Monday, July 13, 2009

Ellie's 2nd Birthday EXTRAVAGANZA!!

Let us begin with the cake, shall we?! My friend, Kelly, does a FAB-U-LOUS job on the cake decorating! I don't even have to be all controlling and demanding, because I KNOW what she chooses and does will be awesome. It always is!
I found these little plates at the Michael's sidewalk sale, and they happened to be a great color palette! I took them to Daddy's shop and put "e's" on all of them. Well, all but one. It said, "Ellie". and I guess you know who those are for!
Oh, my WORD! JIn brought her a tricycle!
and within a matter of minutes....
Trust me. She was FINE, and back in the big blow up jumper within minutes! But NOT back on the trike!!

Now, let's check out the details before the kids arrive, shall we?

NOthing like a two year old "nature themed" birthday to convince your husband that you need a new fountain and patio furniture for your deck! WOo Hoo for mom!
Ok, so for the details... we had balloons...
a handmade birthday banner!
a new bowl (also NECESSARY for the party, don't you agree?) full of chips.
a fun little cypress bench from the cottage that has never had a use until today!
a fabric covered number two and a poster of my baby at two years old.
Breanna made paper lanterns out of scrapbook paper in our color scheme.

and we used little rock style vases to stick with the naturey thing. No teal and brown flowers to be found. Dang!
Breanna also used her butterfly punch to make these cute little bubbles for our partay!
Ellie found out about the ice cream a little early!
Do you love her shirt?! That is made by Lindsay! And I had to quick call the lady who made her dress last year. Remember it? It was also chenille, and ask her to whip these cuties up!
This kid is an ice cream eatin' machine! And this was pre-party. I was WATCHING for those drips!!
JinJin was the first to arrive. She brought a purse, filled to the brim, with accessories of all sorts!
First, we put on the fuzzy crown hair clip. then... she dove in!
Please note the ARM FULL of bracelets!
Want to see sheer delight? Look at this face!
And my friend, Kelly, who did the cake, said she had leftover batter and icing, so she also whipped up these little cupcakes. How CUTE is this?!
As far as my culinary expertise goes, I laid out buckets of candy. There!
Bonnie arrived carrying Maddi's peepee. WHERE did these girls come up with the names for their blankets? Ellie's is her "nasty" and Maddi has a "peepee". ?!?!???huh?
Oh, and when Todd decided he didn't want to make owl and leaf shaped sandwiches, I insisted that we make cute little toothpick toppers for the mini burgers he was determined to make instead!
and sausage! The parents were plenty appreciative for that!!
I don't know how well you can see all of this... butttt....there are owl felt hairclips, fabric birdies, and those little leather owl necklaces hanging in these branches. These were the party favors!
My sister girl friend, Breanna, came all the way up from New Orleans to help me put all of this together. These are her girls, Renee and Hazel.
And Emily brought her little cutie patootie, Stormie, who loved the balloons!
This is the MMPT crew who were meeting as MAMAS of little ones vs. work compadres!
Yay! Sarah came over from next door. It just ain't a party til Sarah shows up!
And it just AIN'T a Louisiana party til your hair goes up in a ponytail. MANY a kid went from pretty long hair to a pretty long PONYTAIL!! It was sweltering!!
This is Karissa. I stood in amazement at how much attention she gave her little brother, who is right around one year old. She is definitely a nurturer!
Oh, and here are the birdies. HAND-sewn by Breanna!
Aren't they cute?
Speaking of Breanna, this is she and her girlies. Hazel is sporting one of our owl hairclips.
See the sweaty kid? No bow. Red face, and yet ANOTHER dumdum sucker in her hand!!
This is Bella. Her mom reads MoJoy and was the ONLY one to take me up on my offer to come by and enjoy the fun. She lives nearby and our girls are about the same age! She had a ball.
Payson is my cousin's daughter. I think she may could be a child model. I think she is such a pretty little thing. Maybe for Abercrombie. But only when Abercrombie decides to carry BERMUDA shorts! Have you SEEN those ads?! hmmph
Elijah is Breanna's middle child and only boy. THIS is how boys do a slide! They climb to the top and...
JUMP to the bottom. All I can say is you better not be down there when a boy is on the top!
Here is another one! This is Bennett! LooK out below. I wish I could say Ellie didnt' do it that way, but I would be lying! She made a single booty bounce at the top, then shot to the bottom on her behind.
Heeeeeyyyy, it is Maddi!
and Maddi's daddy! He came by before heading to work. Wasnt' that a sweet uncle?!
Sarah's mom, Nicole, and Mer Allison's mom, Pam, did BABY time with Gabbi Girl, who was her usual pleasant, smiley self!!
We were happy to have a few "big" girls at the party too! For instance, Macie tended some of the little ones on the jumper and helped Maddi get up high to reach the bubbles!
Oh, look. It is Ellie. And she has a sucker. WHat a surprise!
I think the jumper was a hit. All the kids seemed to like it.
as was the bubble machine. Duston chased those suckers all over the place.
LOVIN this picture of Stormie. Don't worry, Em, I ordered it for you in 5x7!!!
This is what I called Babysitter Square. There is KK, CoCO, and MerAllison. Sumer was there too, but I think she must have been mingling sometime around then!
Oh, my! I think I ordered this in 5x7 too, Breanna. HOW SWEET!
Miss Lydia was such a big helper when it came time to open the presents. She also had such nice manners!
See? This is Clara, Sarah, and Lydia helping Ellie Sue open her gifts.
Ellie was really stalling up the progress. She would get fixated on a single bracelet. or in this case, play lipstick from Emma Lou!
and oh, my lawsy mercy... would you LOOK at these shoes? Once she opened these, she didnt' take them off!!
Some were calling her the Pope. (no disrespect meant!), as she went around having people kiss her ring!
See those necklaces? Well, as the presents continued to be opened, that number probably tripled. I don't even know how that kid was walking around. And she could not be persuaded to remove a few. NO WAY!
So, to explain further why she needed a little assistance in opening her gifts, one must look more closely!
AT THE RINGS!!!!!!
She could barely function, but she was NOT taking a single solitary ring off her hand!!

and you see all those pink boxes? Well, apparently those are called, "Dream Dazzlers." and apparently we now own ALL of them!! We will be playing dress up til the cows come home! and then we will dress THEM up too!
And although I DID catch him in a lime green sequin headband this morning, Dad rebelled against the norm and did not get more dress up clothes. He got her some real live golf clubs! She thought they rocked!
Seeing as how the heat index was 110 (YES. REALLY!), it didn't take too long for the party to move indoors! All the little ones, anyway! You should see my house today! Ugh.
Gabbi Girl was not forgotten. Some nice folks brought two gifts, and GG especially liked this sock monkey from Nana and Pops.
So... after a long and wonderful day, Ellie Sue, who is now TWO, chose one of her new pretend bottles and piled herself right up next to her baby sister for a little nip.

Great fun was had by all, and now I gotta get on a big ol' bunch of PINKness for a ONE year old's party in about a month! Ciao, baby!
Mo

29 comments:

Kelley said...

Surely I'm not first to post a comment.

Girl, that was ONE.CUTE.BIRTHDAY Party for ONE.CUTE.GIRL. How precious.

I'm wondering....is there another lot available there in the 'hood cause I'm wanting to get in on some of the action. Ya'll are a fun group.

Shannon said...

What a great party!!! Looks really HOT!!!

I love that picture of Stormie!!! OMG enter it in a contest! She is beautiful.

Rachel said...

The party looks like it was hit with the kids.
And once again every detail was thought of. I wish I had an ounce of your creativity.

stephleighjenkins said...

It looks like fun was had by all!

Beth E. said...

I'm with Kelly...I wanna be your neighbor! Everything was decorated perfectly...every detail was taken care of. The food had me drooling!

Looks like Ellie had a blast for her birthday...I loved those pink cheeks of hers. Her hair looked even more blonde in these pictures....sun-kissed blonde! She's a cutie pie...

Audrea said...

The birthday party was great--the decorations, food, party favors--all of it! I loved it all. I think Ellie had a blast! It would be a party I would not want to miss. Talking about the heat, my son's birthday is on the 29th of this month so I am used to hot birhday parties--but they are well worth it--so much fun and lots of memories! Happy Birthday Ellie!

Denise said...

CONGRATULATIONS, Mo and Todd, on the birthday of your first bundle of sweetness. My how time flies... I can remember being in West Monroe two years ago and you were all anxiously awaiting for Ellie to be born. :') (Tears of joy!)
Oodles of hugs, Denise, xoxo

Anonymous said...

Oh!!! Thanks Mel for posting all those cute pictures!!! I LOVE them!

Renee said...

Wow, that cake is the bomb!

I literally laughed out loud at the "jewelry" your girl was sporting.

Since you will be celebrating 2 La Summer birthdays for many years to come, you may need to add a pool to the new house plans.

Debbie said...

You can a story so well Mo!! With all the pics and all, I feel I was there. I too, would love to be your neighbor. You guys have so much fun!! Ellie is adorable, with all her bling blings.. The decorations were great! Now I can't wait to see Gabbi's party!! You have 2 beautiful children. 2 little miracles.

God Bless~
Debbie Jean

Ally said...

Such a cute party. Will you come do my baby shower? You really know how to have a party. Love all the pics.

Ellie, I am so glad you had such a great Birthday! I hope you had fun playing with your friends and all your gifts!!

I am moving to your hood, yall have to much fun!!

MLP said...

That is a FABULOUS partay!!! I love every last detail!

Ellie Sue is so blessed to have you guys as parents and vice versa!!!

Hey, did you post pictures of the invite?

Also, where are pictures of Ellie Sue's beautiful Mama at the party?!?

Susan said...

Looks like a wonderful, memorable birthday party for a special 2 yr old! Happy Birthday, Ellie!

Kathryn said...

Oh! How totally precious. I am so glad everyone had fun while you were taking pictures, and I am sure while you weren't as well. I swear, that one pic of Ellie's expression looks just like her sweet daddy's expression when you post his pic while you are asking him something. She is a mimic! I am in love with the cake, and was wondering if your baker extraordinaire would consider coming to Illinois along about September and May to make cake for the Grandgirlies that I could ship on out to Kansas? Thank you again and again for sharing this special time.

Oh, will there be some instructions for some of the decorations? Too neat!

Cori said...

Such an awesome party!! LOVE all the attention to details!! You have to tell who/how the banner was made and also where did Jin Jin get that awesome crown hair clip? I need to get one for Claire!! (Little girl always in my pics, she also two.)

Anonymous said...

That party was a HOOT! Love every single thought out touch and detail! The colors, theme, the favors (we should have come :) and the food-all so hooty hoot perfect! I know Todd was grumbling to have to put that contraption together, but a girls gotta have a place for her guest to hang. Hard to believe she's 2!!! I love it Mo and wish we could have been there!!

a_manda said...

LOVE IT!!! Great theme, great colors, fantastic owls. Happy Birthday Ellie!

Teresa @ Grammy Girlfriend said...

What a cute party...

Anonymous said...

You sure know how to throw party don't ya....LOVE the cake, the party favors, her outfit and everything else. I must ask where did you or whomever find those big ol gawdy but precious rings. My girls would have a blast and love those. They too are into nothing but dress up and I have to get some of those rings...total BLING

Kelly said...

TWO TWO CUTE!!! Happy Birthday Ellie Sue!!

Kelli from Illinois said...

What an awesome party!! I'm wonderin where you got the poster of Ellie made? My son is golfer and I've had a couple made of action shots of him but they cost me an arm and a leg. Thought you might have a better way. I've used Fedex Kinko.

Rhonda said...

I loved every single DETAIL! The plates with the "e" were especially unusual and cute! The cake was gorgeous! Maddie's outfit even looked like it fit right in with the theme! Everything was just PERFECT! Ellie and her accessories are something else!! That is so funny! I'm so glad everything was perfect for such a special family! Ellie Sue is one lucky little girl ~ and yall are lucky to have her too!! Celebrate!!

snekcip said...

Sunny day, wonderful party, delicious food, spectacular decorations and BEAUTIFUL KIDS!!! Mo, this party was OFF THE CHAIN!! I just fell in love w/the OWL motif and especially the CUPCAKES!

That's what I call a "HOOT" hollering good time indeed! I thought sure you would have "tootsie pops", I mean Ellie could have helped us discover how man "LICKS IT TAKES TO GET TO THE CENTER OF A TOOTSIE POP"! Word to the "WISE" THE WORLD MAY NEVER KNOW! HA!!! How's that for a wordplay on her OWL theme party, man I'm just having a "screeching" good time on this "puter" today! I'm out!! BYE GIRL!!

c.holley said...

Cake is beautiful, the decarations are so cute. I love Ellie's outfit! I know everyone had a great time!! If my jewelry wardrobe was as big as Ellie Sue's......


Courtlyn

Holley Sisters said...

Looks like that party was a blast! The theme was just adorable and the cake was incredible! And I am LOVIN those pink golf clubs! Ellie Sue, Congratulations! =)

Mackenzie

snekcip said...

Kelli from Illinois : If you have a SAM'S in your neck of the woods, you can get poster size pictures of your future TIGER WOODS for 12 bucks!! Now for sharing that information, when he makes it to the MASTERS, be sure he waves and says hello to SNEKCIP!! LOL!!!

Zhohn said...

You ROCK, Mo! Love the little details!

Looks like everyone had FUN!
Can't wait until your baby girls first birthday.

Have a great Monday.

Acutescrubnurse said...

Awesome party Mo!! Your girls are so lucky to have such an awesome Mom!! and Dad too!! The cake was to die for...I only wish I could have tasted it!!
I would also love to be your neighbor!! Too much fun. The only fun I have with my neighbors is picking up their dog crap in my yard. I could live without that.
Do you have an email address?? I have a couple questions I would like to ask you about adoption...not for me, a friend.
You can email me at rchajh@yahoo.com.
Thanks
Rita

Amy said...

I love the party theme, it's what my neice is using for her new baby girl. Miss Evelyn will be here any day and I'm so excited!!