Harper's First Birthday Party

The fact that our precious Harper turned a year old last week just doesn't seem possible to me. It feels as if only yesterday we were anxiously awaiting her arrival. Here we are now with a one year old who has brought so much joy, laughter, and purpose into our lives over the last year.

Over the weekend we celebrated Harper's first birthday with our family and closest friends. Despite all the planning and preparation that went into the party, it didn't go down quite as well as I had envisioned over and over in my mind over the last six months. For instance, Harper was not up to par due to an ear infection and of all days, it was the only one on the radar with rain. Isn't that my luck! But thankfully everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and have a good time and everything did turn out quite alright...even if it wasn't as I had hoped and imagined.

We celebrated Harper's birthday with a nautical themed party. Back in December I came up with several theme options that I liked and Kevin determined that a nautical theme was a must; as it was also a great way to kick off the summer. With that said I took off with the idea and started hunting Pinterest for ideas like no one's business. Lucky for me, nautical themed stuff seemed to be all the rage this year so coming up with ideas and finding things to coordinate with the party was as easy as pie!

We stuck with a shades of blue, white, and pink and incorporated stripes, sailboats, and anchors into the theme.

Tables were set up with blue table cloths, silverware, personalized placemats, and goldfish favors. We set up the tables outside not once or twice but three times. We set them up the first time only to have everything blow off. The second set up we got smart and taped everything down. However, fifteen minutes later we had to relocate everything from the back yard into the garage due to rain. It was quite the chaos!

With Harper not feeling well for most of the week, her napping schedule was totally off. So while everyone ate lunch, Harper took a nap.

After everyone had lunch and had time to mingle, it was smash cake time. We attempted for Harper to smash her cake during her one year photo session but she was tired and not feeling well so she didn't even bother. Unfortunately, still having an ear infection, it didn't go any better the second time around. She touched the icing only to realize it made her hands sticky so she refused to touch it further. In an effort to keep us from having her do it, she locked her hands behind her head. It was super cute and brought lots of laughs. Clearly she was done! 

After Harper's smash cake session, or lack thereof, everyone headed back in the house to devour some of the cake for the party. I'd have to say her birthday cake was most definitely one of my favorite details of the party. The local baker that made it did a great job of matching it to Harper's party theme and invites!

Towards the end of the party, we handed Harper several of her gifts. Despite all the colorful bags and packages, she only cared about the iphone she picked up off the floor. Apparently that's what she wanted for her birthday (; Other than a few bags with clothes in them and her tent from Auntie Aly and Uncle Clint, the rest of the gifts remained untouched. We decided just to give her a few each day throughout the week until they are all opened! I guess she can officially say that she's celebrating her birthday "week" :P

At the end of the party, our little guests took home gift bags with tags that said "Thanks for sailing by". They were filled with a sailor hat, pool float, pair of sunglasses, sunscreen, and a container of bubbles. 

All in all, the party turned out to be a hit! Everyone enjoyed themselves; including Harper who was a bit under the weather. I had a blast planning it and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't already thinking of birthday party number two! haha