The Birthday Party

We hosted a small gathering for Reese's birthday at our home on Saturday night. I love to host others, but the size of our place makes it difficult to include all our friends here. Without renting a venue for the big day, we could only invite a few close friends to celebrate this special day with us. Sticking to the "one friend per year old" rule, we invited the Ivy's, whose daughter Elizabeth is just 1 month younger than Reese. Caden's playmates were invited as well - Maren & Dane came along with Kim & Allen and Abigail (Elizabeth's sister) is Caden's age as well. He might have thought it was his party too!

We had a yummy meal of kabobs & burgers and I did stick to my Texas roots by serving guacamole and queso as appetizers. Both the Johnson's and the Ivy's lived in Texas, so they were very appreciative of such dishes!

Reese had a wonderful time and looked adorable in her pretty pink party dress. Perfect for the little princess she is! She dug right into the cake without much hesitation and was still reaching for more when Kyle decided she had probably had enough sugar and took the cake away.

Earlier in the day we "celebrated" via Skype with both sets of grandparents, opening Reese's gifts from them so they could see. She received some really cute dresses, a Spring coat, swimwear and shoes. She also got some books from Caden, The Little Mermaid DVD, an animal sounds game, and from Mommy & Daddy, the Little People Dance and Twirl Palace. The Palace is so cute and she has already been playing with it. I highly recommend it for other little girls! She also received a baby stroller from the Johnsons which she can already push around the house with her dolls inside!

We had such a wonderful day with our little princess and can't believe she is ONE! We truly missed all our family and friends back home, as we know they would have all liked to be here to celebrate with us. Happy 1st Birthday Reese!

To see all our party pictures, click here.