Birthday Bash Barnyard Style

When I started dreaming up everything I would want to do for Tillie's birthday party, The 1st was related to her favorite toy, Sophie the Giraffe, and involved a Parisian theme that would be sure to be over-the-top girlie. But then I decided to bring it in a little closer to the roots for Nate and I, and since we both grew up in rural WI we thought a barnyard theme would be quite appropriate.

 And if I learned anything growing up, it was that if you are going to throw a party, you better have some serious food to feed the guests. And so, food we had.

From a shortcake bar, to pulled pork sandwiches, fresh cheese curds and Spotted Cow from WI. We had 'horse feed' (Popcorn) and "chicken feed" (Cheerios) for the babies.

My Mom tested her culinary prowess with her first attempt ever at making cake pops. You see those gorgeous looking things in the picture above. Well if you thought THOSE were cute..check out what it looked like when you bit into one:

She outdid herself. Add it to the list of things she can put on her food truck. Anyway, back to the party.

While I firmly believe part of the 1st year birthday party is celebrating the fact that we, as parents, managed to keep this child alive and generally  meet the growth standards amidst sleep deprivation, uncertaintly, fears, tears, did I mention sleep deprivation?, I wanted to capture Matilda's year in some way.

So we strung up some clothesline  and hung out a few of Matilda's clothes from the teeny tiny to a recent favorite, along with pictures that captured her through-out the year. Then we asked all of our friends and family to fill out a birthday wish and clip it to the line, and we would gather them all up and put them in her baby book. 

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We had a station for all of Matilda's little friends to plant their own wildflowers to take home. There were a few future farmers in the group that had some good planting skills.          

                                                                      

And then it was CAKE time!!! Does this look like the face of a girl ready to have some delicious cake?

 Well, much to my friends chagrin, Tillie did have cake but it was less of the traditional cake with frosting type, but more of the home-made shortCAKE with berries kind. And she loved it. Whipped cream and all.

 And then....the cake pop came out. And Matilda got her first taste of massive amounts of sugar.

 It was an incredible weekend filled with family and friends. Many who came from very far away. Shout out to my Aunt and Uncle who flew from Florida to be here, my Cousin Meghan who flew from St. Louis and the whole Keaty crew who drove from Chicago. It wouldn't have been the same without any of you, and we are so grateful for everyone we have in our lives and Matilda's.