Brooke's Birthday Bonanza!!!

Wow, only 3 days until my precious baby turns one. Remember a few months ago how I had all of these lofty goals for her party?? Well, it seems that while I still have great plans, I haven't completed much at all. Here's what I've accomplished so far:

~ The petite fours are done! They may not be the most beautiful things ever, but they were made with lots of love:-)

~The birthday cake is taken care of. John's Aunt Lynn is making a heart shaped cake and I'm sure it will be beautiful. She always does a great job!

~Invitations are out and I have a (semi-accurate) head count of how many people to expect.

~The menu is planned. We're having homemade macaroni and cheese (made by me, of course) and pulled pork sandwiches. Patty already bought the meat (and of course she stubbornly wouldn't let me give her money) and barbeque sauce for the sandwiches and she's going to make it for us. LOVE YOU PATTY!

~I've picked out the party decorations.. I'm going with a heart theme. I'm going to wake up fairly early on the morning of Brooke's birthday and run out and get them. I figure that because it's the day after Valentine's day that all things pink, red, and with hearts on them will be on clearance. I don't think that's too big of a risk to wait. Do you guys?

Here's my to do list:

~ Figure out some sort of favor. I'm not sure if I'll do anything big. They have these cute little plastic heart cups so I might go out on the day of the party and buy lots of fun candy and fill the cups. I'm not sure though. The cookie idea didn't work out because we've been so busy. I'm a dreamer, not a doer, unfortunately. Lol!

~ Get the drinks. I'm going to have various sodas as well as a big punch bowl filled with my homemade strawberry lemonade and heart ice cubes. I can also make the lemonade into a spritzer by adding Sprite but I'm not sure if I'll do that or not. I haven't decided. Or I could spike it was some Vodka?? Hmm.... Maybe not the best choice for a kid's birthday party? HA!

~Purchase all of the groceries needed for the party. I'm going to make a veggie tray but I want it to all be fresh so I'm going to wait until the morning of the party. Man, I'm going to be so busy! I'm thinking I'll have olives, carrots, cucumbers, broccoli, and cherry tomatoes with ranch dressing. I don't think I'll mess with peppers because they just smell. I also have to pick up the rolls for the sandwiches and all of the ingredients for the mac and cheese.

~And like I said earlier, I have to pick up all manner of party decorations, balloons, etc..

~Find Brooke the PERFECT gift. John and I were going to buy her a little rocking chair but Josh (my brother-in-law) graciously purchased it for her. I'm really happy that he loves her enough to do something like that for her, BUT now I don't know what to do for her. She's going to get so many toys so I really don't think I want to get her any. That leaves me with NOTHING:-(

~Purchase a book for everyone to sign. When I had my baby shower everyone signed a book and I love reading back on the things people wrote. It's so special to me so I thought the idea of doing for her 1St birthday would be perfect. ( I also kind of mooched that idea from Nathan's first birthday party too. Oops!)

So, I'm wicked stressed all of a sudden. I'm a procrastinator and I work great under pressure (in fact, I SHINE when under pressure). I just want everything to be perfect and I want all of our family to enjoy themselves. I am so thankful for all of the family members who have offered me their time and help too. Where would I be without my family?????? John and I are going out for Valentine's Day the night before so it's not like we can get much accomplished then either. In addition to that, John has to work the morning of her birthday, so he'll probably sleep most of the morning, which will mean I have to traipse Brooke around to all of the stores. She won't appreciate that too terribly much.

I'm really looking forward to the party! I guess I just have to keep reminding myself that this party is more for John and me than it is for Brooke. She could care less if we didn't have a party for her so if everything's not 100 percent perfect then nobody will care but ME!

I still can't believe my little girl is going to be one. WOW... I just can't seem to soak all of that in!