Brooklyn's Birthday Celebrations!

On January 26th, Brooklyn turned 3 years old and had her first birthday party! I'm not much of a party planner and didn't really want to do it, but because Brooklyn is SUPER cute and SUPER convincing, I put together a pink princess party for her special day. It was nothing big, but it really made her happy!

We started the morning off with some last minute cleaning and reorganizing. (I had to remove all the lumber, toolboxes, and saws from our living room in order to keep our 3 year old guests safe.) After our canvas was empty, we started setting up mini tables, games, and a few small decorations. Then we dressed Brooklyn up like a mermaid and waited for our guests to arrive.

Lucky for me, Kevin was one of those guests. He came home for his lunch break to help me rein in the chaos and take pictures when my hands were busy.

When the children arrived I let them loose on Brooklyn's toys until I finished baking their pizza. They had tons of fun playing Legos and Mr. Potato head, tackling poor Lily, and chasing each other with their new magic wands and swords.

After the pizza had cooled off a little, we sat all the kids down to watch princess movies while they ate. It was so funny to watch them snarf their food like it was the best thing that ever happened to them. One of the little girls even kept shouting, "BEST DAY EVER!" in between giant bites of pizza. I was laughing pretty hard.

After lunch came the games. We started with Pin the Tail on the Unicorn. Instead of blindfolds, Kevin spun each kid in our office chair 10 times before aiming them at the unicorn. It was SO hilarious watching the kids stagger toward the door and try not to fall!

Next we played Toxic Bubbles. Basically, I just blew bubbles while all the kids tried to keep them from hitting the floor by stabbing them with their swords and magic wands. This game was very fun but eventually started to get a little scary so we decided to stop before someone lost an eye!

The last game we played was called Gem-Sifting. Apparently this game was based on a real game from Newport, Rhode Island. In the late 19th century women invited to balls in Newport sifted through sand for actual gemstones. We just sifted through shredded magazines for candy and little toys. It was insane but the kids loved it!

When the games were finished we all sat down to watch Brooklyn open presents. She was so appreciative and excited about EVERYTHING that she got, and even managed to smother every kid at the party with thank you hugs and kisses.

Her loot from the day included everything you see here, plus cards from many of her aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, and great grandparents, as well as bows, books, and stickers from her aunt Janna and a super cool electric toothbrush from her aunt Sarah.

Some of her big ticket gifts included Ariel PJ's (that she wore for two days straight) and a talking Unicorn from her grandparents, and the Princess Barbie set that Kevin and I got her. She hasn't gone ANYWHERE without these items since her birthday and I love to see her so happy with her gifts.

Something random and funny about the Barbies and Unicorn: Lily sat in front of the unopened boxes for a half hour cooing, singing, and talking to them! She loved them as much as Brooklyn, however, as soon as the boxes were opened, Brooklyn wouldn't let Lily within 10 feet of any of them!

When we were all finished opening gifts, the kids helped Kevin and I sing Happy Birthday to Brooklyn and then we served cake. Most of the kids had 2 pieces before I handed them off to their parents all hopped up on sugar! Boy was that fun!


When all was said and done, I vowed to wait till Brooklyn is at least 8 before I throw her another party...but that being said, I had a wonderful time watching Brooklyn play with her friends and have such a special day! Happy Birthday Brookie Bear! We love you!