Charleston's FIRST Birthday Party!

After months and months of planning Charleston's first birthday party, the big day finally arrived. Our house was filled last Saturday with friends and family with an outpouring birthday love for our sweet girl. The whole day was kinda of surreal, and I still can't believe our baby girl is a year old. I wanted to make this a special birthday for her (even if she wont remember it) and Im so happy with how everything turned out.

Even though my mind was in that crazy hosting-coordinating-wrangling mode, I still manged to get a handful of photos. I am truly greatful for my sister, Brandy and my mother n law for the photos they got as well. I know my dad played photographer too, but I have not had a chance to get those. The day went by so fast, that I truly cherish these photos!

Her cake was the inspiration for the whole color theme of the party. I ordered it from Tiers of Joy, she also did our Wedding cake. From that I created & designed her invitation and printed from mixbook. After that was her chalkboard that I created in photoshop. Pinterest and Etsy played a huge part in helping me decorate for her party. (You can click on any photo and it will enlarge it.)

Seeing all my decorations come to life made me so happy. The colors, the cake, her outfit, the details... it all turned out perfect.

Her banner around her high chair was made from tissue paper that I cut and twisted to make "tassels." They turned out better then I thought, as I made them 10 mins before the party. The "ONE" I had made when I did her cake smash sessions. Those were numbers that I bought from ac moore and spray painted and attached the gold dots and the princess crown. The pink carriage I bought from hobby lobby and spray painted as it was originally a hot pink. 

Charleston did so good opening her presents. Her favorite things were def the books, till she got to Aunt Brandy's princess castle! 

 

This girl was super EXCITED when it was time to eat cake! She wasted no time! You can see her Cake Smash blog here.

 

We didnt get a lot of photos.. but I did get a few!
Her out fit and my necklace came from etsy and my jumpsuit and her shoes came from amazon.

I think her first birthday was def a success and she was completely showered with love!

Letters to Charleston - 11 Months Old

Dear Charleston,

I can't believe this is the last monthly letter to you before your birthday. I have so much to say to you, but I think I'll save the sappy stuff for your one year letter.
So, lets talk about this month. I have to say, and I know I have said it before, but this is my FAVORITE age! You are a ball of energy and I can't get enough of you. I am so blessed to be your mommy. To wake up to your smiling face and bed head each morning. To be able to rock you and snuggle you before each nap during the day. And to steal as many baby kisses as I want. I could never have enough words to express how much I love you and how special you make me feel day in and out.
I feel like this month you're starting to change from my baby to a toddler. You're standing, and walking along furniture. I know you will be walking in no time. And as much as I love seeing you learn new things, I don't know if I'm ready for it. You are a pro at feeding yourself, and you have gotten so much better with sippy cups. You play with your toys on your own. You love climbing things. You're climbing out of your high chair, you're climbing out of the shopping carts, you're standing on top of your baby chair trying to climb into our bed, you're climbing the arm of the couch, pushing on me to get on the table. You're pushing boxes and toys around the house as if they were a walker. You're getting into everything you can possibly touch.
You have such a vibrant personality. You smile at EVERYONE and ANYONE who will look your way. It's easy to go places with you, especially out to dinner. You love watching everyone around you. You're definitely a busy body, You can go from 0-60 in no time. If we take a toy away that you wanted or most of the time it's something you found to play with that you shouldn't have, you can throw a fit. You usually get over it pretty quick. But I know this is just the beginning of your sass.

One of my favorite things about this month that you have just started is your ability to show us your love. You give the cutest slobbery kiss ever. When daddy or I walk into a room you have the BIGGEST smile on your face. It melts my heart... Every. Single. Day.

I noticed the other day, you have 2 more teeth on the bottom. That is a total of 8 teeth. 4 on the top and 4 on the bottom. You have gotten so good with table food. You love eating with your fingers. Spinach ravioli seems to be your favorite. You still love all your fruits and veggies. You're not so sure about meats yet.. you usually push it to the side. Your favorite part about this month was your cake smash session. You were so excited you got to eat cake and mommy did not stop you.

Over the next few weeks I will be soaking up every moment of the end of your first year. I can not wait to throw you a fabulous first birthday party and celebrate you will all of our friends and family.

We love you to the moon and back, sweet girl.

Love,
Mommy

Charleston's CAKE SMASH Session!

Since I started preparing for Charleston's FIRST Birthday party, I've been so excited to do her cake smash session. It took me forever to choose her set up. I finally came up with the perfect set up the day before. I just wanted something simple that would not take away from her, but something that also showed off the Pink and Gold theme. We had Ester from Tiers of Joy bake her cake. She did our wedding cake and she will also be doing her birthday cake. (BEST CAKES EVER)

Before the session I hadn't really let her eat finger foods or even sweets. The day before her session I let her eat finger foods for lunch to see how she would do. She did AWESOME...so I knew she would do great for her session.

Here are a few photos from her session.

This one is a snapshot from the video my mother n law shot! I love it! It really shows how much she loved the cake!

She dug right into her cake and LOVED it. At first she was a little confused bc I was not stopping her. 

Letters to Charleston - 10 Months Old

Dear Charleston,

It blows my mind that you are about to enter the double digits of babyhood! Time has flown way to fast since your beautiful birth. I feel like I’ve blinked and you’ve become a little girl. I can’t believe you are now cruising on furniture, playing with your toys and would rather stand than crawl. 

You may have said “dada” first, but you can’t stop saying “mamamama” now, which makes me smile every time. Especially if I leave the room. You will chase be down screaming mama mama. You have learned to make the cutest noises. Grandma Terri loves to copy you and you always respond right back. Its like you two have your own language. Although I love the sounds, I can't wait till you are making actual words and I can find out what is going on in that sweet head of yours. 

You find so much joy in other people’s smiles, especially mine and daddy’s. You love going to Grandma Terri's. You always know where you are as soon as we step foot in her garage. You always have the biggest smile on your face. You light up Great Granddaddy's face every time he sees you. He is always making you giggle, and we cant help but giggle with you. Your sweet laugh is contagious. 

We wont see your doctor again until 12 months, so I just sat you on our scale. Your weighing in at 18.9 pounds. Your still wearing 6 months clothes, but have also started to wear some 6-9 month clothes. Your feet are finally starting to thin out some, so you can wear shoes! Which is good, bc you have a CLOSET FULL! 

I am in full swing of planning your FIRST birthday! I can not believe its in TWO MONTHS! There is not really theme, but a color scheme of Pink and Gold! With a little "Princess" thrown in. :) I've already purchased your smash cake session outfit as well as your party day outfit. I even have your cake ordered! We did a little bit of vanilla and chocolate, but regardless. I think it's safe to assume you will devour it. 

You have a very hearty appetite. With your 6 teeth. You absolutely love your food. We have not tried too many table food items yet, but you LOVE the things we have tried: sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, peas, strawberries & spaghetti noodles. You still love your blueberry, cranberry and apple baby food. We started doing some of the baby snacks like: lil crunchies, yogurt melts, puffs & mum mums. If I had to guess your favorite food would be the ranch lil crunchies. But you are obsessed with the peach puffs and yogurt melts we just started you on. You have never really wanted juice, unless it was some of my Herbalife beverage mix, or aloe. Daddy bought you some white grape juice, you really like now. 

I love watching you grow and change everyday! You bring joy to so many people. You are so very loved!

Love you Always,
Mommy

Letters to Charleston - 9 Months Old

Dear Charleston,

Time is moving so quickly. Every time I turn around your a month older. Now you are 9 months old and have become this beautiful little person.

You are a curious little one - army crawling anywhere you can. I know that you won't be crawling for too much longer as you are eager to stand and become more independent. You are constantly trying to pull yourself up onto the furniture to explore new undiscovered surfaces or to simply retrieve something that had been taken away - remotes, power cords or an iPhone. You have become such a little pro in your walker. You can spend hours in that just exploring the house or sitting in front of the windows watching the outside world.

This past month has been full of adventures for you. We spent the day in Sumter celebrating Aria's first Birthday! You loved spending the day with Uncle Fred and Aunt Daysha. They def wore you out. Grandma Terri traveled to Orlando with us to celebrate Emily's baby shower. You did so good with everyone. We spent a day at Epcot, which you enjoyed hanging out in your stroller seeing the sites, but when you got hot and tired you passed out!
Your Aunt Mary and cousin Hadley , who live in Vegas even came to visit. You loved playing with Hadley. I don't think you have been around to many babies your age so you really loved playing with her. It was so cute to see you girls together.

We have your 9 month check up tomorrow with Dr. Lewis so im excited to see how much you have grown. Your still wearing 3-6 months clothes for the most part, but have been slowing working your way into 6 months clothes. Depending on the brand, some 9 month clothes fit but are too big for the most part.

Life is filled with distractions and now with you, I have a clear direction and purpose. When I look at you I am filled with a love I have never felt before. Don't get me wrong, I love your daddy, but a mothers love for her baby girl is indescribable and magical. You are teaching me every day to be more patient, live in the moment and embrace the time we have been given to share together before you are all grown up and ready to discover the world on your own. Because as much as I don't want to think about it now, there will be a time when I won't see you every day.
I know you are going to do great things in life. You re already such and incredible little lady and I will support you and help you to grow to be everything you want to become. I will cherish all the moments I get to enjoy with you. I love you beyond measures, and I am honored that I was chosen to be your mother.

You have already taught me so much about what it means to be patient and selfless. But I want you to know more than anything, that you are loved. By so many. No matter how many times I say it, or how many ways i try to write about it, you will never realize how truly loved you are until you have a child of your own to hold in your arms.

With all of my love,
Mommy!