Friday, November 21, 2014

Little P, Big 3!


Baby, big. Mama, sad.

But enough with all the sap...How 'bout a party?



So....complaining about the pressure of throwing a kid's birthday party might be the 1st world-iest problem of them all...but maybe just indulge me for one minute. You know I love throwing parties. Like...LOVE it. And I adore birthdays...But the timing of Piper's birthday is a little bit tough. It's so close to Halloween that it's hard for me to do both things all-out (and all-out is pretty much the only way I want to do things). I grew up having the best birthday parties, so it's something that's hugely important to me. It doesn't have to be expensive, or overly fancy, but it does have to be special. I want to make my kids know that I love them, and that they're worth all the effort that it takes to throw a big bash. Buttttttttt....I also want to keep my sanity, so I try to keep things in perspective and rein in my tendency to care too much, try too hard and generally go all Courtney on things.

I genuinely didn't have a clue what I was going to do for Piper this year...down to a couple weeks before her birthday. I wanted a theme (duh), but I knew that I couldn't exactly dictate things as much as I had in previous years. (Three-year-olds....they think they're entitled to their own opinions or something.) But I also didn't want to throw in the towel so early in life, and resign myself to Dora the Explorer shindigs from here on out. (Daniel Tiger costumes are one thing...selling out to the princess aisle in the party store is quite another).

So I figured I'd pick a theme I liked, but one that I knew she'd still get into as well...even if she maybe wouldn't have thought of it herself. And this year's idea.....

P is 3!

I figured we could do all things that start with "P" and if something didn't fit...I'd just do 3 of them and call it good. Easy P-sie!

When I told Piper, she was pretty pumped (it's taking all of my energy not to make this post packed with profuse alliteration) but informed me quickly that PINK and PURPLE are not her favorite colors (despite what she's been claiming for months!). She got over that part though, and was excited to help pick out all the elements of her party. She's just barely grasping the concept of which words start with which letter, so we had a lot of quizzing about animals, foods, toys etc. that start with P. She would proudly guess Penguins! Pizza! Puzzles! and then... chips!...A WHALE! (a ghost!) Good try, sweetie. I was a little worried about letting her loose in the party, because I was positive she'd abandon the theme and we'd come home with Frozen plates and a Thomas the Tank Engine balloons. But she actually did really well. I helped her keep an eye out for P things, and she picked her favs. And while I'm not exactly a pink and purple fanatic (...understatment...) it turned out pretty perfect.



We debated on who to invite...my immediate family is already a crowd, and Piper doesn't exactly have a ton of friends at this stage, so we kept the list to just family plus our 3 sets of neighbors. You know...a exclusive group of 26 people.



We kept the food simple, choosing to order a bunch of pizzas, and then"P" themed snacks:
PB&J- her initials!- (Piper helped me make them open faced and then roll them up) popcorn, peppers & peapods, pesto pasta salad, potato chips & pretzels and- of course- punch! (recipe here) Oh, and some purple rock candy...because it was pretty.

I put out some "P's" I've collected over the years, and we were done!

But we all know the most important part of the p-day b-day spread is the cake! I had my heart set on making a 3 cake...and with a little help from Pinterest, I did it!

I had some leftover rounds pieces, so I made a little personal pedestal treat just for Piper.
And what is becoming a birthday tradition, I completely messed up the frosting, and compensated for it with a million sprinkles. I might just have to do it on purpose next year. (j/k. I'll do it because it's seriously the best I can do. I'm missing the frosting gene.)

I tried not to stress about it though...Piper thought it was "beautiful, mama", so I trusted her taste.

In fact- when my mom asked Piper what her favorite part of the party was...she said "the little cake mama made me". Stop it. I can't even.

She didn't even mind when it toppled over....4 layer, 6" wide, frosting encased cake wrecks will do that.

Surprise! More Pink and Purple!

This girl didn't care how it looked either...she just wanted more. (We actually found her at the end of the night sneak-eating a piece she had somehow squirreled away in the playroom. She kills me.)




We of course tried (in vain) to get a quick family picture before the festivities got too out of control. After all, it was a major milestone, and we were all in themed pink and purple outfits...
But- SURPRISE- my kids wanted none of it...so we got these gems:

P is for Priceless.

But despite all that fun...one of the things I was most excited about was this little ditty I spent 1.5 episodes of Parenthood making....

Guys. I'm Pretty Proud of this little pig.  You can go ahead and pin that.


And not-humble brag aside, the kids actually liked it too.
We might have had a little see-through issue with our pink blindfold strategy, because all the kids pretty much nailed it but that probably just made them like it more.



Ok...she was kinda close.

So...we pinked. We purpled. We pinned. We pizza'd. We piñata'd. (you'll have trust me on that last part. We piñata'd so hard I don't even have pictures).

We partied.

And Little P, turned the Big 3!




And I know I shared some of Piper's recent "Pip-Speaks" on her birthday, but I saved a birthday related quip that had me cracking up:

Mama: Your birthday is coming up..
Piper: Right now?
Mama: No, in a few weeks.
Piper: We have party hats?!
Mama: Sure, if you'd like. We'll have to talk about what you want for your party...
Piper: Party blowers. I like those. When it's your birthday, you can have party blowers.
{And I feel the need to clarify, that she didn't mean that when it was time for my birthday, I could have some party blowers...she meant it as a rule of life: When it is one's birthday, one gets party blowers.}

Happy 3, to our precious P. We think you're positively perfect.
 
P.s. More P-p-party fun from Pip's first birthday (including a "Pi Bar"  and a pretty rad photobooth.)
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3 comments :

  1. My favorite event of the entire year is my daughter's birthday (and this year, my son's, too!) Your pig reminded me of her second bday that was doughnuts and pjs (because pancakes aren't portable to play cafes!) I used the Laura numeroff dog/donut book for everyone to sign. I've started doing that each year and would love to add your cute game too! How did you make it? projector? This year we are doing Peppa Pig as a joint party for age 4 and age 1! I had to laugh at the family pics because out of ALL days and after all our hard work, it happens every year. I love that she loved your little cake. 3 year olds are a whole new world:) such a sweet day for her!

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  2. Nevermind, the instagram photo that shows your grid showed up when I reloaded the page:) that's hard work!

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    1. Yes- you're right, I just drew a grid to match up with a printed version of the pig. It actually turned out pretty good! (I think!) And like I said...only took an episode or two of Parenthood on netflix, so that was a win! :)

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