She's the center of his whole world.
And his heart belongs to that sweet little beautiful, wonderful, perfect All-American Girl."
And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is where it all stemmed from. The above quote is the chorus from one of my all time favorite country music artists, Carrie Underwood. The song used to make me cry when I was pregnant, and I'll blame all of that on the overload of hormones. When Riley was about 2-months-old, I heard the song again, and immediately knew it HAD to be the theme for her First Birthday Party! Yes, you read that correctly, I started planning her First Birthday when she was only 2-months-old. For those who know me well, I know you're not shocked.
Most of the plans were only thoughts until about 2 months ago, when I actually, physically, started the planning. I knew it had to be at a park, because if you know us, you know we don't do anything small. I related back to Tyler's First Birthday, and I knew we had about 100 in attendance there, so I didn't imagine it would be any different. And, it wasn't. In fact, it was more...quite a few more. So, Snyder Park was perfect! The pavilions are big, the Oak Hammocks provide TONS of shade and it's only 3 blocks from our house. What more could we ask for on a steamy, feels-like 110 degrees and 120% humidity, August day??? Haha! I think the biggest difference from Tyler's party to Riley's, is that there are so many more kids now. When Tyler was 1, there were only a handful of other young kids around. Now, it seems as though we are right smack dab in the middle of the next generation baby boom, and there are kids in every direction you turn. Which brings me to my next topic....How in the world was I to keep the 30+/- young kids entertained, not to mention the handful of older ones???? Whelp, I am happy to report, I think I was successful. We had a pool with a slide (which also served as a cleaning station for the paint and cake), a toddler bounce house with a pool in it (so cool!), a balloon-twister (who was incredible, if I do say so myself), a paint station (that all of the kids LOVED), a sno cone machine (I think even the adults enjoyed this one), a toddler toy play area and the playground. Add that to yummy food, being outdoors and cake, and I'm not sure how it could have gotten any better. I think I can vouch for everyone when I say, not one kid made it home without passing out on the way. Heck, we even had a couple zonk out before the party was over. Now that, my friends, spells a good time.
As for the VIP whose life we were celebrating, I think she thoroughly enjoyed herself, as well. In pure Jodi fashion, I tried to make everything as special and unique as I could. I made things like her very own Birthday Girl chair, maxed out with Patriotic decor; her All American bib for when it was time for her cake that said "Time for Cake"; a Poster of her first year, month-by-month; our matching hair-bows; the #1 foam fingers, all decked out; her bloomers for her Thank You Cards; and the "sweetest" thing of all, her Smash Cake, even though the whipped icing and fondant didn't really agree with the South Florida heat. Our little birthday girl was dressed to impress and everywhere you looked, there was something that reminded you of our All American Girl.
I tried to spread the All-American spirit by making each of the little girls that attended, their very own handmade All American Hair-Bow for their goody bags. You all know how I love my hair-bows!!! There were also "goodies" for the adults! Mini chocolate bars with custom wrappers! Even the food had a patriotic touch to it, thanks to the good sports who put up with my demanding requests! One might say I'm a little obsessive, but I have so much fun party planning and it's a way for me to let my creative inner-child run wild. For me, the 40+ hours of hard work was WELL WORTH IT! The memories we made will never be replaced and the pictures are worth a thousand words.
So, that's it. No more infant. (sigh) Just one Sassy little 1-year-old girl, who rules this roost and she knows it. Now, if anyone could let me know where the last year went, I'd appreciate that info. It seems like only a few months ago that we were heading home from Plantation General Hospital with our little newbie, terrified to death of what life had in store for us with a newborn and a 23 month old. If we only knew then what we know now....Ha!
We've said it before, and I'm positive we'll say it at least a trillion more times...we're so blessed to have so many special people in our lives, both family and friends, to share all of these times with. We really hope you all enjoyed Riley's First Birthday as much as we enjoyed having you. It wouldn't have been so wonderful without each and every one of you! We appreciate all of the gifts (which were not necessary, by the way). To see all of the photos from the party (and then some), you can CLICK HERE. And So It Goes...
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