12.20 Birthday Party

Ella's party was scheduled 1-4. I scheduled it when she was taking 2 naps a day then right after that she consistently started taking 1 nap a day. I managed to get her to nap prior to the party. I couldn't believe it.

The first people arrived around 1:15. The last person left at 3:57. I can't believe how much cleaning and prep went into such a short party!

Ella was very shy at first and wanted Beth to hold her the entire time. She got warmed up once people fed her some food.   We had a small gathering so it was good. Ella got to play. We had party hats and Ella liked hers until she pulled the strap and the strap snapped at her neck. Then there was crying.  I got a few pictures or well a lot of pictures.

We basically ate, did cake, gave Ella a bath, then opened presents.

We almost forgot to sign. (I didn't actually sing.) We didn't even light the candle. It all worked out anyway.
Ella loved her cake. She dug right in. It was so cute. Dave's coworkers loved seeing it.

Everyone but one person left and we started opening gifts. Ella was a little slow at first and didn't get what to do. Then she wanted to read the entire book a few times before moving on to the next one. I think we only did 3 presents and decided to save the rest for later.

Matt was the last one to leave and when he was about to go out the door, Ella lunged at him. She wanted him to hold her. Then she tried closing  the door behind him so he'd stay.

After everyone left, I realized nobody touched the 2 trays of cookies I had out. Also, I even forgot to get out the fruit.  I guess I had too much food.

Ella liked to push Lily around

Ella didn't care if she had 3 of her own cups, she wanted to drink out of Lily's cup.

Gio sits there wonder why the hats make everyone else cry.

pre-bath

post-bath

She doesn't want Matt to leave.

Even though I spent a million hours cleaning and stressing, it was worth it. I loved having people celebrate Ella's special day with her. I liked that Ella got some attention. She always gets attention though. I love that people were willing to take time out of their day to celebrate! I especially love that Beth made both Ella's smash cake and the other cake for the party.

We did have a birthday banner (purchased a half hour before the party started) and 2 balloons up to make it festive. I think that 1 banner helped make it feel like a party.

Here is what the cake looked like prior to Ella going at it.  She started eating on the platter but it was a bit high in the air so we took the cake off and put it directly on her high chair tray.

There were 11 total people at the party and 2 sets of people with the same name! I found that odd!
Sorry this post jumps all around and isn't in the best order. I'll probably regret that later since 1st birthday is quite a big milestone.