Somewhere Over the Rainbow: Bella Turns 3

Birthdays are a big deal to me. And first birthdays are a really big deal. For Banks, Raleigh, and Harrison, we had big parties to celebrate their first year of life. There were smash cakes and thematic decor and people we love there alongside us as they each turned the big 0-1. 

But our Bella never had a first birthday party. Nor a second. It's not fair and it breaks my heart when I wonder if anyone even knew it was her birthday. I pray they did! I pray they snuggled her extra long and gave her something sweet and sang to her. But, I'll never know for certain. 

What I do know for certain is that she had never had a day of birthday celebration surrounded by people who love her as only a family can. So, my hub and I decided we would throw our baby girl a big third birthday. It was INCREDIBLY important to us to have the people there who have been Bella's (and our!) biggest cheerleaders and support system along the way. We wanted to include those who have stood alongside us from Day 1, and we wanted to not only celebrate our daughter but also the people in her life who truly love and support her (and us) through this incredibly amazing, but also hard, journey we are on. Although we were missing a few, we were thrilled to celebrate our birthday girl with nearly 100 guests. And so, so thankful. My gosh, we are so thankful for our precious 3-year-old!

After our girl "blew" out her candle, my hub said a few words to those in attendance, letting them know that this was not only a celebration of our birthday girl but of them, too, who have been such a big part of her life and ours from the very beginning. 

I wanted to speak, too - to say a few words of thankfulness. But I couldn't. I could feel the tears burning my eyes and knew that if I spoke a word, I would fall apart - into a pile of love and gratitude and joy and hallelujahs and thank yous. Here's what I would have said, if I could have gotten a word out without losing it: 

Thank you. Thank you for loving and supporting our daughter. Thank you for loving and supporting us. Thank you for your endless prayers for God's hands to protect and guide and support and build. Thank you for helping us bring her home. Thank you for being our village. We love you. And we love our precious daughter so, so much. Happy Birthday, Bella Elizabeth. <3

Whew. 

And now that the bash is over, I am so excited to share the party fun! As I have previously mentioned, my song for Bella is Somewhere Over The Rainbow; so, when it came time to choose a theme for her birthday bash, there was no question: it had to be all things rainbows...and while we're at it, all things unicorns! Because our girl is magical and so are unicorns and rainbows. :) Here, a look at the party details, the party guests, and the party fun:

The guest of honor. I found the dress and shoes months ago and was giddy to put them on my littlest girl...

I do believe she was looking and feeling festive come party day. :) 

The Invitation. No surprise here! I reached out to my sweet friend, Amy, of One Good Name, when it come time to create the invitation. I loved what she created and loved supporting her business! We were anticipating a pretty big turn-out; so we opted to have it at our neighborhood pavilion and to make it a drop-in. :) 

The Decor. Creating the decor is always one of my favorite parts of throwing a party! I love searching and scouring and brainstorming and creating and displaying the various bunting and banner backdrop, adding rainbow and unicorn touches wherever I could. :) 

The food table

The food and beverage tables

The food and beverage and activity and favor tables

Bunting is my favorite :) 

 It was so fun to create this unicorn banner for my little lady 

<3 <3

And this, too! <3

Unicorn pinatas turned table decor :)

I created a nearly identical tissue-paper-flower-B for Banks' 1st birthday so this brought back sweet memories 

Polka dot straws and gold glitter Mason jars make everything more magical ;) 

The Food/Drinks. We purposefully planned on having the party from 2-4 pm so that we could serve sweets, sweets, and more sweets! Some things I made myself and some things I cheated and store bought. ;) Details of all below: 

Y'all know I LOVE to bake. But I just didn't have time to bake 8 dozen cupcakes during such a crazy busy week. So, I cheated. I ordered 8 dozen pastel blue cupcakes from Harris Teeter....

...but I did create the cupcake toppers myself! Candy rainbows made from Airhead Rainbow Strips - cut shorter, arc-ed, and held in place with white buttercream icing clouds! Easy peasy!

I had also planned to make the "Party Popcorn" myself - I even bought unicorn-marshmallow Lucky Charms for it! But then I spotted this Tutti Frutti popcorn the week before Bella's party and was S.O.L.D. Saved myself the time and stress from doing it myself. :) 

I did make the "Unicorn Horns" myself, which were easy and yummy: Pretzel rods coated in melted white chocolate topped with more (dyed) white chocolate and edible gold sprinkle flecks. :) 

I also made the Rainbow Bark, again easy but tasty!

And it felt important to bake my own Doc Momma Bakes ;) cookies, since this was a major fundraiser we used to help bring our Bellaboo home <3

Close-up of the rainbows 

Close-up of the unicorns 

Close-up of the combo

And since we had record-setting heat (thank goodness for the shade of the Pavilion!), we added "Rainbow Pops" to the menu the day before!

Beverage station. There was iced Gatorades and waters to ensure everyone was well-hydrated. 

The Fun. I wanted to have multiple activities for the kiddos to do since we were expecting guests of all ages. I created three activity stations, and we also had two other activities (in addition to the nearby playground) for the little ones to enjoy:

I purposefully opted to use this vinyl rainbow table cover (Thanks, Target!) in lieu of a fabric one, knowing we could easily toss it, mess and all, in the trash when the party concluded

Make an edible "Uni-Horn" using ice cream cones, frosting, and sprinkles 

Build a "Rainbow Bracelet" using ribbon and Fruit Loops (Bella LOVED this and created two with her Nana)

Make a Unicorn mask by coloring, cutting out, and tying on the pre-printed designs

Pin the Horn on the Unicorn (thank you Target Dollar Spot!)

A bounce house, rented from A Bounceable Time (same company we used for Harrison's 1st Birthday. Highly recommend them, local friends!!!)

The Favors. We had two favors for our party guests to take home! 

First, each took home a magical ribbon wand - these were a big hit with the kiddos! (Also, that art behind the wands was a gift one of my sisters gave to Bella after she first arrived home from China. It hangs on the wall in her room, but we brought it out for the party) <3

Second, we had "Rainbow" seeds. I created all of the food and favor labels myself (not hard at all using Pic Monkey!), and for these "Seeds," I simply put some sour candies into cellophane bags, added the labels, and called it a day!

The Festivities. To be honest, I think I snapped maybe five party pics myself. I was too busy talking to our family and friends and trying to take in and memorize the scene before me. Luckily, I was able to get pictures from others who attended the party and happened to snap pics of their own! :) Here, a glimpse at the party in action. Bels was a little overwhelmed at first, not sure what to think of the celebration happening around her and for her. But as the party went on, this girl had more and more FUN! I think the highlight for her was going in the bounce house. She just laughed and laughed and LOVED it!!! 

And that's a wrap! We had a magical time celebrating our Bella Elizabeth and will be eternally grateful that we get to spend the rest of her birthdays with her. Happy 3rd Birthday, Bellaboo. You are so, so loved!