Charlotte turns 1!

It is hard to believe, but our pride and joy turned 1 last month! This year was a whirlwind and we will be having an even bigger year with our little boy arriving in December!

To celebrate our princess, we had some family and close friends over for pizza and cake on a perfect late summer Saturday.

I was heartbroken these were discontinued but was able to replicate the invitation in Powerpoint!

"Party Animals" was our theme!

An easy and quick drink to whip up for a crowd is a basic Arnold Palmer - I choose to make unsweet tea mixed with ice and Trader Joe's lemonade - it's the perfect blend of not too sweet or sour!

I made a 12 month banner of  my little munchkin - love seeing how much she has grown over the months!

I wasn't wild on how my cake turned out, but it got the job done. I think I'll be returning to my tried and true Whole Foods patisserie chef!

Found these free party hats from Caravan Shoppe. Target had a banner of pom-poms in their dollar section I cut the string off and hot-glued the pom poms on the hats. I printed off pink and blue, for a more festive look

Birthday girl with Grandma Walker! She did not care for her hat.

Char with her Grammie, Grandad and Uncle Bobby

What are y'all staring at?

Mom, why haven't we had this until now?

Charlotte literally had two girls at her party - one being her cousin! All our friends had boys in the last few years, and my boy-crazy daughter is just fine with it. We joked we can't wait to see these kiddos fit on this loveseat in high school. 

And what 1st birthday is complete without a huge, polka dot ball pit from your Aunt Kendall? 

Some advice for hosting a toddler birthday party:
1. Think of the space - do you have room to spread out, for adults to sit down, but still chase their kids around?
2. Menu - SIMPLE! Don't knock yourself out! We served pizza, watermelon and cake!
3. Keep the guest list small! The party won't last long and it will be too overwhelming to have 100 people there!