First birthday - partie 2

And finally partie 2 of the L.'s first birthday: the party with our (and his) friends. It was so much fun to have a house full of babies, though it did all of a sudden make me feel old!

When I originally thought about organising a birthday party for L.'s big ONE, I had such a clear idea in my mind of how I wanted things to be. I was motivated: scouting every blog out there in the search of inspiration for the perfect birthday party. I even practiced my baking skills (I never ever bake). And then, well, the usual happened: I got caught up in life's everyday hustle and bustle. Too much work, not enough energy, lack of time, sleep and slowly, I was no longer in control. I am envious when I see those perfect mums on other blogs and I sometimes try to keep up with them, but no matter how much I try, I just-can't-do-it. Exhaustion always seems to take over, especially since I have started my new job when all I want to do as I come home is spend time with my boyz, eat, and go straight to sleep. I know it is just a phase, that when the project I am working on is finished I will be able to enjoy life outside of work again, but in the meantime I have to say that this experience has actually been positive because I have decided to give up on trying to be a wonder woman (remember this post?). I keep failing anyway and to be true, I'm quite happy with my messy flat and unorganised life. In fact, the improvised birthday party we had for L. is the perfect example of the success of my non-perfection. Aren't improvised parties always the best ones anyway?

With the help of our friends, we created a simple but colourful party atmosphere. I spent many hours baking and was delighted with how my number 1 cake turned out!



              

              



Isabella set a beautiful table full of goodies whilst the boys impressed us by making a banner in just 30 minutes (!)...







We blew up about 30 balloons which perfectly decorated our living room and amused the birthday boy.

              

In all, there were 19 adults and 7 wee people. I would love to share our groups photos with you but to respect my friends privacy, I shan't. Instead, I'll share these photos with you and allow you to make fun of my terrible baking skills...





Inspired by this very talented Canadian lady, this dude was supposed to be Eric Carle's Very Hungry Caterpillar! My friend Ciara made the cupcakes and I made the head and we whipped him together in 5 min, improvising his antennae and feet with liquorice. Our chubby caterpillar friend made quite the impression.

I am glad we marked this big milestone in L's life and our lives as parents (c'était un peu notre anniversaire aussi) and it was great to see how everything turned out so wonderfully. As my dear grandfather would have said: " it was smashing"! And this little cutie had the best of fun...