Little Nugget Turns One

I'm slowly sharing about the five things I discovered while away from my blog the last 3 months.  So far, I've written about how paint transformed our home, that I am now a fan of garage sales, and the books I read over the last few months.

What I am most excited to share is that my little nugget (Haven Joy) turned one! 

How does this fact coincide with learning?  Well, I must say that her party was VASTLY different than the first birthday party that I threw Selah.  If you have never read about the disaster that was her first birthday you can do so here, but suffice it to say - I tried to be SUPER mom and failed miserably. 

With Selah I spent months scouring Pinterest and I did my best to show the world that I was a success as a new mom.  In essence, Selah's party became an exercise in trying to show off my mothering prowess and it was not until I burned the food, found my pinterest crafts falling apart, and had the disposal back up that I finally gave up and remembered that the day was not about me at all.  It was a day to celebrate the bundle of joy who had completely wrecked my life (in all the good ways).

With this lesson stilled seared in my brain, I determined to keep Haven's soiree low key (also, I kind of forgot that her birthday was coming until we were less than 2 weeks out- sorry, second child).  So, what I learned while I was away is that you can still have a great (even cutesy/Pinterest worthy) party without the undue stress that I find far too many mothers placing upon themselves.

Here is what we did to celebrate little nugget's special day:

Simple Table Decor focusing on the Little Nugget

 I decided to have a cook-out and decorate with a picnic motif.  Why?  Because I had most of the decorations and because we were in fact just doing a simply family cook-out to celebrate.  I honestly spent less than $20 on decorations & some fun things for the bigger cousins to do.  The Dollar Store was my best friend - I purchased all paper goods, the plastic table cloth that I used as a runner, and picnic gear!

I decided to purchase bubbles for the bigger cousins to play with and the girls had fun blowing and chasing the bubbles around the yard.

 I didn't worry about any other type of entertainment - we just laid out quilts, let the children squeal as they chased one another in the yard, and chatted over juicy burgers and hot dogs - simple.  I'm learning that I like simple.

The only thing that I did spend time on was the cake.  I had just watch The Pioneer Woman make the most delicious looking cake on her show (can you say Nutella, Chocolate and Strawberries), and I determined that I must give it a try.  I have to confess that I was PROUD of myself when I finished this beauty.

However, by the time the party started the whipped cream has partially melted so my creation was less than stellar...but that's okay!

I also learned that I'm quite expressive when celebrating my little nugget.

And by "expressive" I mean frightening

And then the main event occurred.  We stripped down the baby and let her have some cake.

It was a special evening, a night filled with laughter, great food, the toothy grin of our sweet Haven girl.  Happy Birthday Haven Joy!