Overwhelmed with joy and love and sugar and gifts!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAISY MCDAID!

Today was quite possibly one of the best (and definitely proudest) days of my life. What am I talking about? It was definitely one of the best days of my life. I can count on one hand the number of times I've had THIS MUCH FUN. And it was all at a one year old's birthday party! Whodathunkit? Well, it was MY one year old's birthday party...

Our day started early because we were on a mission to be done with our nap at a certain time. So, bad parents that we are, we didn't place Daisy's binkie in her special spot where she can get it in the morning. This meant that we all got up at 6am instead of 7am. We all suffered. I guess this makes it better. Haha!

Then the craziness began.

I showered, Hubby showered. Hubby took off for Nan and Grandads to set-up and receive vendors. Meanwhile I set about wearing out Ms. Daisy so she would happily go down for a morning nap (instead of a mid-day nap, which would have meant no birthday girl for the party - yikes!) After a thirty minute walk, dancing and singing to her favorite video, and chasing her around the house on hands and knees for almost an hour, I succeeded in getting her down at 9:45am. (I was tempted to nap myself at this point but I had make-up to put on, clothes to change, and hair to style. Oy vey!)

11am was the start of the party and it came and went. Ahem. (Maybe too good of a job in wearing her out on my behalf?) At 11:15am I had to go in and open the curtains to wake Missy up. I felt bad but, hey, you can't miss your own first birthday party, right!?

When I drew up to my parent's house at about 11:20, I almost cried. I have been planning and envisioning this day for soooo long and spent all week worrying that all manner of things would go pear-shaped. So, when I saw the cars already parked outside, the party sign in the driveway, the balloons lining the pathway, and the Happy Birthday sign on the door, the relief and excitement flooded over me.



People were there! The balloons looked great! Hubby had executed my vision to the tee! I love him. We make a GREAT TEAM.


Party party!


The birthday girl's throne


Mimosas near the door. I know my friends well! ;o)


Daisies, daisies everywhere!

Of course, the decorations only set the stage. There were still other elements to turn a good party into a great one. We already addressed the alcohol...

GOOD FOOD
(Thanks Mum & Dad!)





ENTERTAINMENT

From bounce houses to a fairy that painted faces, hosted puppet-shows and got even the grown-ups playing with a massive parachute, there was no shortage of fun to be had. Oh, and there was also a little Easter Egg hunting going on in the background!






Eh, screw the hip. (Incidentally I DID NOT pay the next day. Hmmm...)


Parachute play.


So cool to see kids having so much fun! They bring such unabandoned joy into your life!


Katie getting her face painted by our AWESOME fairy, Melody.


Hand painting for missy who isn't into having ANYONE mess with ANYTHING on her precious little head.


I LOVE this shot, just as I love Noelle. I still remember her in her mommy's tummy. Crazy!


Puppet shows! Bunnies and turtles and parrots.



GREAT FRIENDS AND FAMILY

Parties, just like just about everything else in life, are "made" by good people. We are fortunate that so many people who are so important to us, were able to make it to Daisy's special day. It was even more special because of each and every one of them. I loved hanging out with everyone, as did Daisy, Daddy, and our hosts, Nanny and Grandad! Thanks everyone for coming and having (what I hope was) a good time!

(Apologies if I did not specifically include you below - there's only so much space and 450 photos!)


The McDaids and Tings.


My favorite mamas. Great women all.


Grammie and Daisy sharing a sweet moment.


My good friend Vickie whose own son is all growed up and quite the catch!


Our swim buddy, Kate, and her mama Beth.


CJ and her precious blessing, Maclay. Aparently the finger thing he inherrited from his mother. Haha!


My friend, Joy, and her son Gabriel. They both bring so much joy into my life, if you pardon the pun!


Aunty Linh (expecting baby #2 in the summer) and Daisy.


The Waterburys. Aparently Daisy is modeling her growth and development on Micah and, aparently, I'm IN FOR IT!


My good friend, Mala, with whom I like to enjoy long walks, tall drinks and lengthy bitch sessions.


Aunty Farrah, cousin Adah (3), and cousin Ezra whose first birthday was one week before.


Precious Madelyne and her mommy, Renee, also expecting her second, Malik, in May.

LOTS OF GIFTS!
Thank you everyone for your generosity. Oh, and for the toys that sing. We really, really appreciate those. (Ahem)



CAKE!


Mama made Daisy's own personal cupcake. Not bad if I say so myself. The plate I had made by a pro and I hope to bring it out every year for her birthday.


40 people singing happy birthday are behind this camera, which may explain the dazed and confused look on the birthday girl's face!


Not her first piece of cake but definitely her first frosting. I think we paid for it later with a little bit of gas and irritability. Pah! It's only your first birthday once!


My little party animal. If this doesn't look lke a good time, I don't know what does!


... even the weather managed to behave for us. It had rained the day before and the forecast all week had not looked hopeful but the sun actually managed to grace us with it's presence on-and-off!

Never has a party I have thrown gone-off so well. Everything cooperated: birthday girl, weather, people, vendors... As someone who used to work in special events, I know that only happens once in a blue moon, so I sure appreciated it.

In fact, the only thing that didn't seem to cooperate was Daisy's size. She was just a tad too small for her birthday dress, which I purchased a couple of months ago in a size 12 months. Little miss peanut is just a hair off a 12 month dress size right now and a bit too big for a 9 month. The dress actually fit better than the sweater and, had the weather been warmer, the overall effect would have been much better but it was too cold to run around outside in a sleeveless summer dress.

More importantly than perfection or my enjoyment (or, perhaps, as a major part of it) the birthday girl had an absolute BLAST. We worried about tantrums and being overwhelmed but we needn't have bothered. Forget the Easter Bunny - this was, after all, Ms. Social Bunny herself. No sooner did we put her on the ground out in the back yard and she started running around like a crazy girl.



Daisy had no compunctions about hanging with the big kids, bouncing up-and-down in the bounce house, running under (and over) parachutes, petting hand-puppet bunnies, letting our fairy paint her hand, and generally being the life and soul of her own party. She let relative strangers pick her up and say hi, she didn't cry when fourty people gathered around her and sang Happy Birthday, and she sat happily in her high-chair thereafter, stuffing sugary frosting and cake in her mouth, while Mama and Dada saw some guests out.

I love her. She is everything this mama could possibly have hoped for in a little girl and it was so cool that we all had just as much fun as one another!

As the party started to wind down, Hubby and I got a last burst of energy and took to the bounce house in celebration.







Nothing better than a one year old and 20 other kids under the age of 5 to help you reconnect with your inner-child. I don't remember feeling that alive and full of energy in a long time.

Later, when everyone else left, I got to bounce around some more with my friend, Joy, and her two kids, Gabriel and Noelle, singing Ring-A-Ring-A-Rosie. Joy was the first non-family member to hold Daisy after she was born - she actually walked into the recovery room with our parents - and so it felt fitting that she was the last person to leave our party. In some ways we are the unlikeliest of friends and yet that only makes our connection sweeter. As an only child, my friends are my siblngs and Joy is definitely a member of my extended family.



Clearly, I could go on-and-on about everything (and everyone) I loved on this day but this post wouldn't be complete without a shout-out to my parents who hosted this mega bash.

Thanks Mum and Dad for agreeing to host so I wouldn't need to spend my week off with Daisy scrubbing floors and toilets in preparation. Thank you for letting us leave you with most of the clean-up while we went home and lounged like lizards. Thank you for not batting an eyelid when I told you than 43 adults and 28 children had RSVP'd. Thank you for coralling Daisy so Hubby and I could mingle with our guests and sip mimosas. Thank you for treating our friends and their children like family. Thank you, thank you, thank you for a perfect day. We are so lucky to have you in our lives and down the street.

And with that, we move on to year #2 of Lazy Crazy Daisy's life. The story continues...