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Every day with my little one is a new experience, and a reminder of how sweet and simple life really is. Even with yukky diapers.
Wednesday, August 13, 2003
First B-Day Planning!
It's hard to believe, but Cassidy's first birthday is just around the corner. I've been wracking my brain to come up with something cool and unique for her party. I want to keep it small (an area Eric and I differ on..) with close friends and family only. I really feel like the focus should be on Cassidy as much as possible. I realize that sounds like an obvious statement considering it is her birthday, but so many times these parties end up just being for the adults. And granted, she is only a year old, so it's not like she can ride a pony or have a swim party. But I did want all of the guests to really think about what they would wish for her in the coming years. I decided to use a tradition from a Native American Blessing Way. The Blessing Way is designed for pregnant women, and it's like a spiritual baby shower. I would have loved to have had one, but I just don't have any friends here who would even know what to do, which means I would have to host it myself. I certainly can't ask my family to do anything too weird, but I still wanted to infuse at least a little spirituality to the occasion. So I've asked everyone to bring a special bead that they feel symbolically either represents a quality Cassidy has, or wish for her now and in the future. I gave many examples to help out. For example, you could choose a sparkly bead to reflect her spunky personality. Or a butterfly to symbolize her ability to metamorphasize into a beautiful creature as she grows. (i'm probably going to get a butterfly bead! ha!). You could choose a green bead to symbolize abundance. Or a Chinese Luck symbol. They all work. I did however request that the beads have holes in them big enough to fit through a peice of yarn, so that I can string them all together and make a necklace for Cassidy for when she's older. Little kids love to dress up, and she might want to wear it around. Or she may not. Who knows! My idea is also to provide little plastic bags to put a slip of paper in with why you chose your bead, and what it symbolizes, and then I'll place the beads with their descriptions in a "wishing well." (that will most likely be a barrel with flowers around it or something...) I haven't worked out all the details yet, but these are my preliminary ideas. I'm also going to make a head wreath for her, and maybe she'll wear it, maybe not, but I thought that would be sweet too. I'm tempted to make one for myself, but I have to keep the focus on her. She's the special one! I'd like to use baby roses, and then I can dry the wreath and save that too. Eric's going to get tired of me saving all this stuff! The good news is, I can take digital pictures of the beads, and paste the descriptions next to them in her scrapbook. I bet she'd enjoy looking at those pictures some day! It'll at least be a fun memory!
So those are my creative ideas. Who knows, maybe I'll have an arts and crafts project for everyone to participate in too. That's always fun! Hopefully it'll be sunny......I'll keep you posted!
It's hard to believe, but Cassidy's first birthday is just around the corner. I've been wracking my brain to come up with something cool and unique for her party. I want to keep it small (an area Eric and I differ on..) with close friends and family only. I really feel like the focus should be on Cassidy as much as possible. I realize that sounds like an obvious statement considering it is her birthday, but so many times these parties end up just being for the adults. And granted, she is only a year old, so it's not like she can ride a pony or have a swim party. But I did want all of the guests to really think about what they would wish for her in the coming years. I decided to use a tradition from a Native American Blessing Way. The Blessing Way is designed for pregnant women, and it's like a spiritual baby shower. I would have loved to have had one, but I just don't have any friends here who would even know what to do, which means I would have to host it myself. I certainly can't ask my family to do anything too weird, but I still wanted to infuse at least a little spirituality to the occasion. So I've asked everyone to bring a special bead that they feel symbolically either represents a quality Cassidy has, or wish for her now and in the future. I gave many examples to help out. For example, you could choose a sparkly bead to reflect her spunky personality. Or a butterfly to symbolize her ability to metamorphasize into a beautiful creature as she grows. (i'm probably going to get a butterfly bead! ha!). You could choose a green bead to symbolize abundance. Or a Chinese Luck symbol. They all work. I did however request that the beads have holes in them big enough to fit through a peice of yarn, so that I can string them all together and make a necklace for Cassidy for when she's older. Little kids love to dress up, and she might want to wear it around. Or she may not. Who knows! My idea is also to provide little plastic bags to put a slip of paper in with why you chose your bead, and what it symbolizes, and then I'll place the beads with their descriptions in a "wishing well." (that will most likely be a barrel with flowers around it or something...) I haven't worked out all the details yet, but these are my preliminary ideas. I'm also going to make a head wreath for her, and maybe she'll wear it, maybe not, but I thought that would be sweet too. I'm tempted to make one for myself, but I have to keep the focus on her. She's the special one! I'd like to use baby roses, and then I can dry the wreath and save that too. Eric's going to get tired of me saving all this stuff! The good news is, I can take digital pictures of the beads, and paste the descriptions next to them in her scrapbook. I bet she'd enjoy looking at those pictures some day! It'll at least be a fun memory!
So those are my creative ideas. Who knows, maybe I'll have an arts and crafts project for everyone to participate in too. That's always fun! Hopefully it'll be sunny......I'll keep you posted!
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