Look "Whoo's" One!

Someone special around here had a birthday and we celebrated by having a fun little owl-themed birthday. We kept the guest list small - just our immediate family which was about 14 people. It worked out well since it was everyone who Ella knows best and wasn't too overwhelming for her.

Of course I had to dress the house up a bit. As I was putting the decorations up that afternoon Ella was getting so excited. And true to form, she was growling at the owls that I hung on the window behind her chair. 

I printed out all of the monthly pictures I've taken over the past year and created a banner using clothespins and twine. It was fun to look at the pictures all together to see how much she's changed. Notice I say changed and not grown. She's stayed pretty tiny.

The loot.

The cute banner that my sister helped me make using her Cricut.

The owl cupcake treats. As you can see when I pick a theme I like to stick with it. Danny and I made these about 30 minutes before the party started.

Ella's special cake.

Of course the first thing we did once everyone got there was to dive right into the presents while the food finished cooking. Ella was so stinking cute opening her presents. I didn't take too many pictures because I was busy capturing it on video. She unwrapped the presents one tiny piece of paper at a time and then selected someone in the group who got to keep that little scrap. And if you tried to take one when it wasn't your turn she'd pull it back in toward her and wait until the right person reached for it.

She loved her gifts! She gave the best reactions as she opened things. Thanks to everyone who came for spoiling her.

(Of course her party outfit fits in with party.)

After presents we had our barbecue complete with burgers, fresh corn and fruit, salads and topped off with cupcakes and homemade ice cream.

As soon as everyone was finished eating I passed out these cards for everyone to fill out:

I love that everyone took the time to do this for Ella. I think they are something she'll treasure forever. And I must say I was very impressed with the thoughts that everyone shared. Even Danny's brothers said the cutest things to her. I won't embarrass anyone by posting what they wrote but I was very pleased. 

Then of course it was time for cake. Our dainty little Ella decided not to dive into the cake. Even after her dad tried to get her started. Instead she opted to eat it one tiny sprinkle at a time and then got tired and gave up. A little anti climatic but definitely fitting of her personality.

We ended the party by coming inside and watching a video I had put together of pictures and home movies of Ella's first year. Even though I've seen it fifty million times while I was making it I still got a little choked up watching how much my baby has grown and how fast the time has gone. (I tried uploading it but couldn't get it to work. If I can figure it out I'll put it on.)

It was a fun party and I'm so happy our families could be there to celebrate Ella's special day.

You know it was a good party if it looks like this afterward:

We had a pendant light casualty, Danny tried to smack a fly off it and it broke so now I'm on the hunt for replacements.