One-derland

my daughter turned the big one a couple weeks ago

and in honor of that achievement

{she still has all her fingers and toes, go mom and dad!}

we decided to have a celebration

Lillie in One-derland
{get it, ONE -derland, because she's turning..oh never mind}

 seems fairly straightforward, right?

have bright colorful things, a couple of theme items

and bam, good to go

well, when you look around and there's nothing

available to buy for decoration because let's face it

Alice in Wonderland is not appreciated nearly enough

in comparison to all that is a Disney Princess

you have to get a little creative

floating yarn balloons

have amazing friends

we love you emilie!

{who are willing to stay at your house nearly every day in the week prior
to get everything and then some ready}

a fantabulous husband
who put up with nearly a month of craft supplies strewn about the house
{while the laundry suffered in silence}

 

I drove him mad all right...

a mother-in-law who went above and beyond
when she offered to make Lillie's cake

i'm pretty sure my jaw dropped to the floor when she came in the hall with it
yes, it's that amazing

Lillie even had her own personal teapot to tear into

and wonderful family and friends to celebrate her with

the love and generosity shared to celebrate our beautiful little girl
it was so much more than i expected
{seriously, we need more closet space at the house after this!}
  i admit, i may have gone slightly overboard in the production
of this little birthday party

and by overboard yes, i mean the outfits.

wonderland props, fresh flowers, pinwheels, yarn balls and tulle

squeeze-its {i didn't even realize they still made them!} with drink me tabs
and personalized water bottles with alice quotes

over yonder {i took some creative liberties}

oreo pops, heaven in your mouth

big as house, small as a mouse - take your chances with these eat me cupcakes!

i just wanted it to be special
not just for her, but for everyone invited/involved
because without these wonderful people in our life

i would have never made it through this first year
{at least not with all my hair}
so, for all you haters out there that may say
really, tamara, really? this much effort
she's one, she won't remember it
who cares?
i say to you
she may not remember it, it's true
but when she looks back on pictures
she'll just know
that the joy in our faces
in our hearts
in our blistered fingers from cutting up and gluing paper together for hours
means only one thing

that we love her more than anyone outside our family needs to understand
no matter how cooky, upside-down or ridiculous things may appear
we'll always have our own little wonderland
alice and all