Gabriella's 1st and Ty's 5th Birthday Party

I still remember the night I started feeling contractions, April 24th at 11:00 PM. The only thing I was thinking is how to get this baby out before the clock hit 12am on April 26th, Ty's Birthday. Luckily, she was born at 7:54PM on the 25th. 

Having their birthday 1 day apart has been something I dreaded. I knew I wanted to go all out for her 1st birthday and his 5th birthday. The thought of both of them sharing their special day stressed me out. However, as I started to plan I realized how much better this was. We now live 2 hours away from the majority of our families, so they only needed to come out once for both kids. SCORE! Also, it is definitely more cost effective (major plus for me) to have one party as opposed to two separate ones. 

I made sure that each child had their own theme, food and attention. It was very important for me to make sure Ty knew how special he was and he would enjoy it just as much! 

Ty was easy. He is a complete Star Wars nut, particularly Darth Vader. Gabriella's theme was a little bit more difficult. I originally wanted to do a pink, aqua and white theme for her. No special fluff just the colors of her room. Then, I went to Party City with my husband and he went crazy for Minnie. The big eyes, bows and dark complexion just drew him in. So it was then decided, about a few weeks before her party to change the theme. 

Their party was so much fun! Food was fantastic and everyone had a lot of fun! Plus, having the pool was amazing! We love our new house and we were so excited to share it with all of our family and friends! :) Thank you to everyone who made the trip to celebrate our kids! 

Invitations
 On one side was Ty and the other side was Gabriella!

Banner on our mantel

Ty's Table

 Light Sabers

White and milk chocolate dipped pretzel rods with blue and red sprinkles

 Storm Trooper Pops

Marshmallows dipped in white chocolate and covered with crushed oreos

 Death Star Donuts

Chocolate Donuts

 Jabbapeno Dip

My famous Jalapeno Popper dip

 Vader Veggies

 Darth Sidious Smokies

Bacon wrapped smokies

Vaderade

Fruit Punch Gaterade

 C-H20

 Ty's personal water labels!

Gabriella's Table

 Sweet Pink Popcorn

Popcorn with a pink sugary topping!

 Bowtique Pasta Salad

 Mickeys McNuggets

 Hot Diggity Dogs

Mini corn dogs

 Minnie's Marshmallows

Daisy's Deviled Eggs

Backyard fun! I just LOVE our backyard!

 Time for cake!

 Gabriella with her Great Aunt Milly, Grandma Sylvia and Great Aunt Ingrid! Seriously, how gorgeous are these ladies!

 Dinner

 Pulled Pork sandwiches

 Caesar Salad, Potato Salad and Baked beans

 Light Saber and Minnie utensils

Happy Birthday Kiddos!

Picture Collage

I wanted  to show off some pictures of each child but I'm not a fan of putting them into a number since I scrapbook so I didn't want them to be too manipulated. This worked out perfectly! As soon as each guest arrived they were able to see pictures of our cute little kids!

Tuesday night dinners

For the past few months, every Tuesday night my dad and siblings come over for dinner at our house. It has been something that we have really enjoyed as a family. They get 100% uninterrupted Gabriella time since my mom isn't there, the boys have a blast playing together and they get some non Trader Joe's food! Living in the same town as my parents was not an easy decision. However, knowing what I know now, it's probably the best thing we could of done for our children. Not only do we have fabulous close baby sitters but our children will have a great relationship with their grandparents and my siblings!

 

 After her shower

 

Gabriella's Baby Blessing

This past Sunday we were able to bless Gabriella in the church. This was Tyler's first time giving a blessing at church and he did a wonderful job. He was very nervous because he typically doesn't like speaking in public but he seemed very confident during the entire blessing. Gabriella was a little cranky at home and on the car ride to church so I was so nervous she would cry during the blessing but she didn't make a peep. She was such a perfect little angel. We invited all of our families and had a good turn out. Tyler's mom, step dad and grandma came to support him. My three aunts and 2 uncles came and 10 of my cousins. Along with my parents, grandma,  little brother and sister and my older sisters family.  It was so amazing to have so many family members who traveled far to come support us. It meant so much to us!!

I was hoping to get pictures of the men in the circle but unfortunately I didn't. We were lucky to have my Uncle Lindsey, Uncle Aaron, my cousin Aaron & Adam (Both of whom have recently returned from their mission), my dad, our friend Ted, my brother in law Thomas and our Bishop. It was such a great group of guys that all love our little Gabriella.

Afterwards, we had a delicious lunch at our house. The kids had a blast playing in our backyard and it was nice to socialize with the adults.

Family is SO important. And it meant so much to have our family there to witness such an amazing & important event in our daughter's life!

 Uncrustables for the kids(and men LOL), chicken salad sandwiches, caesar salad, fruit salad, veggies, and pita chips and hummus!

 Gabriella's happy and proud parents!

 Gabriella's cake. The top layer was chocolate cake with chocolate filling and cream cheese frosting. The bottom layer was white cake with strawberry filling and buttercream frosting

 4 Generations

 Her beautiful dress. The 1st of her 3 white dresses :)

Light pink flowers