Firsts: Late Night Bowling

On Sunday, after a full afternoon at the park, one long nap, and a delicious dinner, we met with Mike's Dad for a little late night bowling before his flight back to Seattle the next day. This was Chloe's very first time bowling and I have to say she absolutely loved it AND did an amazing job too! I think this might become a new family tradition whenever Grandpa Chuck comes into town for a visit.

Adventure: Lambs Farm

On Tuesday Chloe and I spent the afternoon with some friends exploring Lambs Farm. Chloe went on her first carousel ride, saw lots of farm animals and even got to pet and feed the goats and sheep. As you can see in the pictures above my sweet Chloe is fearless when it comes to animals, which is both exciting and terrifying for me!

We also walked around their pet shop, (where Chloe got to see a talking parrot for the first time), thrift store, and lastly the bakery where we picked out a couple delicious chocolate treats to take home with us. We had such a wonderful day on Lambs Farm, it's always so much fun to spend the day with other Mama's and babies!

Date Night

A Conscious Divide @ Bay Billiards & Sports Bar

On Friday night Mike and I went to see his good friend Jason and his band A Conscious Divide play a show at Bay Billiards & Sports Bar. This was the first time Mike and I went out just the two of us since before Chloe was born so it was a pretty big deal!

We had such a fun night together filled with great music, friends, and drinks but by the end of it we both couldn't wait to see our sweet Chloe. When we got home we found Chloe sleeping peacefully in Grandma's arms on the couch, turns out someone played pretty hard that night and didn't even notice we were gone!

Chloe Madison's Garden Themed First Birthday Party

Well I cant believe it, we survived Chloe's first birthday party! Everything turned out better then I could have ever imagined and I am so forever grateful to everyone who celebrated this special day with us. Chloe is one loved and adored little girl!

The Decorations

The colors we used for Chloe's party were pink, yellow, purple, orange, and Tiffany's blue. We decorated my Grandma's backyard with lots of balloons, streamers and this beautiful banner  from Etsy! We also used a few different types of flowers throughout the party as well to add to the garden theme.

The Guests

We were so happy that we were able to celebrate with all of our family here in Chicago. I loved having both my family and Mike's family together and Chloe got to meet her Uncle George and Aunt Debbie and her cousin Aaron for the first time. Unfortunately it's pretty difficult to be the host and the photographer at the same time so I wasn't able to get a picture of Chloe with each family member but I tried to at least get a picture of everyone there! 

 

 

The Food

Mike was amazing and grilled hamburgers and hot-dogs for the party and a few people also brought side dishes to share with everyone. We had homemade macaroni and cheese from my brother William, a beautiful fruit salad from Sara, my Mom's famous anti-pasta salad, sliced watermelon, Aunt Debbie's baked beans and corn, and brownies.

Everything was so good!

The Cake

We got two cakes for Chloe's party from a grocery store called Mariano's, a small(ish) smash cake just for Chloe and then a big sheet cake for our guests. Both cakes turned out so well and tasted amazing!

When it came time for everyone to sing "happy birthday" to Chloe I got so emotional thinking about the day she was born and how amazing it has been to watch my baby blossom into such a beautiful little girl. It took a lot for me not to break down and cry right in front of everyone!

The Gifts

Chloe received so many wonderful gifts from all of our family and friends.  Thank you all so very much!

After everyone left and my Grandma's house was clean again we headed home. Chloe was beyond tired and fell fast asleep the moment we got in the car. When we got home I was able to take Chloe out of her carseat, snapped that picture below, walk up the stairs to our house and then walk up another flight of stairs to our room where I laid her gently down in the bed and there she slept peacefully for two hours before waking up!

Hope you loved her first birthday party Chloe, I cant wait to look at all these pictures together when you get older!