Izzie B's Owl Themed 1st Birthday Party!

Yesterday, we had Izzie's 1st birthday party here at our house.  I had fallen in love with owls while pregnant with Izzie (as you already all know) and decided before she was born to do her first birthday in an owl theme.  I have been pinning ideas on Pinterest since then and had amassed quite a lot.  I had to pick and choose my favorites.  Above you can see the cake (again another cupcake creation).  We invited all of our friends and family and almost everyone invited near and far was able to make it and create an amazing memory for all of us.

These were the individual cupcakes to go with the main cake.  Lauren, Alex's girlfriend, gets major credit for helping me put them together.

Izzie's godmother, Jenn (aka Dunny), came up from Pittsburgh to be with us and she did a ton of the prep work with me the night before and morning of the party.  She and Lauren, put together these owl s'mores.

It was all hands on deck that morning.  My brother, Alex, even got to work and made the veggie pizza.

Party guest starting to arrive and play.

The happy birthday girl.

I put Chaleece (Andy's brother, Patrick's, girlfriend, and Izzie's godmother), in charge of the craft.  I had put together the owls the night before with lots of help from Dunny, and then the kids put their handprints on them to make the wings.

Nana with the birthday girl.

Andy's brothers Chris and Patrick, with Chaleece looking at Izzie's 1st year scrapbooks.

Andy's dad, Joe (aka Pap), and step-mom, Lori (aka LaLa).

Dunny and Andy's step-sister, Kathryn.

Brady, in addition to some of the kids and even an adult or two, really got into the owl theme and sported owls on their clothing.

Time for presents!

Books and a My Little Pony from Sam and Ainsley.  We asked friends and family who didn't have any gift ideas already for summer pajamas and books as we are overflowing with toys and having Christmas so close to both kids' birthdays.

Summer jammies from Izzie's baby friend, Leila.

I know my eyes are closed in this one, but the Minnie clothes were too cute not to share.  They were from Izzie's Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Kat.  They know how excited we are about our upcoming Disney trip.

Getting ready to open Brady's present to Izzie.

She loves all of the Fisher Price Laugh and Learn toys Brady had as a baby and she got a bunch of the more girly ones for Christmas.  They came out with a few new ones after Christmas and I was dying to get her that lamp.  It took quite a bit of convincing to get Brady to pick it at the toy store.

Brady also got her a talking Izzy (not spelled the same, but she doesn't know that) from Jake & the Neverland Pirates on Disney Junior and we got her a hooded owl beach towel.

The big present from us.

We had decided to get her a Cozy Coupe because Brady got his Power Wheels last year and they would each have a car their own speed this summer.

Time for cake!

She was so happy when we started singing to her.

I helped her blow out her candle.

It took no convincing to get her to eat her cupcake.

Her 1st birthday balloon.

Andy bought Izzie flowers for her birthday while he was out getting the cake that morning.  I love the colors and thought it was so sweet that he got his little girl flowers.  He's certainly setting the bar high for any boyfriends down the road.

These were some of the favors that we handed out to the kids at the party.  I got them handmade from a seller on Etsy and am in love with them!

The aftermath after everyone went home.  In addition to the presents show, Izzie got lots more books, some beautiful summer clothes, an Ariel castle, a potty, more pajamas, and a play picnic basket.

Chillin' out after the guests had gone home.  My mom, Dunny, Alex, and Lauren were staying at our house, so we just vegged out, watching TV and snacking.  Alex and Lauren took Brady to the fish store where they had ordered a new fish to take home with them.

Owl bum bum pants! 

Happy 1st Birthday Isabella Betsy!!!

Our "baby" is now officially a toddler!  She's officially a one year old and it still hasn't sunken in yet.  You almost feel like there should be this big change, but they're the same as they were the day before.  This year has gone by so quickly and it's hard to remember the tiny baby we brought home a year ago.  She's so physical that she has seemed older than she is for a long time, so turning one almost seems like a formality.  She's a very happy girl and is extremely social.  She smiles at everyone and will play with anyone.  We love watching her and Brady interact.  They love each other so much and it's amazing to watch them together.


She's certainly fearless.  When we went to Great Wolf Lodge, she was walking in water up to her waist, not wanting to hold our hands and picking herself back up when she slipped.  She's a climber and can now climb up stairs.  She nearly gave me a heart attack a few weeks ago, when I was cleaning the kitchen and turned to see her standing on the fireplace.  I ran to reach her before she fell off, and of course clipped my own foot jumping the barricade and we both fell at the same time.  She came out less hurt than I did and was more scared than anything.  We'll have to keep a very close eye on her as she gets older and isn't penned into the main room any longer.

 

She's a little mommy to her babies.  She will carry them around on her shoulder and try to feed them their bottles.  She'll put them in her toy stroller and push them around.  If they fall out, she stops right away to put them back in.

Look how much she has changed in a year!

The distance from Brady's birthday to mine is 20 days, with Izzie's falling in the middle.  Andy was super anxious and impatient so he had me open my present early.  He got me a new camera and wanted me to have it before Izzie's official birthday so we could take really nice pics.  We were testing it out in the next few pics.

She's certainly got an attitude and a personality and you can tell that in this picture.

Milk face, the morning before her birthday.  She's started weaning and has all sippy cups of formula (soon to be whole milk) during the daytime. 

My Oma in NYC was admitted to the hospital a few weeks back with pneumonia and my dad has been traveling up there to be with her.  It became apparent that he wouldn't be able to make it for Izzie's party because of his need to be with her.  We worked out a deal where he would bring my mom the weekend of Izzie's real birthday and that would make up for him missing out on the party.  We all went out to dinner the night before her birthday to celebrate.  My mom has stayed the week to help with party prep.

First pic of our official one year old!

Monthly owl picture!

The birthday girl in her tutu!

Presents! 

Toting around her copy of Mary Poppins from Nana and Dubby.

A cash register from Nana and Dubby.  She fell in love immediately!

A growth chart for her room.  This was the only present from us she got on her actual birthday because we like to measure them on their birthdays.  Her other gifts from us will be opened at her party later this week.

Thanking Nana for the great gifts!

She had a smash cake for portraits and will have another at her party, but you can't have a first birthday without cake!  We went out and got her this oversized cupcake to smash on the night of her birthday.

Andy helping her get what she had on her hands in her mouth so that she'd be enticed to dig in.

She's an old pro now, so she'll be sure to put on a show at her party.

Nothing sums it up better than this picture.

A look back at every single month!

She's still pretty petite, but it's funny to see her with her belly and thighs since Brady was bigger but slimmer.  She's maintaining her size 3 when it comes to diapers and has moved into a lot of her 12-18 month winter clothes (mainly Gymboree and Crazy8 brands).  When it comes to her Carter's clothes, she's still in the 9-12 month size, which also goes for her pajamas since she's short.  

She's an amazing eater and will eat three solid meals a day, with formula, breastmilk, water, and snacks in between.  She's also crazy active so definitely burns off what she eats.  She has six teeth and can take bites of anything, which is not something we got used to with Brady until he was much older. 

This week she had her 12 month doctor visit.  It was time to put in our weight guesses again.  At this point, I have the lead of 1-0 over Andy.  My guess was 19lbs 8oz, and Andy guessed 22lbs.  Brady was 21lbs 2oz at 12 months.

Here are her official 12 month stats:

Weight - 20lbs (35th percentile)
Height - 29 inches (50th percentile)

I win again!  Now 2-0.  With only three more appointments before she turns two, if I win one more, the contest is over.  She's certainly our little miss.  She may be in the 50th percentile for height, but Brady was 31.5 inches at one year.  She just reached the height max for her baby carrier and her big girl car seat is on it's way to us as we speak.  I was more than ready to move Brady, but now that I have two kids and preschool drop off, it's so much easier to have her in the carrier and click her right into the stroller.  It will take an adjustment and hopefully the weather will take a turn so it's not so tough, but we'll see.