Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Charlie Bug is One!

So yeah... I remember a few months back when I thought it would be easy-peasy to throw two parties at our brand new house in one weekend.

Can someone please go back in time and shoot me knock some sense into me?


Stew and I ran around like crazy people for weeks prior to these parties trying to get our downstairs pulled together. Furniture pick ups and deliveries, curtain hanging marathons, area rug disasters, custom framing adventures... it was all fairly stressful, but with a ton of help from my extremely supportive husband, best friend, and incredibly helpful mother, we finally finished everything up by about 11 p.m. the night before the first party.

And I'm not gonna lie, I was feeling pretty good about life at that point.

Crystal's baby shower on Saturday was so much fun I really didn't want it to end... and a few of our friends did stick around for a little backyard day drinking until later that evening. Is there anything better than day drinking? It was at that point that fatigue really started to kick in, but there was no time to bother with things like sleep... I had to rapid clean the house and re-set for the next day's party.

A first birthday celebration for Charlie!









What you can't see in these photos is the fact that there were practically 40 adults and 15 children in my house for almost three hours. Yeah...

When we agreed to host this party for our dear friends Cailin and Clint (they recently relocated from Boston and are living in temp housing until their house is built) we had no idea what the scale would be... but of course we were happy to do a favor for our friends and didn't think twice about it. Perhaps we should have.

Everything turned out wonderfully, and darling Charlie had a fabulous time and got tons of lovely gifts. But poor Stew and I were about to collapse from severe anxiety attacks the whole time. And I don't think he's ever, EVER going to let me have a baby after this. And frankly, I'm not sure if I want to anymore.

Children running around screaming, clutching chocolate chip cookies and cupcakes in their grubby little hands, reaching for my new white couches. A toddler who smacked his face on my new coffee table (minimal blood), and a boy who walked around kicking our door stoppers as hard as he could (moderate paint scuffs). The wall kicker's brother, who climbed up our hillside and proceeded to kick up the bark and throw rocks down at younger party guests. A little girl who screamed bloody murder while Charlie opened her gifts (because they weren't hers) and then attempted to hide and steal one later. And the parents who didn't even notice (or care).

Don't get me wrong... Charlie is a well-behaved little love bug with attentive, adoring parents. It was all those other little assholes who made my ovaries shrivel up like prunes in a single afternoon. Thank gawd it's over.

It was an absolutely privilege to host Charlie's first birthday party, and we were so happy to play such a monumental role in her special day. She is growing up into such a lovely sweet girl already and I can't wait to see her in the years to come. But I think next time I'll pass on all her little "friends."

Happy birthday darling Charlie!

13 comments :

  1. Lol Sarah did u see my blog? Thus is why Abe didn't get a big party! Lol, you must do kids parties outside! Everything outside!!!! It's too hot to do that here n luckily our house is too small to have it inside lol!!! You should have called me!! Charlie is so cute!

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  2. You are so sweet to throw all these parties! Charlie is adorable and can I please have that pink bird cage?!!

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  3. You did such a great job and opening your house for a child's party--oh girl! I almost wish I had been there to be a "bouncer"! haha, well.. you understand! I have been working with kids (and their parents) for years. I love every aspect that you have posted and don't think you could have done a thing better! Lovely! What a day to remember! IF I can ever (on my knees praying) get pregnant again and everything goes as planned.. YOU ARE HIRED!! XOXO

    ugottahavehart.blogspot.com

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  4. Awesome job, so cute!!!
    PS. I agree about the day drinking! :)

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  5. What an adorable 1st birthday party!

    Is your house now available for little kid party rentals? It sounds like it ;) <---sarcasm, just in case it doesn't come through my typing.

    I agree with the above commenter. All little kid parties must be outside...or, even better: off site.

    The thing about having your own kids though is that you gradually get used to the chaos that comes along with them over time...you don't just get thrown in to it full tilt, thank god. Newborns are physically hard but...you can set them on the couch and walk away without much worry that they'll somehow find a stray crayon and proceed to decorate your walls or cushions with burnt sienna.


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  6. P.S. Please tell me that you have little birds on your dress to go along with the theme because I can't see it clearly. If yes, I love you even more now. :)

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  7. You and Stewart are good friends. If anyone every questions that, you just show them these posts! Looks like it was a great party though, and you already have tons of clients, should you ever decide to change careers! :)

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  8. aw! it turned out great!! adorable :)

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  9. And you hit this one out of the park too! You need to put professional party planner on your resume!

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    1. Thank you! I can't take much credit for this one though... Charlie's mom really did all the work and I just provided the house. But she did a great job and everything was so adorable. :-)

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  10. adorable!!! love all the decorations, and the cute baby of course!

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    1. I know, isn't she a doll?? Those cheeks! I just can't get over them. :-)

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  11. You are a super party planner/host! Man... Seriously your parties look like they are straight out of Pinterest. So cute! Love the themes.

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