Party Time!!!

So, we finally made it to Elsie Anne's BIRTHDAY PARTY!  I swear this week felt like a month?!  I definitely miss having family around to help get everything together:)  But, I'm so proud of Shawn + myself... we did it ALL (shopped, cooked, baked, goodie bagged, decorated, etc) + had a fun time doing it!! 

We had EA's party @ Carter Park Pavillion.  It is a small indoor/outdoor area w/ beautiful views of the mountain, nice outdoor gas grill, indoor fireplace, seating both inside + out, and it's right @ the base of the best Sledding Hill in town!  If you follow the blog, you have seen pics of this Hill before:) 

So, it took Shawn's truck + my wagon to get everything we needed to our perfect location!  Being a pretty organized person, I had everything layed out the night before, we just had to load up the morning of.  I have to say, it went so much smoother than I had anticipated.  I did all the preparing inside (got EA + myself ready, packed up last minute things, etc) + Shawn packed up the cars as I put things in the mud room.  It's so nice feeling like a good team:) 

Once @ the Pavillion, it went the same way, Shawn brought everything in, I sayed where it should go, + started decorating + arranging the room as I thought it would flow best!  All you Mommas out there know that there is A LOT of thought that goes into a 1st bday, + all of these things had been running through my mind for the last 2 wks, so I knew exactly how I was going to set up once we were there!  So, with a little physical labor from Shawn (he was the 'tape man' for the streamers), the room was ready... 10 minutes before our first guest arrived...

This is our dear friend, Emily... she took our wedding pics + all of EAs pics!  We were so fortunate she was able to come to the party, as I would never have documented Elsie Anne's first birthday as it should be:)  I haven't gotten her photos yet, but I will definitely share once I do!

Here is the BIRTHDAY GIRL, herself... We brought her walker so she didn't have to crawl everywhere!  Her bow is hooked onto her dress, it hadn't made it into her hair yet, and these are her new snazzy sun glasses that Shawn picked out for her!  She LOVES them + never tries taking them off!!  This is still while we are getting ready...

...and we're still getting ready, so EA needed a snack (in her B-DAY THRONE)!  Check out that view!

This is Momma's hard work... I am NOT a cook or a baker + this was my very first time BAKING anything, so it was an adventure in itself!  I had planned on buying a cake from the local baker, but I decided a week before, "I'm a 'MOM' now, maybe I should try this?!" so that is what I did!  Saturday I started @ 2pm when EA went down for her nap, + I never stopped or sat down until I went to bed @ 11pm!  Woah, that was a CHORE, + I won't say that I enjoyed it, but it is nice to say that I've done it:)  I made a Sweet Potato Salad w/ a Vinegarette Dressing, Vanilla + Chocolate Cupcakes, + an Organic Carrot Cake for Missy Moo!  Shawn + I had fun decorating the Carrot Cake... its absolutely not a professional job, but it ended up pretty cute + we had some good laughs doing it:)  PS: there was triple that amount of cupcakes than shown in the pic!

I grabbed my camera as EA was ready to get out of her 'throne'... She really could have cared less about that gigantic cake in front of her!  She poked her finger in it a few times, licked her finger, licked her lips + then was done w/ it!  So funny to see your little one's reaction, you just never know what their going to do!

Before we headed outdoors for some sledding fun, we gathered all the kiddos together for a quick photo!  I was late getting my camera, but Emily got some good ones!!!  As you can see, most of EAs friends are older than her...

I know she can't wait to walk in her snow boots, this crawling in the snow stuff is for the birds:)

We all had an amazing time sledding... the weather couldn't have been better, warm + sunny... just what the doctor ordered for Momma!!!  We'll have more pics from Emily soon:)