A Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday

It has come and gone. All the planning, crafting, and stressing has finally come to fruition. Her birthday party was this afternoon, and I think it was a success. From the dress (thanks Grandma!) to the cake, the photo board to caterpillar paper lanterns, the snack table and all the guests. It was so much fun!

I made this sign for the party room door using scrapbook paper, my Cricut, and pompoms.

We hosted her party in one of the party rooms at the Discovery Museum. We were still setting up when the guests began to arrive. 20 minutes to set up isn't much time! But it worked out. We served pizza and cake. And of course we served all the fruit that the caterpillar munches on in the book: apples, pears, plums, oranges, strawberries, and watermelon.

Here's the food table. We served all the fruit from the book. I also made the photo board on the table. 

The food table. I downloaded the labels for the food here.

On Monday he ate through one apple.

On Tuesday he ate through two pears.

On Wednesday he ate through three plums.

On Thursday he ate through four strawberries.

On Friday he ate through five oranges.

On Saturday he ate one slice of watermelon.

Photo board I made from newborn to birthday girl. Amazing to see how she's grown.

Above the table I hung a paper lantern caterpillar.

I got the inspiration for this big guy here.

I printed out the labels I made for the favor tins.
The Baby Caterpillar Food tins are filled with puffs.

The regular Caterpillar Food tins are filled with M&Ms.
I bought the frames at the dollar store and spray painted them different colors.

For her guest book, I used a hardback copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle.
I made the pen using a Sharpie and a green pipe cleaner. I glued a red pompom on top.
Then I attached google eyes with hot glue and twisted on a piece of black pipe cleaner for antennae.

After fruit and pizza, Olivia opened her presents. Her friends and family were so generous. She is very loved.

After presents, we changed Olivia out of her pretty caterpillar dress. And we tried (without success) to get her to wear the silly birthday hat I made.

The hat was inspired by this one.

Then, it was time for the cake! Our friend Amanda made the cake from scratch and even learned how to work with fondant. It turned out beautiful. And pretty tasty too! Thanks, Amanda!

Here's the cake Amanda made for us. It was chocolate and vanilla. YUM!
I made the cake stand. I bought a plain white stand and hot glued grosgrain ribbon around the rim.
Then I hot glued pompoms to the ribbon.

Olivia had her very own large cupcake. She loved everything about it. The way it felt, the way it tasted, the way it made her hair stand up on end when she rubbed the frosting into it. What a mess! But so much fun.

And while a picture is worth a thousand words, here's a video. Those photos don't quite capture the messy baby Olivia is.

After cake, it was already time to clear out of the party room. But Olivia got to enjoy some playtime in the museum with her friends.

You can see most of the dress my mom made.

Now both Daddy and Olivia are down for the count, and I have a few minutes to get the pictures uploaded.

Thanks to everyone who played a part in Olivia's special day!

Happy Birthday, Olivia!

Today is Olivia's first birthday. I've been anxious about this day for at least a week. But it came and went, and it was a sweet day (mostly--we'll get to that later!)

We met up with Daddy at Kindermusik this morning. Lots of fun singing and dancing with our friends. Everyone sang Happy Birthday to Olivia.

After Kindermusik, we had lunch with our friend, Jessica, and Grandma. We went to one of Olivia's favorite restaurants. Unfortunately today the service was pretty poor. Olivia enjoyed her lunch anyway. And she got to open a present from Miss Jessica!

Ribbons!

Ooooh! A puzzle. Thanks, Miss Jessica!

After lunch Olivia took a much-needed nap. And then we went to dinner with Daddy and Grandma. When we came home, we surprised Olivia with a cupcake of her very own.

Strawberry and white chocolate. YUM!

Happy birthday to you!

Frosting....

I can eat the whole thing. Watch!

Sharing with Baxter.

The aftermath.

Afterward, we got in our jammies, and read stories on the floor. Then Olivia crawled into Mommy's lap for a quick cuddle. So sweet. Not really. Turns out she had too much of a good thing. She threw up all over me. Awesome. I thought that was reserved especially for 21st birthdays. So we ended the day with a bath, a cuddle, and bed time.

Happy birthday, sweet baby. Let's not have a repeat performance at your party this weekend.

I love you.

Bittersweet

I can't believe a year has already passed. I feel like it was only a few months ago, but at the same time I feel like she's been a part of our little family forever. Tomorrow my sweet baby will turn one. Unbelievable.

Over the past 12 months I've changed about 3,000 diapers. I've lost at least 400 hours of sleep. But I have gained so much more.

I've gained a love more intense and amazing that any I've ever known before. I've watched her learn  to nurse, to hold her head up, to roll over, to sit up, to eat solid foods, to use sign language, to crawl, to stand, to laugh. Everything she does amazes and delights me.

Tomorrow I will wake up to my one-year-old smiling at me signing for milk and then breakfast. Truly amazing.

I miss my sweet little newborn. I miss when she used to snuggle close and fall asleep on my chest. But I love the little person she is becoming. I'm sad to see her leave infanthood behind, but I'm excited to see her grow and change.

Next up: Walking, talking, and tantrums. I hope we get some snuggles in too.

Olivia's Stats:

Then:
3 pounds, 14 ounces
17.5 inches

Now: (as of 3 weeks ago)
19 pounds
27.5 inches

Here's some of my favorite photos of the past few months. Watch her grow!!

February 2011: Newborn 

March 2011: One Month

April 2011: Two Months

May 2011: Three Months

June 2011: Four Months

July 2011: Five Months

August 2011: Six Months

September 2011: Seven Months

October 2011: Eight Months

November 2011: Nine Months

December 2011: Ten Months

January 2012: Eleven Months

February 2011: ONE YEAR!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, OLIVIA!!!

Caterpillar Bug Jars

I created the centerpieces for the four tables in the party room for Olivia's birthday party. I continued the theme and made caterpillar bug jars. Here they are!

If you're interested in a tutorial, check out my crafting blog: Olive's Originals.

Playground on Groundhog's Day

Today was so nice out I decided to take Olivia on a walk down the street to the playground. We've been down there before, but not since the summer when she was a tiny baby. Back then we just sat on a blanket in the grass with some other babies and their mommies. Today was different. We met up with a friend and his mommy and headed straight for the baby swings.

This was her first time on the swings. She was way too little over the summer. She actually really liked it. She hung on like a big girl and kicked her feet back and forth. I don't think she was trying to pump her legs or anything. She was just so excited, and when she's excited, she can't help but move her feet.

After the swings, we checked out the slide.

And finally we went over to the big-kid area. Over there they have some cars that you can "drive" and they rock back and forth. Olivia wasn't sharing the steering wheel, so it was a good thing there were two cars!

I can't believe how warm it has been this winter. If it were like today, I'd have her birthday party outside! I'm sure we'll have more snow by then. But glad we were able to take advantage of the sunshine and warm weather today.

Very Hungry Caterpillar Invitations

Olivia's birthday party invitations went out in the mail yesterday. I'm so pleased with how they turned out.

Since her party theme is The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, I decided to make some caterpillar invitations. I think my favorite part might be her cute little thumb prints on the envelopes and in the caterpillar's eyes.

Here is a picture of the supplies you will need:

The paper on the top I created in Microsoft Word. I used the dots from the book as a watermark inside a 3-inch circle text box and added the text myself. Then I printed out enough copies and cut out the circles.

You will also need an assortment of red, green, and yellow card stock, scissors, a fine-tipped Sharpie, red and green stamp pads, envelopes to fit 4-inch circles, glue, and mini brads. I found the mini brads in the scrapbook section of Hobby Lobby.

Here is what the invitations say:

Once I gathered the supplies and created my invitation wording, I got to work.

First, I cut out 3.5-inch circles from the red and green card stock. You will need one red, two dark green, and two light green for each invitation. I used my Cricuit to make them perfect. Then I cut out the circles that I created on the computer. I used scissors for these, so they are a little rustic.

Once I had all the circles cut out, I cut out small ovals out of the yellow card stock. These will be the caterpillar's eyes. I glued them onto the red circle.

After that I left Olivia help. We used a green stamp pad and her cute little thumb to make the centers of the caterpillar's eyes. I made sure the ink was washable and child-safe. And I wiped her hands as soon as we were done. It didn't take very long, and it wasn't as messy as I thought it would be. I think I may have a little crafter on my hands!

When we finished, I decided they needed a little something else. Turns out the caterpillar in the book has a nose. So we used her little thumb and gave our caterpillar a nose too. Here are the faces all finished.

After finishing the faces, glue the printed circles onto the green card stock circles. Make sure to do it in the right order, alternating between dark and light green.

Once the glue has dried, it's time to assemble them. I pushed the mini brads through edges of the cards stock circles and attached them together. I found that taping the brads to the backs of the circles made them a little more durable, since they will be moving when the invitation is opened and closed.

Here is a closeup of each of the four circles.

And here is what they look like assembled and finished. The circles are meant to be swiveled together to fit inside the envelop and then unswiveled to view.

Once we finished the invitations, Olivia and I made the envelopes to go with them.

I took Olivia's cute little thumb again and dipped it into green ink. Then we made the green wings on the butterfly and green circles on the caterpillar. Once those dried, we dipped her thumb in the red ink and made the red wings and red circles. I used the Sharpie to draw on the antennae and little feet.

Now I'm inspired to make some decorations for her party too!