Alexa's Birthday Party!!!!

Well, the party event of the century is over. I'm talking about Alexa's first birthday of course. hehehe. We did a bird theme (obviously) with pink and orange and it was super cute. Nick called our house the shrine to Alexa because I pulled out every single picture frame we own and displayed pictures of her first year all over the house. Slightly ridiculous? Sure. But I don't care. I busted out the baking skills and made cupcakes instead of ordering a cake from Publix. Birthdays on a budget...this is how I roll. Plus, the cupcakes are so much easier to serve...no cutting involved...obviously. I used the banner that I made for family vacation and changed out the letters to say "Happy Birthday" and then cut out a bird for each end on my cricut. Oh, and I got those birdhouses at Michael's for $1 each and Nick and I painted them one night. I know, you're jealous of my party planning skills! I wanted to make her a little birdie shirt but mom bought her a 'Birthday Girl' shirt from Target so we just went with that. I did, however, make her a tutu!!!! Definitely one of the easiest things I've ever made. All you do is cut small strips of tulle and tie them around a ribbon. Easy peasy. Lots of family and friends came over to help celebrate and Alexa did great with all the people. I was a little nervous about how she would react to 50 people being in her house because she had been running an off and on fever for a few days before her party. A real fever, it went up to 103.7, so she had been fussy. We had hot dogs and hamburgers plus beans by mom and pasta salad by Carol. Alexa ate her cupcake:Opened her presents:And hung out with her friends:All in all, I think she had a pretty good time. :) She got lots of wonderful presents (did you see the beautiful quilt Aunt Babs made her in the present opening picture?!) but I think she likes this one the best:

Oh! And she finally figured out how to clap her hands. (Yay for milestones she should have met three months ago!!!) And of course now she thinks it's the greatest thing ever and claps every chance she gets. Anyway, the birthday weekend was a success. Carol and George stayed for 4 days (which was great!) but I wish my parents could have stayed longer. Oh well, we are going to see them next weekend in Orlando for a trip to Disney World!!! I can't wait for Alexa to meet the princesses! Speaking of which, have I ever written about my utter dislike for Tinkerbell? That might be worth a post of it's own.