Samantha's 2nd, Very Hungry Caterpillar Birthday

Last year, we combined Kaitlyn and Samantha's party.  It made so much more sense at the time.  But, it also seemed unfair to make them share a theme each and every year.  So, this year I decided to let them have their own parties.  Since Samantha's birthday fell on a Friday and Kaitlyn's on a Saturday, I figured they could have them on their birthday "days."

At 2, Samantha has a short attention span.  It may be the last time I get a say in party themes, so I went with her favorite book as inspiration, "The Very Hungry Caterpillar."  It fits her perfectly.  Kaitlyn is having a Monster High (shocker) themed sleepover. 

Being that I'm closing in on 34 weeks pregnant, gigantic (in my opinion), and exhausted, I had to cut back the normal parties we do.  If we were to invite everyone we want, like we normally do, we have to have it outdoors.  Our house simply isn't big enough.  Last year, I was stressed leading up to the morning of the party because of the chance of rain.  Darn those November birthdays!  I really did not want to add anything to my stress level this year, so we decided to limit each party to 15 invitations, only what we could fit inside, mostly family, and for Kaitlyn's allow her to invite 5 additional girl friends to spend the night.  While we really wanted to invite all of our favorite people, we had to stick to family and the close friends we see on a regular basis.  Or build another room onto the house, which Dusty would not go for.

I started yesterday really confident that I could easily get everything done in time.  I was way ahead of schedule as I started the day, and the day started off well.

Of course, Kaitlyn was determined to try my patience, Samantha refused to take a nap, I misjudged how long it would take to pour brownie mix into cupcakes, and despite my best efforts and staying on my feet for 6+ hours prepping, I didn't quite finish everything I wanted to.  I didn't clean any additional chairs to bring in the house, I didn't get the coloring pages printed, I didn't change my clothes or do my hair and I didn't have everything out by my goal time of 5:45. Overall though, I think it went well.  While I didn't get nearly close to all the pictures I wanted, there was a ton of laughing, giggling, balloon fighting and a shy/happy/grumpy little girl to celebrate!  Next year, we may go back to same day and same time, different themes and hiring a photographer.  Only time will tell.

Now on to the pictures!

Samantha's invitation:

The main food table, off to the side, I had stuff for salad and sandwiches:

The awesome cake my sister made:

And one of the birthday girl with her cake:

I wish I would have gotten one of her blowing it out, this was the best I got, she's just too fast!

She's just too fast and anti-camera these days!