Whenever one has 17...YES, you heard me correcty!... 17 people in their immediate family they tend to share everything. And by everything I mean illnesses too (yea, really sad face inserted here...). I went to Caitlin's in Cleveland where I welcomed the first day of spring with snow (insert another REALLY sad face here...especially since I had been wearing shorts and flip-flops when I left Louisiana.). Anyway, I spent a week there with them and then she and the kids flew back with me to spend the rest of the month (through Easter and the end of March) with us. We got back on a Tuesday and by Wednesday 8 of us had the stomach virus (UGH!).
We had Holli's 3rd birthday party planned for the Saturday before Easter so all of the family could help her celebrate. Needless to say, that nasty tummy bug put a damper on things but we managed to both get a birthday party set up AND eggs dyed with all of the kiddos for Easter. And while the kids popped back quickly from the virus, the adults have not been so fortunate. 11 days later I can finally tolerate food to some extent. So where should I start since I've been gone for so long? OK, I'll start with the weekend before I left for Cleveland. It was another birthday party; Livie turned 1 year old!
From the very beginning I have called our little Olivia Ryan, Livie. She's just a Livie to me. And also from the very beginning, Allison has collected Olivia the Pig books and the stuffed animal for her, and if you are familiar with Olivia the Pig, she's just adorable! And so, you might have guessed, that the theme of Livie's 1st birthday party was OLIVIA the PIG!
Of course, the center of the decorations was this cute Olivia the Pig birthday cake!
Here you can see all of the red, black and white decorating the birthday table. There is one of her Olivia books and I know it's too small to read but there are little quotes from the books on those black boards.
The plates and napkins are in theme and her birthday board is just adorable. P.S. Note that YaYa was one of the words she said in her 1st year!
Olivia's highchair was decorated so girly (just like her...) and on the tray sits her smash cake.
Hanging above the gifts was a banner made out of her monthly photos that showed her growth over her 1st year. I really like this idea!
And before we sang Happy Birthday and let this little one dig into her smash cake, I had to snap a picture of her with her mommy and daddy. Notice that cute little Olivia the Pig dress she's wearing!
And then it was CAKE TIME! She wasn't sure at first about digging in...
But it didn't take her long to get the hang of this...
And clearly she enjoyed that cake quite a lot!
And then the little princess sat upon one of her boxes and opened her gifts.
It was a great day to celebrate the birth of another one of my grands. And it never ceases to amaze me how much love I have for each and every one of them (7 in all). It is my belief that a grandmother's heart has an enormous amount of room...more than the average person...a space if you will that is set aside for each little grandchild that enters her life. Oh, Livie, YaYa loved you even before you were born and my heart is bursting at the seams with more love for you each day as I get to watch you grow!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LOVE!
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