Max's 1st Birthday {Whale Birthday Party}

Saturday was Max's first birthday!  I cannot believe how fast this year has gone.  When he was first born the only song I sang that would calm him was "Baby Beluga" by Raffi.  Therefore, when I tried to think of a theme for his first birthday party I came up with a whale theme... baby beluga whale.  The colors I chose were blue and orange.  I had so much fun collecting blue and orange things and thinking up food that would go with the whale theme and also be blue and orange.

The party turned out great.  We had about 25+ people there of mostly family.  For food I came up with the idea to do a Mac n' Cheese bar because Max loves Mac n' Cheese.  Also, it's a kiddie food but as there were mostly adults at the party I had more adult toppings like chicken, broccoli, hamburger, tomatoes, scallions, Parmesan and bread crumbs.

The sailboat centerpiece is from my mom's personal collection.  She loves all things nautical.

I made this banner on my computer and then tied it together with orange and blue ribbons.

For the dessert bar I had blue cupcakes, angel fish cookies and chocolate covered pretzels.  I made the pretzels myself, the rest of it I bought from Market Street Diner.  They did an amazing job!

I made the cupcake toppers on my computer as well.

The chocolate covered pretzels were a hit.  I added food coloring to make the white chocolate orange to match the theme. 

Jello with gummy fish.

For table centerpieces I had little pales filled with gold fish crackers topped with a pinwheel. 

Even though Max was the only kid I found this whale pinata and just HAD to buy it.

I figured Max would get bored with opening gifts but he LOVED it.  He was so excited about his gifts.

Grandpa John got him his own loader to help with the construction.  

He loved that everyone sang him happy birthday!

Market Street Diner made him his own smash cake with a whale on it. 

I expected him to dig into it but all he wanted to do was throw it on the floor so I scooped some frosting up with my finger to try and entice him to eat it.  He didn't like the frosting that much and wasn't really interested. 

Instead he just chewed on the spoon.  The smash cake is almost completely untouched and sitting in my fridge.  I guess that plan backfired!

My best friend Morgana got him his "Beep Beep" It's a super cool car that is used instead of a stroller.  He had a blast riding around in it! 

It even has cup holders.  No drinking and driving allowed! :)

Popping a wheelie.

At the end of the party we realized that we never hit the pinata so we gave Max his mini stick (of course) and he tapped at it a few times. 

Then all the adults took turns.  Isn't this a sad picture of the little whale?

Morgana and my mom tried to help Max finish it off but as soon as they began beating the whale he started bawling.  I guess he didn't want to hurt it.

I have to thank my mom, dad and Morgana for all the hard work they put in helping me pull off such a great birthday party for Max.  I know he will never remember it but hopefully he will look back at the pictures and know how much time and love I put into making his first birthday special.

Pink Bridal Shower

Yesterday I hosted a bridal shower for my sister-in-law.  She loves pink and everything girly so I ran with it!  I came up with the idea to do and dip party and was trying to think of a way to combine the dip idea along with it being a bridal shower but I couldn't make it click so I stuck with the dips and left it at that.

There was a great turnout of people and thanks to the Maid of Honor, my sister-in-law's best friend, for putting the games together.  So much fun.

Maid of Honor, Bride, Me (we did not plan the coordinating colors)

You're an All Star Get Your Game On Go Play

Happy Father's Day to my amazing dad and fabulous husband!  Max helped me pick out Luke's Father's Day card yesterday and he chose the Shrek one that plays Smashmouth's "All Star" every time you open it up.  Max loved the card so much he's been playing with it all day and therefore I have the following song in my head.

  

To celebrate the day we decided to go to some more parade homes... I know, we are obsessed!  We have been to 6 of the 7 sites!  More photos to come tomorrow from those homes as today I fell in love!

We ended the day with a cookout at Van Buren Place for the dads.  It's always nice to get together as a family.  I especially love the excuse to eat a cheeseburger {honestly, that's what I was most excited about!}

Max and Luke

Sister-in-law, Alicia and her fiancee Jeff

Eating a crunchie

Behind bars!

4 Generations of Stauffachers... Great Grandpa David, Grandpa John, Baby Max and Dad Luke

Ready to take a nap

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!

Some of you that know me know that I LOVE birthdays, especially mine :)  I have been known to throw most of my own parties and typically have had great birthdays for most of my life.

Here are some of my most memorable parties:
* Rainbow Bright came to my house in Eden Prairie, MN when I was little and when she "flew away on her horse" {drove out of our driveway in her sedan} my mom made sure to point towards the forest so we could all watch her leave!  So super cool

* I had a figure skating party when I was 8.  We rented the skating rink for all of my 10 or so friends and then had pizza in the warming room.

* When I was 9 my birthday party was at a horse stable.  We ate in the back room with the tack and then took a hay ride through the fields.

* For my 13th birthday we rented a limo and my friends and I got all dressed up and drove around town... then we headed home for some Chinese food because of course you would eat Chinese food after riding in a limo?

* For my 21st birthday I threw myself a "Sex and the City" cocktail party.  My mom was our hostess and helped prepare all of the food and drinks.  We drank cosmopolitans and sat around my dining room table enjoying the food, cake and juicy gossip.

* For my 24th "Golden" birthday party I went all out.  I rented {for free} the prefunction area of our hotel and served hors d'oeuvres and champagne {because it's gold... and delicious!}.  The cocktail tables were decorated with small bowls of "gold-fish" with gold cards that had trivia questions all with answers that contained the word "gold" in them.  There were gold balloons surrounding the space and every guest was required to wear an item of gold.  The party was amazing until I downed a few too much "gold goodness"... proving there can be too much of a "gold" thing!
     ** My Golden Birthday was a two-part event.  Not only did I throw a super fun party but on the actual day of my birthday I happened to be in Florida with Luke and his family.  That morning Luke woke me up and told me to pack up all of my things and be ready in 1 hour.  An hour later we hit the road to an undisclosed location.  Once arriving in St. Petersburg beach we proceeded to look around.  I pointed out this amazing pink hotel located right on the beach and thought how wonderful it would be to be rich enough to stay there.  That's when Luke announced that we were checking-in at 3pm and so we had better get something to eat beforehand.  I was stunned!  We checked into our gorgeous room and was greeted a few minutes later by the butler dropping off chocolate covered strawberries and champagne.  {This birthday is amazing I thought}.  The afternoon was completed with a pedicure for me and a walk on the beach together.  We then proceeded back to our room to prepare for a nice dinner in their exquisite restaurant.  I didn't have anything to wear as I mostly packed beach stuff for our Florida trip.  With that, Luke pulled out a gorgeous dress from Arden B that he had picked out. {notice the photos below}  We dinned surrounded by exotic fish swimming around us in tanks and ate delicious 5 star food and drank expensive wine.  That's when Luke placed a diamond ring on the table and said "Here is your final birthday gift, I will let it speak for itself."  I was speechless.  It was one of the best moments of my life.  The whole day had set a great scene.  The server congratulated us on the engagement and admitted that he knew all along and was waiting in anticipation.

So you can see why birthdays are an exciting day for me.  Luke doesn't understand as he thinks birthdays are just another day.  I hope to raise my kids to love birthdays because why not have something in life to look forward to every year.  It also builds lovely memories that I cherish.  I have to thank my mom for helping with all of my wonderful birthdays over the year.  Without her I wouldn't have these great memories.

This year I'm thinking a nice dinner with my husband is all I need.  I'm 28 today!  28 isn't a real exciting number for me so I think low key is good.  Watch out for 30 though... I have 2 years to plan and I'm going to need it.  I'm thinking that will be a big one!

Morgana and me at my Golden Birthday Party

Me and my brother, Matt, at my Golden Birthday Party {notice his "gold chain" hahaha}

The "pink" hotel where we got engaged {Don CeSar}

Engagement Photo after dinner

Death By Chocolate

Last night was the Madison Church of Christ's "Death By Chocolate" event at the Goodman Community Center in Madison.  A night for women to get together, relax and enjoy each others company.  My sister-in-law, Alicia, went with me and we had a wonderful time meeting new people, enjoying decadent chocolate and tasting great wines.

Amy Stevens, the Madison Church of Christ's Women's Ministry Leader, gave a great talk about how beautiful we are in God's eyes and that most of us struggle to see our own selves with the same accord as God does.

At our tables I learned some fun things about other people, for example, Carol who grew up in Augsburg, Germany for the first 5 years of her life.

The chocolate fountain and other deserts were to "die for" and my favorite wine of the night was the Cupcake, Red Velvet from California.

Chocolate Fountain

Wine Tasting

I finished the night with a chair massage by Ashley DiCarlo.  She did an amazing job and is starting her own massage business in Fitchberg so in case you want to check her out here is her email address ashleydcrl822@gmail.com She only charges $45 for an hour massage!  It was very relaxing and I could feel her working hard to try and get the knots out of my shoulders.  I credit that to carrying my laptop, purse, Max's diaper bag, my lunch and Max in his car seat down to the parking garage and back every day!

As Amy said it was a much needed time to refresh.  I always enjoy attending their events and Sunday morning services because they do an amazing job of making me feel welcomed and loved.  Thanks MCC for a wonderful evening.

Scentsy Party

Last night's Scentsy party was a success!  Thank you to all those who came!  I chose to do a garden theme for my party and was inspired by a table cloth that I purchased for Easter, however, the table cloth ended up making my table look to busy so it got pulled and was never used.  Oh well!  Here are some pics from the party (I'm working on getting a new camera as these were taken with my iPhone so sorry for the poor quality.)

I used my kitchen table in my apartment as the food & beverage table.  The tissue poms hanging over it were an easy DIY!  A mason jar filled with tissue paper housed my drink stir sticks.  These were made out of lollipop sticks and flower decals.

For dessert I made Pot of Dirt with gummy worms wiggling out of them and shot glasses filled with chocolate covered sunflower seeds in the coordinating colors.

As a thank you, each guest took home a small terra cotta pot with a gerbera daisy in them.

Beverages served were red and white wine and cucumber water.  The cucumber water idea came from Miami as each time I have gone there for vacation the resorts have this delicious cucumber infused water at the  pool.  I thought it also went with my garden theme as it is a vegetable.

A fruit and veggie bouquet took the place of a fruit and veggie platter.  It was a fun way to display the fruits and vegetables!

Fun was had by all!  Even Max had a great time.  Here is a picture of Max and Dawn's daughter, Kaitlyn, touching noses.  Too cute!!!