Baby Turns One: Celebrating a 1st Birthday in Style captures the joy and spirit of a special day in my family. On a bright, beautiful day, family gathered in Arizona to celebrate the first birthday of my niece’s baby. Nicole’s baby is now known as Princess Sweet Cheeks on this blog, because babies have “sweet cheeks”, don’t they?
Princess Sweet Cheeks has the distinct honor of being the only red-head person in our family! Her Uncle Kyle, a blonde, has a red beard. On our side of the family, my great-aunt had red hair (she would be Princess Sweet Cheeks’ great-great-great aunt), so there is a red gene on our side of the family. Since my great-aunt was of Irish descent, it all makes sense.
On top of that, Princess Sweet Cheeks has Irish blood on her mother’s father’s side and on her father’s side. So, I guess it was inevitable that at some point, someone in our family have a beautiful red-headed child.
Tired of people asking her if Princess Sweet Cheeks was her baby, Nicole broke down and dyed her hair red!
She’s beautiful, isn’t she?
When we arrived, Princess Sweet Cheeks was dressed in the most beautiful party dress with a gorgeous lace collar. The moment she started eating, Mom Nicole swooped her up and changed her into play clothes!
Here she is in her fancy lace play clothes eating a donut.
Nicole and my sister, Dawn, (her mother) had spent days preparing for the party. They rented burlap table cloths and topped them with lace. They made a burlap-backed sign with the letter B, party favors, banners, balloons, sign, with candy and tempting treats in shades of pink. I bet you can’t guess Princess Sweet Cheeks’ name from this picture, can you?
I bet you’ve guessed it now! Beautiful pink frosted cupcakes had cute chalkboard flags stuck in each to herald her special day.
My sister’s dog, Cisco, had to check out the food table. A beagle, he was just a little too short to do any serious damage!
Sparkly glitter drinking cups for the pink lemonade were a Pinterest inspiration.
Princess Sweetie Pie and Princess Sweet Heart having their own little party out on the lawn…no sparkly glitter lemonade cups in sight! What’s up with that?
Family arrives and photo ops ensue. This is my sister, Dawn – Nicole’s mother and Princess Sweet Cheeks’ proud grandmother.
Melissa (my niece) – Dawn’s oldest daughter, Nicole’s sister, Princess Sweet Cheeks’ aunt.
Melissa with her son (my great-nephew), Prince Charming…are you keeping track of the family tree? Wait, there’s more…
Princess Sweet Heart (my great-niece), Melissa’s daughter…
Another photo of Nicole…
Lena, Dawn’s step-daughter and Melissa’s and Nicole’s step-sister.
Princess P – Tiffany’s daughter (her mother is my sister, Gail) and my great-niece. She is also Dawn’s great-niece, making her 2nd cousin to Melissa and Nicole and 3rd cousin to Prince Charming, Princess Sweet Heart and Princess Sweet Cheeks.
Princess Sweetie Pie, Princess P’s younger sister and Tiffany’s youngest daughter. I won’t repeat the family tree…I think you “get it.”
All the 3rd cousins lined up in a row for a photo-op. How many pictures do you think I took just to get this one? In this one, all have their eyes open and a smile (or a semi-smile) on their faces. The answer: at least 20; after that, their tolerance level was shot and they ran off to play.
Princess Sweetie Pie reaches for a balloon…
Princess Sweet Heart reaching out to catch a balloon or a ball or a bear…not sure what she was after, but I love this photo of her in action with her beautiful long hair flying!
Princess Sweet Cheeks shuttled by Princess Sweetie Pie.
Time for presents; Nicole watching Princess Sweet Cheeks open a present…
Princess Sweet Cheeks and her father, Rob…
Both Mom and Dad helping Princess Sweet Cheeks with her loot!
Nicole, a huge Disney fan, loving the Elsa dress (from Frozen; it has a cape attached) from Auntie Carole.
As the party winds down and dusk descends, back inside Princess P reads to her mom, Tiffany.
Stay tuned for more party posts in the weeks ahead about this event! My apologies to my family members who didn’t make the “cut” – no matter how many photos I take (I’m pretty sure it was over 500 for this party), many are not share-able because they are either out-of-focus or your faces were all screwed up (as in chewing food, etc.) and not pretty! You’ll just have to wait to be featured at the next party!
Tootles,
Related Posts:
(other posts about parties and tablescapes)
- Samantha’s Table
- Princess Palooza
- Easy Appetizer Party for a Crowd
- 15 Tips for an Easy and Stress-Free Kid’s Birthday Party
- Tea Light Tutorial: Adding Edible Sprinkles for a Bit of Sparkle
- Easy Party Favors Featuring You!
- How to Make Paper Napkins Special
- Toot Sweet 4 Two Turns One: Blog-o-versary Party Recap
- Ice Cream Sundae Dessert Buffet
- 42 Things to Do When Planning Your Next Party
- 42 Party Supplies for Your Next Party
- Easy Valentine Candy and Cookie Buffet
- Decorating the Table for a St. Patrick’s Day Celebration
- The Post-St. Patrick’s Day Post
- The Charms of Afternoon Tea
- Decorating the Table for an Easter Celebration
- A Peacock Tale: Decorating the Table for a Special Celebration
- Decorating the Table for a Thanksgiving Celebration
- Decorating the Table for a Christmas Celebration
Thanks for the sweet story. We had so much fun that day, and we were so glad you all made the drive out to join us. Your pictures are great; you are becoming a very talented photographer. Love you!
Thanks, Dawn, for the compliment about my budding photography! I still have so much to learn! Love you too!