Sally's Birthday Luncheon

On Sally's actual birthday, we took her out to breakfast for chocolate chip pancakes and let her pig out.  For her party a few days later, we thought we'd do something a bit more refined for our little lady. ;)  We ended up hosting an afternoon luncheon out on the lawn.  Quite fit for a princess, I'd say.

We didn't intend for it to be a mostly-girls party, but when Grandpa had to stay behind to help his aging father and Uncle Nate couldn't come, our guests ended up being Grandma, Aunt Ashley, Cousins Kate and Lucy, and my good friend Taryn and her three daughters.  I hope Noah and Ryan didn't mind all that female company!

We had a yummy lunch under the trees, and then we all watched Sally smash her birthday cake.  She could hardly wait to dig in!

Mmm, I think I want that. 

Come on, Dad, let me at it!

This cake was another team effort!  I baked the cakes; my mother-in-law frosted them.  Didn't she do a great job??  My kids are so lucky to have domestically-gifted and creative grandmas and aunts.  I don't know if Little Sally cared much what the cake looked like, but she sure seemed to enjoy it!  I will never forget how she grabbed fistfuls of frosting and smacked her lips appreciatively while she dug in.  Sweetest sweetest girl.

After cake, we did presents, and Sally was so patient with all of the kids swarming her and grabbing the gifts.  Everyone was so excited about her new toys, especially the princess car from Grandma and the water table from Bapa, and it wasn't until after the party that she was able to actually enjoy them on her own.

The highlight of the party for me was showing our guests the video that I put together of Sally's first year.  I compiled some of my favorite photos and video clips, picked out a few special songs, and spent several hours putting it together in iMovie.  I made a similar video for Noah when he turned one, and this is a tradition that is worth the effort to me.  I am a sentimental sap, and I love the way that both videos turned out.  (If you're interested, you can watch Sally's video here and Noah's video here.)

We borrowed our friend's projector again and created "Cinema Sally" in Noah's room to watch the slideshow.  Even though a few of the kids were super crazy and jumping around during the film (eh hem, Noah and Kate!), it was a special way to end Sally's celebration of one year of life.

I love our sweet Sally Grace.  She has brought us so much joy this year and I know she will continue to in the years to come!  I feel beyond blessed to be her mama, and I'm so glad I was able to host a little luncheon in her honor.