A little Nautical Birthday Party

Our sweet little daughter turned two on Sunday. We did have her birthday celebration on Saturday afternoon. It was a nice sunny day, but extremely hot. The whole week was hot actually. We worked long and hard days to get the house ready for the event.

We had the whole exterior of the house painted and the gutters replaced. {That is written about in the previous post.} Along with that, we had lots of yard work. We were laying down landscaping fabric and mulching just to make the grounds look nice. We have yet to really plant anything because we don't know what we want or where we want it. I did transplant some hostas that are doing very poorly. They look pretty limp and in shock. We will wait till fall to plant anything else and if those hostas survive, they will be getting a big trim! 

This year's birthday was low key. Maybe 20-22 of our closest family and friends. I also made sure the food was easy. I pre-ordered most of our food and it was already made when it got to the house. That made my life so much easier! Last year I must have grilled 50 hamburgers and I will never do that again! I spent the whole day cooking and cleaning and barely even got to see the birthday girl. This year's menu was simple. I ordered a nice large salad from Lou Malnati's, and also delicious beef sandwiches from Portillo's. My mom made a delicious baked Mostoccoli and friends brought other side dishes to make a great hearty lunch.

The reason for this year's theme was all based on the cutest little outfits that I found at Von Maur. Two sweet little nautical outfits with an anchor and a whale sealed the deal for me! I bought them and was sure as heck ready to use them! I even had their photos taken in them. Below is Isla's two year and Estelle's six-month photos.

They are just precious! The only problem with them was it was very hot outside & these outfits were definitely made for spring not summer. Oh well, she at least got to wear it for a little while. After that she got changed into a bathing suit and played in her new pool the rest of the afternoon. 

So it honestly wasn't that easy to find nautical decor for the house. I ended up making quite a bit of it on my own. The invitations were easy and I got them from Etsy. I just love that Etsy! Such cute stuff!!

I made her her own bunting as I usually do. The cupcakes match the colors: light pink and navy blue. Hobby Lobby was my go to place for most of the items, but I did find some great things at Michael's as well. 

Those fans were the biggest thorn in my side! They kept falling off the wall all day. By 3:00 I was so over them! 

Oh my goodness Isla was too funny this year! She wanted those cupcakes so bad! I had to stop her from pulling the whole cupcake tower down a few times.

Justin's cousin Sue is always in charge of fruit, because she makes the most adorable displays. This year she went with the nautical theme and made a little ship out of a watermelon! They're all very creative and I love to see what they bring each year!

The meal was great, but outside was so hot it was hard to enjoy it. Isla was playing around outside for a while and got so flushed that I even became concerned for her. She turned bright red and was super fatigued. That's when I stripped her out of her nautical outfit and just let her hang out in her diaper! She was so over heated and tired that she didn't even want a cupcake. I knew she wasn't feeling well if she didn't want a cupcake!!

Poor baby! 

We rushed through lunch and then opened presents right after. I knew she was getting tired and around this time it was close to 2:30 in the afternoon. She was in serious need of a nap. She actually enjoyed opening gifts this year. Mari did help, but I was so happy to see her interested in opening the presents. It makes me think of how fun Christmas will be this year!! After gifts, that tired little birthday girl went down for a nice nap.

The great thing about her nap was she woke up to all of her toys put together and blown up. We threw her in her suit and let her play the rest of the day in the pool. It was a great way to cool down and she absolutely loved it. Most of the family stayed until she woke back up. Friends trickled in and out and I think we ended up finishing  the party around 8 PM. It was a beautiful day and we were so blessed to spend it with her. Below are just some pictures of the rest of the day. 

Isla and Mari cooling off.

Grandma and sweet Estelle.

A couple of her cool gifts, I nice new water table and a bubble machine. 2 of her favorite things! 

The Lord has been so good to us. We are just so eternally grateful for this precious little person in our life. Justin and I are both honored to be her parents. She is the sweetest child with the biggest heart. She is my little nature/animal lover. She is my silly/dramatic little ham with the best facial expressions. She has the most beautiful soul I have ever encountered. We just love her so much and hope that when she reads this one day, she will understand how important she & her sister are to this little family. We love you Isla!