-out summer menu was in order... (notice the pictures behind the buffet of Eleanor!)
More food shots....
Eleanor's birthday banner.... Aunt Katie and I spent all day the week before making this banner.... so don't judge if you see it at all her parties :)
We looked over after putting Eleanor down for a minute and had to laugh that she bee-lined it for the gifts... too funny. 
But, it was time to swim!! So we changed her into her little birthday swimsuit!
Eleanor and Daddy... pre-pool...
...and Eleanor and Daddy in her element.... she had SO much fun!!
Best friends and their kiddos..... BJ and Weyland have been best buds since 5th grade.... Tausten is his oldest...
And Emily (Weyland's wife and also friends with BJ since junior high!) with Harper, their second... Emily is pregnant with Baby #3 due just 4 weeks after me... we can't wait to meet precious baby girl, Chapel!
I wish I took pictures of everyone.... probably my biggest regret from the party! But here is a quick glance at the pool with the first braves souls....
And part of the crowd who never did enjoy splashing around in the water.... but, we were SO blessed that you all made the trip to Prosper and enjoyed the party with us!
Laura and Eleanor's little, big friend Spencer (we missed Christian!)....
The Simmons family.... Chris, Marina and big-boy, Owen!
In lieu of cake, we did cake pops... figured it was not only part of the theme, but the perfect bite-size piece of cake you need.... Eleanor's first cake is right in front...
And the real deal.... everyone singing "Happy Birthday".... let's just say Eleanor LOVED IT. She clapped, she laughed, she waved her hands... it was perfect! We even sang it twice because she was having so much fun with all of the attention.... shocked me because there were over 50 people singing!!! (**REGRET #2... my video camera did NOT work and I do not have it on video.... but I do have the second time we sang the song from a video taken from Aunt Kristen... phew!)
Looking at her cake wondering... is this really for me? What do I do?
It obviously didn't take Eleanor long to figure that out.... she went in like this once, twice.... over 20 times.... she LOVED her cake. Didn't use her hands for a while, just kept going in face first, very serious, eating cake and icing like it was her job!
Y-U-M-M-Y!
It was so good, in fact, that she decided she wanted to share with Daddy... so sweet!
The face of a cake - fiend...
We finally got her to use her hands.... she literally ate almost the entire top tier of her cake...
Then, we went back to the pool for some more fun!... with Jana and Bella....
With Mindy, Lucy, Marina and Owen....
Lucy and Eleanor loved sitting on the fountain.... these two girls are just too much for me. I love the little pictures we have of them, and I love that it always seems like Eleanor is telling Lucy something mischievous... we are pretty sure she is going to be the ring-leader of their getting into trouble in no-time....
Best. Day. Ever.
And Bella jumped off of the diving board... this is a big deal because for the few days leading up to the party she kept saying she would NOT be doing this... good job, big girl!
Momma and her princess.... my ONE year old! O.M.G.
Daddy and Eleanor, post-pool....
So, we said goodbye to the majority of guests and then Eleanor was SO excited to open her presents.... she received WAY too many and we are overwhelmed by the amount of toys and goodies that she received.... she was really excited to open gifts, as were her helpers Bella, Tausten, Harper and Spencer.... too funny!
Where do I start???
Eleanor pushing her new stroller for her dolly... she was SO excited to get this from Pa-Paw and Nanna...
Aunt Katie gave Eleanor her first sock monkey.... Eleanor loves it... notice in her other hand are her new Converse.... she went nuts over these and held them the rest of the time she opened presents after she opened them.... little girl LOVES shoes... she got 5 pair, and I am pretty sure she is stoked.
Her favorite present thus far? Definitely her xylophones from Uncle Benny / Aunt Kristen and Lucy Kate.... she has one at home and one stayed at Grandpa and Dot-Dots.... she plays them all the time... such a musician!
Our big girl opening some more gifts....
See... wasn't kidding about the Converse...
And this picture was actually taken the day before, but I just had to post it of her opening her first birthday present from Junior.... look at that SMILE!!
Baby girl, we hope you had the HAPPIEST Birthday... we were so blessed to celebrate YOU and can't wait for the years of parties to come! Celebrating you doesn't just happen on July 31, baby girl, but we celebrate YOU everyday! 
Thank you to everyone who came to our party... and for your overwhelming generosity to Eleanor! We love you all and WISH we had done a better job taking pictures to show you all!!
Comments
luv & shalom ~ aunt lynn