Olivia's first birthday party!

We celebrated Olivia's first birthday party 8 days before her actual birthday because we were planning on being out of town in Sun River up to the day before her birthday and I didn't want to have to unpack and then get her birthday party together.  Also, the fourth of July was on a Friday this year so we were worried people may be out of town if we had it on Saturday the 5th or her actual birthday (the 6th which fell on a Sunday).

We had just the right amount of people there, not too many to overwhelm her but enough for a good party.  We had our friend the Mowery's, Rosie and Thomas and their twins, Uncle Ben, my good friend Erin and her one year old Vivian from college, Sean's parents, Sean's two Grandmas, and Aunt Cindy. Brendan and Sara came later as well.  My parents were in Indonesia so they could not come.

We kept the party fairly low key but I made all the cupcakes and made the butter cream frosting from scratch and decorated them.  I was up until 12:30 the night before working on it.  I also made a special photo montage that had both photos and videos in it of Olivia's first year along with music.  It turned out really cute.  I decided on doing a polka dot, pinwheel, and butterfly theme for Olivia's party.  It turned out really cute with bright colors.  Highlight of her decorations was a 1st birthday chalkboard that I got on Etsy and had printed at Costco.

Olivia the morning of her birthday eating some breakfast 

Olivia's first birthday cake I made 

Cupcakes and decorations

First birthday chalkboard 

Decorations

Olivia looked darling in a pink tutu with polka dots along the hem, really cute sandals, and a birthday girl shirt.  She also had really cute bloomers that had a cupcake on them and said "I'm One!"  It was so fun going shopping for her birthday outfit.  Olivia was super happy throughout her birthday party.  We had it at 11:00 AM so she took a morning nap.  We served sandwiches for everyone, had fruit, mimosas with raspberries, had carrots and humus, and pita chips.  Olivia ran around the house and smiled at people.  She did not really "get" opening up presents but her big brother was there to help her.    She got some fun bath toys to play in the new water table she got from us, two purses, a cute picnic basket, little eggs, some money for college, a really cute singing soccer ball and some bibs.

Playing with her friend Vivian

Looking at the decorations

Running through the kitchen

Opening up presents with Mommy

Present time!

Happy because Mommy's nearby

Hanging upside down halfway through present opening

She loves hanging upside down!

A nice new purse from her BFF Addie

Yummy bath toys and a soccer ball!

Her cute bloomers

Olivia was the most happy when we put her in her high chair and we all sang happy birthday to her and the candle was glowing on her cake.  She was so pleased that everyone was singing to her.  She did not know what to make of the cake at first but seemed to enjoy it.  It is a Larson family tradition for the child to have their own birthday cake on their first birthday.  I made Olivia's little cake for her along with all of the cupcakes.  After we felt like she had enough cake, we let her run around the house and then she had a bath.  It was a great first birthday party for Olivia and best of all was she truly seemed to enjoy herself the entire time.

First birthday cake's candle is lit!

So happy everyone is singing to her

Big brother helped her blow out the candle

Yum cake!

Shot with the three of us

Brandon and Olivia shots

She got through quite a bit!

The messy aftermath

Playing with Addie

Olivia and Grammy Pammy

Decorations are fun to eat too

What a great birthday!

Memorial Day weekend

I am a bit behind in my blog.  We had a really fun Memorial Day weekend with our friends the Mowery's in Lincoln City.   We got  large beach house with a hot tub that was only about a 10 minute walk from a public beach.  I was nervous about taking Olivia to a new ent vironment because she had not slept in her pack n play since December but she ended up doing pretty good and slept through the night.  It helped we shoved her in our Master bedroom closet which was super dark.  

Brandon and Logan had a ton of fun together running around the large house together and playing with fishing poles down in the basement that they found in the garage.  It was nice because the house was three stories high so the boys could run from floor to floor and there were TVs on all three levels.  The girls were a bit more chill although they did like to roam the big house and explore and try to climb all the levels of stairs that the house had.  We did bring some gates which did help.

Sean and I took the Friday before Memorial Day off so we got to Lincoln City by 2:30.  We did some shopping and checked into our house and unpacked.  We then went out to dinner for some yummy fish and chips.  The Mowerys showed up around 7:00 PM that night.  Logan and Brandon were so excited to get to sleep together in the same room (one of the rooms had a set of twin beds).  

Yummy pinecones!

Olivia loves playing with Addie's head

 

The next day we went to ocean in the morning after the girls' naps.  We flew kites and played in the sand.  It was Olivia's first time seeing the ocean and feeling the sand and she loved it.  The weather was also nice which really helped.  It was clear and sunny most of the weekend and did not rain.  The boys had fun running around and digging in the sand. Brooke and I went shopping at the outlets and actually got some clothes for us (and a few things for the kids).  We BBQed that night at home and Brooke and I took the kids to a really fun park over by Devil's Lake that had a huge fenced in playground area.  The babies loved the baby swings.

Flying kites

A kite Mom!

Playing in the sand

So much fun in the sand

Playing in the sand

This funnel is fun!

Brandon running on the sand

Brandon and Olivia playing together

Flying kites with Daddy

Mommy and Olivia at almost 10 months

Olivia's first time at the ocean

Toy mess!

And then she fell down!

Climbing inside the cabinets

Brandon and Logan wearing their new shirts! Best buds

Olivia and Addie 6 days apart 

The babies

So much fun on the swings 

Exploring at the park

The next day we went to the beach again and then went to the park this time with the husbands.  I went on a really nice run on the beach which was beautiful.  Came back home and Brooke and I went out and got a drink together without the kids while the hubbys babysat (they got to go gambling at the casino later that night).  We got a very alcoholic mixed drink called a tsunami that had several types of hard alcohol mixed together and was very tasty.  We had fish and chips all together that night and then after the kiddos went to bed Brooke and I enjoyed some wine out in the hot tub.  

Getting pushed by big brother

Thanks big brother for the push

Steering the ship in the playground

The next day we left around noon.  Prior to that we went to the beach, it was an absolutely gorgeous day, with beautiful clear sunny skies, no wind, and it was near 70 degrees in the morning.  Olivia woke up early from her morning nap and enjoyed playing in the sand.  Brandon and Logan had a ton of fun playing in the ocean and digging in the sand.  A really fun trip.  

Fun on the beach

The boys playing in the ocean

Watch out a crawling baby in the sand

Love this picture-Logan and Brandon are in the lower left background

Happy girl at the ocean

Such a beautiful day

Such a silly smile

Mommy and liv

Liv wanted to move

Logan and Brandon