Cricket's 1st Birthday!

Our little Cricket baby turned one and oh, what a special day we had! I am not a party girl in terms of lots of people, but I LOVE decorating for special occasions. Someday, Cricket will have friends and want a birthday party with little girls and boys running around and I will happily oblige. Until then, birthdays are a family affair!

The night before I decorated our dining room for her big day. I wish you could all see it in person. The pictures are nice, but I don't think they capture the sweetness of the room. When I brought Cricket down in the morning and showed her the room decorated just for her, her eyes got real wide. I wasn't sure she would be that interested, but she was. My little observer took in the entire room and all the new decorations. Her favorite part seemed to be the photo banner. I printed each of her month pictures and hung them up with baby clothespins that Mr. Schalk put in my Christmas stocking. At the end I hung a vintage flinch "1" card that a sweet Etsy seller, Fuzzyra, included when I purchased some candle holders and mentioned it was for my girl's birthday. How kind! Cricket stared and smiled as we went through each picture. My heart was happy to see her enjoying the little things that were done in great love. I hope she felt special even if she did not realize what a big day it was (for her and for Mr. Schalk and myself.)

Whoa! Check out my cool birthday room! Streamers make me happy!!!

The room turned out just as I had imagined without spending much moolah. I bought red, white and baby blue streamers and made her a birthday hat. Her Happy Birthday banner, tissue poms, and birthday posters (the graphics at the beginning and end of this post were made into posters and hung up. I found the animals online as vintage valentines and reworked them in Photoshop and Illustrator) were all made with items I had on hand.  My sweet friend Ashley gave me some vintage birthday cards that were her mama's. That was extra special! I framed one and put it with Cricket's birthday cards on the plate rail. I used another one as the anchor to her photo tree (you can see it in the far left of the above photo.) Also extra special were the lillies Mr. Schalk brought home for his girl. They made the room smell divine and were just gorgeous! 

Cricket and I hung out, playing and laughing all day. We enjoyed all of our meals in the dining room among all the fun. The sun was shining and it was a perfect day to celebrate our little girl. Bonnie even got her hair done for the big party. Lookin' good pup!

When Mr. Schalk came home we all had dinner together. We wanted a meal that Cricket could enjoy so we ditched the baby food and made meatloaf, mashed potatoes and her favorite (and mine) peas! To say she enjoyed it would be an understatement. I thought there was no way she'd have room for a cupcake. However, she is my daughter, which means she thoroughly enjoyed her sugary treat. In fact, we had to turn it upside down because she was just eating the icing off. I loved it!

After dinner, dessert and happy birthday singing we opened a few presents. Cricket received a couple new (vintage) books, a play drum, maracas, a ball, a wooden puzzle and baby trampoline. Abe Books, Amazon and Zulily made birthday shopping a breeze. Thanks guys!

Opening presents takes deep concentration, dontcha know!

Of all the presents in the world, she loves her Daddy and Bonnie the most!

We had such a special birthday just the three (ahem, four if you count Bonnie) of us! We are blessed to have our families come in over the next two weekends to celebrate even more. Cricket adores her grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins. I will post about that soon.
It was a relaxed, fun-filled day celebrating a special girl and a special year. It is truly hard to believe that it has been a whole year since we welcome our little Cricket into the world. We are beyond grateful to have such a happy, healthy ONE year old! Cricket has changed our lives and our hearts forever, and we are over the moon in love with her...gee,. can you tell?! She just makes life so full and delightful!

Happy Birthday Cricket!!!!

xo, R