Ava's First Birthday Party!

After weeks of planning and collecting all the ideas from Pinterest and hunting out the actual supplies and decor items on the web, everything came together perfectly for Ava's first birthday party. I knew I wanted something soft and pretty for her, a cute little brunch. Originally the plan was the make majority of the items which I also found from Pinterest, but as I got closer to the party date, I had to improvise and search for items that didn't require too much work but would fit into her brunch. 

Store bought lemon curd from Trader Joe's and fig jam from the local supermarket went perfectly with simple scones I made that morning.

Tossed the berries in a little bit of sugar, except the strawberries

Decided to get prints of photos of Ava since birth to put as the background.

 Anything with a vintage and french flair I found through the website Save-On-Craft. The website has every kind of supplies you would need to decorate a wedding, baby shower, birthday, and/or any occasion. The mini milk bottles I got was much cheaper than other places I've seen. The paper straws was ordered from Etsy.com through a store that allowed you to select the styles you wanted for a set price.

The mini bottles were a hit with the different style paper straws

 Originally from my previous post, I did a test run on the pink ombre cake that I originally was going to make for her birthday, however due to time restraints, I ended up purchasing a cake from my favorite dessert restaurant in San Diego called Extraordinary Desserts. I got Ava the Shangri-La which is AMAZINGLY delicious. The cake contains white chocolate mousse, guava mousse, fresh strawberries and whipped cream are layered between vanilla cakes moistened with kirsch. I also love how the outside has off white and pink!

I ordered washi tapes from Etsy.com and made a little banner to put on her cake.

Costco mixed cookies in a jar!

Here is the final set up with the drinks in as well! I love it! Majority of the food I found at Costco, and surprisingly Trader Joe's carry a lot of miniature sized appetizers!

I was able to also make the pressed Italian sandwiches from the previous night using torta buns, salami, provolone cheese, pesto, and mayo all from Costco. The morning of the party, I cut each torta to make three small mini sandwiches and I wrapped it with parchment paper and pink/white baker's twine. Also since the food theme was more of a brunch, I decided to make a quick potato hash that I sauteed with onions, green bell peppers, and salt/pepper. I put a little in the mini cupcake liners I found at Michaels.

The two kinds of meatballs were also found at Costco that my friend sauteed and warmed up the morning of the party.  To cut time, I bought raspberry lemonade and guava juice I found at the market for refreshment.

The hardest item to find for her party was the cake stand. I saw so many beautiful white cake stands but with them costing $40+ just for one , it would of been extremely expensive to have multiple. I eventually came across this beautiful teal/blue 3 tier cake stand from Kohl's!! It was already on sale, plus an additional 30% off and free shipping, it was too good to pass up. In the end it gave the brunch table a nice pop of color and I was able to coordinate that to the strings for the balloons.

The strings attached to the ballons are just strips of plastic table clothes I found at PartyCity. This idea I also found on Pinterest!

Birthday girl enjoying her cake.

Ava playing with friends :)

Overall it was a perfect first birthday party for Ava, the party I had envisioned with the help of Pinterest came through and everyone had a wonderful time. Food was great and all the kids had a lot of fun. Now with two kids, I will have to start earlier planning for each of them since every birthday is special. Pin It Now!

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It's a Happy Halloweenie with lots of candies!

Finally Ava's first Halloween! Having Halloween definitely made things a bit hectic this year. I had to bring a potluck item to work and also a potluck item to a neighborhood Halloween Party. I found some great ideas on Pinterest and decided on the chocolate covered pretzel rods. Simple enough right? Dark chocolate was easy but the white chocolate was a little harder to work with. So here's the end result, was a total hit at the neighborhood Halloween party for the kids!

Eye catching sprinkles and ghosts!

Someone brought these wormies! I have to find out how to make these!!

For Ava's first Halloween I knew I wanted her to be Snow White. I've been lugging around these 7 dwarf plush from Japan for probably 15 years!! Joseph's costume was....well easy enough. I had to just get him a t-shirt for his Minecraft Steve character.

My Snow White Princess!

There is my Minecraft Steve and Ava in her Radioflyer carriage!

Joseph as Minecraft Steve

Part of any baby's first holiday, it's a must to get those fleece suits. So since we had some time before the actual trick or treating started, we put her in the outfit for some photos! Her little pumpkin top headband I found in the dollar bin at Target. Best place to find cute and cool knick-knack stuff.

It was definitely a great Halloween. Joseph's first with his baby sister and Ava's very first! Can't wait to start brainstorming for next year :)

LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture!

"PRINCESS AVA COMING THROUGH!"

Living the life in her carriage with her entourage!!

We even had baby T come visit!

Little Chef! Super cute!!

Angry Bird pumpkin!

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Ava 9 & 10 months! The countdown to ONE begins!

I can't believe Ava is just two months shy from her first birthday! Planning has begun in full effect. She's a regular stairmaster now, the faster she gets up, the faster she can make a mess in Joseph's room. The two of them love bath time together.

Love these two candid shots of them during bathtime.

Let's make waves!!

Ava with her Miss Hollywood glasses

precious.

love.

Since we don't have any carpeting in the house besides the stairs and two closets, Ava is fascinated with the stairs and likes to spend her time climbing and combing it with her fingers. She tends to go into Joseph's room since it is right at the top of the stairs and make a nice ol' mess for him.

Here she is playing half way up on the stairs. Always supervised of course!

She loves to go into Joseph's room and pull all the books from his bookshelf!

And she likes ripping his Angry Birds artworks off the walls. OoOOooops!!!!

"Look Mama! I made it to the top!!!"

Our new friend Lambchop is now a regular in the house and keeps everyone laughing and happy. She is just as silly and active as Joseph and Ava.

Even Lambchop likes to photobomb..haha

Here is Ava playing with farmer Carrot

Halloween is only couple days away and can't wait for the two to get some pictures for their first Halloween as brother and sisters!! Enjoy!


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Ava's Adventures at 8~ months!

Nothing more precious than baby Ava sleeping....Until she wakes and it's bath time, then it's full on pool party!!

Wow...what's all this white bubbly stuff??

I wonder what would happen if I hit it with my little itty bitty hands??

Wholy moly!!

Maybe it will taste good???

Ava also got to take a little trip to this glittery town called Vegas with Mommy. She got to enjoy a nice relaxing time in her hotel crib and pretty flowers.

Party at my crib on the 15th floor! BYOM (Bring Your Own Milk!!)

The biggest Ladybug EVER Mommy!!

Bees buzzing behind me, I know.. I'm staying cool!

More pictures to come in an iPhone post soon!! :)

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