Monday, July 26, 2010

Birthday Fun with Friends and Family

For such a tiny munchkin, Gillian Grace is surrounded by a whole lot of love. We are blessed to have had the opportunity to share GG's special day with so many of our friends and family.

After a gloomy morning, we were so thankful when Mother Nature cooperated creating the perfect party backdrop of beautifully clear blue skies and slight breeze just in time for the first guests' arrival. With such pleasant weather, it wasn't long before the party moved outside!

{The Birthday Girl}
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{Outdoor Fun}
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To keep all the little guests entertained, I purchased a bunch of outdoor toys and kept them organized in a giant pink plastic tub. The tub also made toting everything around a piece of cake! Now that the party is over, GG has tons of new toys to keep the birthday fun going all year long!

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{GG's Friends}
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{GG's Family}
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My parents (Gillian Grace's Grandad and Gammie) and Me

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Bret, Gammie, and Grandad

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Gillian Grace and her cousins from South Florida, Abigail and Madison

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Bret and his mom (Nana)

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It's her party, and she can cry if she wants to!
GG wasn't a happy camper when it was time to head inside.


{Just for the Guests}
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To go with our party theme {You are my Sunshine}, I purchased beach balls for all of our little guests. All the children also were also encouraged to fill a bag full of their favorite candies from the dessert table to enjoy at home. Our bigger guests took home a drink cover or two.

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During the party, I asked guests to sign a matte surrounding a birthday picture of Gillian Grace. Since she is too young to remember much from her first birthday party, I wanted GG to have something special to commemorate the day {besides a million pictures}. Though all the birthday wishes were thoughtful and sweet, the "love you" from six year old Maggie has to be among my favorites! Guess it's the teacher in me, but first grader handwriting is the best!

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Gillian Grace's personalized birthday portrait sits on a shelf in her nursery.


With all the party planning, summer has flown by. It's hard to believe this week brings an end to July. But with a few days left, rest assured I'll end the month in grand GGpalooza style! And I've even got a few great birthday related giveaways to announce sometime later in the week, so stay tuned!


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24 comments:

Kelly said...

You did such an amazing job with this party! What a lucky little girl :)

Thanks for sharing all of your ideas and the theme. I am positive many people with benefit from your attention to details!

Sweet Southern Prep said...

Love all of the photos of your family and friends. There was definitely a crew there to help her celebrate! You put so much work into the party, and it turned out beautifully! That framed pic is a great idea. I'm going to have to do that for E's first birthday in November! :)

Oh, and love the Lilly dress you're wearing. :)

Avery's Mommy said...

What a great party! I love her little jumper. Cute cute cute!

KatiePerk said...

Cutest party ever! You thought of everything! She is precious!
I am your newest follower!

Susan R said...

Wow! Just look at all those girls wanting to hold baby girl. You are never going to run out of babysitters when the time comes. I just noticed a few of them wearing their Lilly too (y'all look fabulous).
I absolutely love the signed picture frame idea that is really cute, might have to borrow that idea from you.
I love the photos of the front of your house. I noticed a lot (if not all) of the homes in the South have large front porches/verandas with the columns. I love that and wish builders would do that here, but there would only be 3 to 4 months out of the year that you could sit outside and enjoy it.
Happy Birthday to your sweet GG. Don't forget to enter the giveaway on my blog.

Karen At Home Blog said...

Your photos are just amazing! I love Miss GG in her pink swing, that is awesome!!!! Just added to my list of "What to get my Jillian that your Gillian has." LOL!

Whenevery you get a chance, can you let me know where you got GG's floating shelves? I have been eyeing a set for Jillian at Kohl's and at Target and just curious to where you got yours and if you like then. Hope you had a great weekend!

Karen

Anonymous said...

I love the idea of doing the photo for everyone to sign! You are so crafty! :)

Unknown said...

Love the outside game ideas! We are planning on having Drake's party outside so I will pull out all our games!!

What a perfect party for a perfect girl!!

Love really shows through the details!

Mrs. Southern said...

Great decorations and I love the idea of the frame for people to sign so she'll have another memory of her 1st birthday. Love your top too, it's such good colors!

Laura@The Oily Cupboard said...

going inside after a fun day of playing is always no fun!

Mary B. said...

Such a nice party! Great color coordination for all....you know what I'm talkin' bout!!!

Keli said...

Her Birthday Romper is very cute!!

The Undomestic Mom said...

SOOO cute!!!!!!!

Natalie said...

Such cute pics! Especially the one of you and GG {even though she is crying}, too cute! You did such a great job with everything for the party! Oh, and I couldn't help but notice that there was a little stuffed gator on GG's shelf ;)

~Shari said...

awww...what a great job you did documenting GG's first birthday. Looks like the party was a hit.

*waves from Jenna's Journey

Anonymous said...

Love it all! I can't wait to see who the winners are!!

Anonymous said...

P.S you are gorgeous!!

Stephanie said...

What a fabulous party!! Great pics too!

Liz Mays said...

What a fantastic birthday party! She was adorable and the outside theme was so great!

Julie said...

What a fun birthday...what a lucky little girl to have so many "older" girls as friends!;)

Jennifer said...

I know...I keep telling you what a great job you did!! Every post is better than the next..LOL! What caught my eye this one was that you and your mom were wearing similar shirts...love them both. You all looked amazing.

Kati @ along for the ryde... said...

Newest follower here! I found your blog through Jenna's blog hop and am SO glad I did! I am planning my little boy's 1st birthday for September & had planned on doing a lot of things you did for Gillian, and you gave me some new ideas as well!

Lexie Loo, Lily, Liam & Dylan Too said...

What a wonderful party! You did a great job, and I love the signed birthday picture!

Same Sweet Girl: Memoir of a Southern Belle said...

LOVE your outfit and the little signed picture idea!! So great!!!

P.s. Your skin looks amazing!!!!!! :)