3.08.2010

Tova's First Birthday Party!!

A few days ago, as another 2010 month began, I realized that if I put off editing Tova's birthday party photos any longer, it would be nearly 2011 before I would end up showing them to you. So I put aside a few projects and had such a great time reliving Tova's fantastic party and appreciating the fact that it is well over! It was hard work, but definitely worth it.

Tova turned 14 months old yesterday, which is always so hard to believe. It was well over a year ago that David and I sat in the hospital room wondering what in the world we were supposed to do. I have never learned so much so quickly. Now, as Tova is daily learning how to take care of herself, I am in awe of every single accomplishment. Watching Tova grow has been the biggest blessing in life. She is so sweet and so much fun, beyond anything we had ever imagined. She is such a little character. Every day is better than the last, even with mean molars showing their spikes.

In case you don't keep up with our tweets, Tova is walking. She says uh oh, O's (cereal), hi, buh bye, dada, rarely mama, da? (What's that?), and a few other things. She absolutely loves socks and shoes, always trying to put them on her own feet, or ours. Dr. Seuss' The Foot Book is, needless to say, a favorite. We love Sandra Boynton books. Tova says something like "bee-bo" when we read the Belly Button Book. And she has always (from a remarkably young age) made a growl noise when asked "What do you say?" in Moo, Baa, La, La, La!

Back to the party. We were so blessed by everyone who was able to come and celebrate Tova's first year of life with us. We love you all.

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I started planning the party several months in advance.  I absolutely love event design and really took this opportunity to dive in and see what I could do.  Unfortunately, I was swamped with work at the same time and bit off more than I could chew.  But it all seemed to work out in the end. :)
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I had wanted so badly to have the party outside. I planned to string lanterns and poms across our lawn from our big oak tree to our porch. The natural light and crisp winter air were supposed to be perfect. And then it was freezing. And gloomy.  In central Florida. Two days before the party, I just knew it wasn't going to happen outside, so it was time to accept that fact and work to make the best possible adjustments for indoors.
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We moved all of the furniture out of the front of our house and into our garage and back rooms. Then we tacked massive sheets of white fabric to the ceiling to cover the main walls. It was quite a nice transformation.
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I started with a color scheme and added owls for fun.  The peaches and pinks were quite pretty. The bamboo plates, platters, and sporks were from www.greenfeet.com.
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I made the cake topper - painted the wooden girl and put one of the tablecloth fabrics on her as a dress.  The bow is made from the twine I used on the owl lollipops and balloons. The little girl and "t" are affixed and I set the rose bud and owl on top.  The owl was from my Grandmother, who passed away in November.
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The cupcakes were made from recipes in the book Organic and Chic.  The icings were amazing, the cakes were okay.  The two chocolates together were way too intense.  Maybe had the icings been swapped, they would have been better.  Baking supplies were from Bake It Pretty and Ultimate Baker.
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Owl lollipops made from scratch. The cow milk glasses are from shopterrain.com.  We love them and use them every day now. Owl shortbread butter cookies from Organic and Chic that melted in your mouth.  Love that recipe!  And a bunch of peaches.
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IBC cream soda and root beer. The mason jars with floral cut-out lids had white paper straws and tags that said "_________ is using this cup."
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"Whoo wants a snack?"
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Poms from www.pom-love.com.
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The amazing ceramic owl from Fruitflypie on Etsy.
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Liz and my cousin, Devon, with T in her tutu I made with pretty pastel tulle.
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I won the hats by babydarling from a giveaway on martawrites blog.  So very cute!
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We set up a little table for the kids to make their own paper owls. "Owl make an owl!"
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Our good friends Ben and Amanda holding the Tove.
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Our good friend, Matt Hires, came and sang "You are my Sunshine" and "Happy Birthday" for Tova.

EDIT: Don't forget about the birthday song video HERE with Mr. Matt Hires!

Tova First Birthday Song from Kallie Brynn on Vimeo.

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I had my friend and fellow photographer, Tina Sargeant, take some photos with my camera while I attended to the smash cake.
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"What is going on?"
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She wasn't so sure about this thing called sugar.
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You should really go check out Matt Hires' music!  (Now we're back to my photos.)
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Ok, it's fun.
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Who couldn't fall in love with these faces!?
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And those teeth!?
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A complete mess.
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The perfectly amazing owl pinata from Birchangel Pinatas.
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Mike stealing candy from babies.
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It was such a blast!  I wish I had more pictures of the lovely people who came (and T in her tutu), but I was completely scatter brained.  I'm so glad I have these photos, especially to remember Tova eating cake for the first time.  Her faces are priceless.

Much love, d+k+t

all images © Kallie Brynn Photography

20 comments:

  1. you outdid yourself gorgeous girl! what a beautiful family of friends... and an amazing little (and getting not so little by the day, *sniff*) girl.

    wish we could have been there, but nicely done! thanks for sharing the fun with those of us who were there only in spirit.

    love you guys.

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  2. you've truly outdone yourself sweet girl! what a beautiful family of friends and such a sweet little (and constantly getting not so little...*sniff*) girl.

    thanks for sharing these pictures with those of us who were there only in spirit.

    love you guys and miss you tons.

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  3. i absolutely love everything. there is not one thing on here i didn't go crazy for. LOVE IT ALL! Well done!!! :)

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  4. Such a beautiful party Kallie! Layla was looking at the pictures with me and said, "I wanna do that again" ;-) You did an amazing job on everything!

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  5. the owl theme was great! :) and the party was beautiful! :) your hard work really paid off :):)

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  6. so cool! I wish I could have made it! love the big balloons over the tiny cake! and the photos of tova destroying said cake... haha

    I am making some paper pom poms like that for my roommates bridal shower! i might just end up buying them since that pomlove site is pretty cheap!

    Kallie, you are so talented and I can't wait to see you guys soon... at Katie's wedding!

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  7. I absolutely loved reading and looking at this post! My sister (Jodie, who you met at abryanphoto workshop) sent me here 'cause she seems to think you and I are a lot alike ;)
    Anyway, your daughter is beautiful! (mine is 20 months) And you have delicious taste in everything I've seen so far.
    I might have to stop by again...

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  8. Super sweet party! I love the patterns and colors!

    Kim @ http://frostmeblog.blogspot.com
    party inspiration

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  9. We used an Ikea high chair too...they're so easy to photograph and clean up. Beautiful party!

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  10. Beautiful! Can you tell me how you made the cut outs on the mason jar cups? And also where you got the big balloons?

    Thanks!

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  11. Ummm, this is amazing. I love the color scheme and the pinata is kind of the best.

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  12. AAAAAAAHHHH!! What a beautiful party!! I had so much fun looking at these pictures, and think you need to do some party planning on the side! Wow. So creative and sweet!! Tova is such a little beauty, and the pictures of her getting into the cake smashing are priceless!! You three make one neat little fam!

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  13. What an absolutely divine party, and so many beautiful details! I would love to share with my readers!

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  14. What a gorgeous party! I was just talking to a friend about having an owl-themed 2nd birthday for my son.

    Fantastic job!

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  15. Beautiful Party! Where did you get the balloons for your table? They are great!

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  16. Adorable! what a cute hostess and precious little girl:)

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  17. really truly adorable. what a fabulous party. nice work! i love the idea of a song sung just for the birthday girl. you thought of every little detail!

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  18. Sweetest. Party. Ever! You did such a fantastic job.

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  19. Your beautiful first birthday party has been featured on best of the web first birthdays to check it out at howtocookthat.net

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