Bad Pictures/Good Party

I finally got the motivation to get the birthday pictures off of my almost dead camera. After seeing these pictures, I am pretty sure my camera got pissed at its own life and just decided to quit working. Jerk. I mean, the pictures aren't great, but c'mon.

This is what I've got:

These are the ONLY two shots I got for her monthly "photo shoot." Usually, I get about 50 ;). With all of the craziness of party planning, it got late, she got grumpy, and I got this:

and this:

The next day, the day of her party, was equally crazy. I swear, I was so exhausted I was in a haze the entire time. I am hoping someone else got pictures because the following are pretty much the best of what I got.

This was a banner that I made with printables that came with her invitation package, and then her monthly pictures, each printed out and hung with a hot pink clothes pin. The pictures I used were mostly ones that I shared on this blog! Above it, are the little favor buckets (I think only one of which I ended up giving out...I kept forgetting as people left!) This was snapped before the guests started arriving, so the gifts are just those from my parents/grandparents and I. (and yes, those are cigs. They're my dad's. Ick!)

Here is a strange picture of my cake table. I added a few extra little bowls of candy and treats as well. In the back, I have baggies filled with baby Goldfish, and party blowers in the plastic cups. You can also kind of see a picture of Gemma on the table. Her newborn picture was there. For the tables where guests sat (which I didn't get a picture of!) I had alternating pink and blue table cloths and each had a picture taken from a different month, and then I scattered painted seashells on the table. It was cute, and the guests took all of the pictures as party favors.

(I guess that makes up for the buckets!)

Here is a close up of the cake. Confession #1: I didn't love it. Someone else made it though, and I didn't see it until the day of the party. Oh well I guess. Confession #2: I didn't even get to try one bite! I did hear it was delicious though...

So, we ate lunch first. I had a taco bar with chicken, beef, and 2 types of bean tacos. Yum.

Next was presents. There are lots of pictures of my backside handing Gemma gifts. This one isn't one of those:

Next, was cake! I was excited/nervous for this part. Gemma was already tired and cranky, (she had napped too early) but I think she had fun...for a little bit at least.

Here, she wasn't really sure what to do...or what she was allowed to do...

But, eventually, she got the hang of it:

After she had done her dirty work on part of the cake, I figured she had done enough damage. I think she was pretty wired/exhausted/done too.

Overall, it was an awesome experience.

Next year, we're going out for pizza!