Current mood: blissful
Phew… we did it! We pulled off another successful birthday party for Mia! This time it was in San Diego with her San Diego family and friends. Before I get into all the festivities I just want to say…. NEVER AGAIN! will we be hosting two parties on back to back weekends again 300miles apart! Haha Talk about tiring and WORK! In fact we got home last night near midnight and didn’t get into bed till about 2! (Which is why I didn’t get a chance to post this blog last night). I was just too tired. But all in all, it was totally worth it. Both parties were great and everything worked out perfect. Ok onto the party!!!
As many of you know, Mia is teething so bad right now. She currently has 5 little chompers and although previously thought she only had two more coming in, this morning I checked and there is a 3rd! one on its way as well. No wonder she was so unruly yesterday. As Daddy, Grandma, and Grandpa Santos were all running around setting things up, getting the food, and preparing for the party, I was on Mia duty. We had slept at their house that night, so Mia didn’t go to bed at her usual 7pm bedtime, in fact she didn’t get into bed till well after 10:30! She also didn’t have a very restful night since it was so warm out and we had to make a quick room change in the middle of the night. So yesterday she was not happy! By mid-day about 2 hours before her party she decided to, no not blow up… but completely explode! She needed a nap BAD but with the new environment, noise, and warmth she was not able to sleep, and boy did she let us know she was ANGRY! She cried the hardiest I have heard her in a LONG time and screamed. I tried cuddling her, holding her, playing with her but she wanted to do nothing but blow up. It finally got so bad that I had to call her Daddy (who was out picking up her food and ice for the party). I desperately needed some advice on what to do with Mia. I was so scared she would be that way for her party and ruin everything. I didn’t know if I should chance it and just take her to the party without a nap and hope she would perk up, or let herself scream herself so much she would knock out in her play pen and force a nap on her. Daddy said to let her sleep because there was no telling what would happen at the party. So I laid her down kicking and screaming again and after a good 35-40 mins she FINALLY fell asleep… phew. She was out cold and finally I could catch my breath. The problem now was, we were already an hour behind schedule. I was supposed to go to the park and help set up with her Grandpa Santos and Mia while Grandma picked up the salad, got the balloons, and Daddy got the ice, food, and extra party supplies. Well that didn’t happen. Due to Mia’s much needed nap I decided to just let her sleep as long as she could and just do what we could when we could after she woke up.
About 1:30pm Mia finally woke up. (Her party was at 2pm) Thank goodness she was in a much better mood and was chipper again. I quickly made her a quick lunch and we all ran off to the park. Things seemed like they might work out, even with being so far behind schedule.. but then the guests started showing up! ACK! I was battling the wind trying to tape the table cloths on the tables but finally just accepted defeat and only put 1 table cloth on. (Her Daddy and Grandpa later was able to tackle the tables and get the clothes on them) Then her best friend Abby showed up with her Mama and Daddy (Mel and Dan). She looked so ADORABLE in her little polk-a-dot dress and hair clip! Both are Adrian’s co-workers but I met them myself while playing my favorite online video game (World of Warcraft). Mel and I became extra close once we both got pregnant around the same time. We helped each other so much through our pregnancies and early new Mama-hood. We still help out with venting, advice, and just story sharing all the time. It was nice to FINALLY meet them in person and FINALLY get to meet little Abby.
It was such a treat to see the girls together. Mia and Abby both seemed so interested in checking each other out and playing. I couldn’t get over how cute and cuddly Abby was and what a well behaved little girl. What a cutiepie! Anyways, soon after good friends Brad and Nischel showed up. Brad is also a co-worker and close friend of Adrian’s (they have known each other for a little over 9 years! He even went to our wedding) and I became friends with Brad about 4 years ago, again while we played WOW together online. It was great seeing them, in fact the last time we saw them was when I was 9 months pregnant with Mia! We got to catch up a bit and they finally got to meet Mia outside of the tummy. Then Jimmy and Jasmine showed up. Jimmy is also a co-worker of Adrian’s but he and I became better friends over… yes… WOW haha. I have known him for about 3 years and he helped me sooooooo much with the wedding. In fact he downloaded and burned the music for our wedding ceremony. (Speaking of wedding… I forgot to give him and Brad our gifts we got them from Maui YIKES its almost been 2 years… ah well haha) I was happy they also got to FINALLY meet little Mia. We had not seen them since I was also 9 month pregnant… so it was long over due to get together again. Overall, it was nice getting the “EDS” clan together again and catch up. I took the chance to play hostess and really chat and visit with them while poor Adrian was still running around getting stuff set up.
Then family started coming in, her Great Grandma, Eva some of her Grandma Santos’ cousins and kids. Then it died down a bit and we worried that no one else would show up… however, we forgot about “ Mexican time” and sure enough people started really showing up. Even Uncle Rudy (Adrian’s best-man) was able to make it! I had not seen him since our wedding and it was awesome to see him and the kids, Faith and Jordan again. Jordan was our ring bearer and now hes so big! I didn’t even recognize him at first. Then the Tia’s and Tio’s started coming in. Soon everyone from the Cardoso family was there. The turn out was huge!!!!! Mia got to see all her little cousins again, including Baby D who is getting so big now! Hes like a little man running around all stylish in his clothes and jewelry. What a sweetiepie! Her cousins Brianna and Natalia (who took a bad fall and scraped her whole arm up BAD) came and celebrated with Mia. Mia’s Tia Rebeca showed up with the homemade cupcake-cake for her, it was shaped like a 1. She made it especially for her. Her cousin Emily also came and didn’t waste any time before running off to the playground to play and make new friends with kids we didn’t even know haha. What a social butterfly she is. Cousin Robert and Cherilyn came with their little bun in the oven and we found out they are engaged! YAY! Cousins Oscar and Cynthia also made an appearance and they are both also a joy to chat with. Her Tio Ernie also was able to make it after get got off to work and of course all the Tia’s and Tio’s and other cousins too (the Cardoso’s , Lopez’s, Perez’s and Rivera’s (including little Adan who really liked riding on Mia’s little car and racing Baby D! haha) I just felt bad I was doing so much running around between people, taking care of Mia and getting the party rolling that I didn’t get to spend as much time as I wanted with everyone there. I just hope they all still had a good time, which I think they did.
The food was awesome! It was the first time we had La Bellas Pizza place cater for us. We had TONS of food. 3 trays of Manicotti (my personal favorite) Pizza, buffalo wings, fried chicken strips and lots more. Everyone loved the food and by the end of the party it was practically all gone!
The weather started off HOT!! HOT! HOT! But thank goodness we rented the large covered area (thank you Grandma and Grandpa Santos) and the breeze picked up so it wasn’t so bad at the party. Thank goodness! I was so scared of people frying and burning there like they did for her Oxnard party (I am still suffering from sunburns from then haha)
After everyone was stuffed on food it was Pinata time!!!!! Cousin Daniel manned the rope (he is quickly becoming a pro with that since he always seems to be stuck with that duty for every party… then again he is one of the tallest in the family haha) We took a few pictures with Mia in front of the Pinata and soon the beating began. First up was of course the birthday girl! She gave it a few good whacks with the help of Daddy but soon lost interest and also started crying! Baby Abby even got her whacks in and it was totally cute to watch her. Baby D got in there and took out any rage he might have had built up… either that or he pictured his Daddy as the piñata! Haha Either way he really went at it, and I was scared to take the stick from him. Luckily his Mama Summer was able to wrestle the stick away from him. I wasn’t about to get whacked by it! Haha Adan also went nuts over hitting the piñata, I am not sure if it’s a boy thing but MAN the boys were rough! Natalia also hit it and while nursing her tore up arm she still managed to get her licks in. Cousin Brianna, always a cutiepie, went up there and hit it but after a few good hits gave up the stick. A few more little kiddies had their turn before we decided to stop and assess the damage. That darn piñata didn’t even show signs of weakness and we ran out of kids to hit it!!! What are Pinata’s made out of these days, they always refuse to break! So we had to call in the big guns for help. First up was Anaka’s boy, he bashed the thing up good and really weakened it, however, it took big cousin Geni to step up and finally deliver the killing blow…. POW! All the candy broke free and a mob of little grabby hands rushed into the hail of candy. It was fun to watch. Mia even came away with her prizes, two lollipops. Her little friend Abby made off with some loot as well and wasted no time in tearing into a lollipop herself. Speaking of Abby again, I got the cutest pictures of her and Mia together. Abby is so lovable and cuddly that she insisted on giving little Mia a bunch of hugs. It was the cutest thing I ever seen. Though little Miss Mia aka Anti-cuddler didn’t know what to do, I still thought it was cute that Abby was giving her little bear hugs. I will have to post those pictures for sure!
After everyone settled down with their candy it was time to move on. That is when Adrian came to me and said “I think I lost my wedding ring!” “WHAT?!?!!” Oh no!!!!! I quickly went into panic mode and started searching along with a few others. All I could think was how special and important that little piece of jewelry is and how its gone forever. I was seriously bummed but managed to pull it together for Mia’s party. Thank goodness it was later found at her Grandparents house…. YAY!
It was then cake time! Everyone gathered around little Mia as she sat on Dada’s lap. We all sang happy birthday to her and this time had a lit candle to try to blow out. After that she got her very own strawberry cupcake to dig into. I didn’t think she would like it much since she didn’t care for her other birthday cake but once she got through the icing (she didn’t like the sweet taste) she dove into the cake. Daddy didn’t even help her and she managed to almost eat the entire cupcake before I had to be the mean Mama and take it away. She had cake all over and it was really cute… classic baby cake picture moment. I cleaned her up as best as I could then it was present time.
She made out like a bandit! The presents piled up like a huge mountain of gifts and tissue paper! Her Cousin Carina helped write down what everyone got so we can keep everything straight for her “thank you cards”. She got TONS of cute summer clothes and toys and books. However, I know hands down what her favorite present of all was. It was from her “Uncle” Brad and “Aunt” Nischel which was not 1 but 2 fuzzy blankets. If you know Mia you know what those little blankets mean to her. She always has to have this special type of blanket with her, ALWAYS. She carries they everywhere like Liuns from the Peanuts, and cuddles with them and can’t sleep without one. (Refer to her Disneyland trip blog to an example of how disasterous a road trip can be without her blankey) All the presents though were very special and I can’t wait to do a fashion show with her here at home and take pictures of her stylin’ in all her cute little outfits and hats! Oh and new pair of sunglasses too!
Things finally began to wind down after present time was over, some people left while others hung and out visited. The birthday girl also started showing signs of slowing down (I think the sugar from the cake was wearing off at a rapid speed haha), and she made herself comfy on Uncle Robert’s arms. Soon she knocked out right in his arms which shocked her Daddy and I. Once again, Mia did the unthinkable and actually cuddled with someone until she fell asleep. She is not a cuddler so this was huge! I took the opportunity to capture some pictures of this rare moment with the camera. She was so knocked out that when I finally gave Robert a much needed arm break, and took over Mia she didn’t even move. I was actually able to hold her sleeping! That was the biggest treat out of ALL the parties. I haven’t been able to hold her while sleeping in literally 4-5 months! I took advantage of this bonding time and it really made me happy.
Soon the party finally came to an end, and after cleaning up for a bit Adrian, Mia and I went off to Grandma and Grandpa house once again to get our stuff and to load up the car with all of Mia’s loot. We hung out there for a bit and fed Mia some dinner and off to home we went. Phew what a day! Once we got home and got in the house the heat just hit us (we don’t have the AC on while we are gone so the house was heating up for two days) We walked in alittle after 11 and I ran upstairs to get Mia ready for bed and to check the thermostat. It read 93 degrees!!!! ACK! I quickly turned on the AC too cool it down for Mia so she could go to bed. Once I got her all situated and in bed I finally got to visit alittle with Adrian and we reflected on her birthday…. Wow we did it! We pulled off both parties and everything worked out great. I went to bed soon after and woke up bright an early with Mia to start another new day.
Overall her birthday was a blast. I want to thank ALL the family and friends who came and helped celebrate her very special moment in her young little life. I especially want to thank her Grandpa and Grandma Pizano for ALL their effort and help, without them we couldn’t have had such an successful party in Oxnard, and a extra special thank you for her Grandpa Pizano who helped set up all the chairs, tables, and canope, not to mention renting them all, buying and picking up the food and just everything he did for us, her Nina and Nino for always lending that special hand, last min. running around, advice giving, and support for us, and not to mention her first birthday cake which was so cute and yummy!, her Grandma and Grandpa Santos who also ran around with us making sure we had all the things we needed which included name brand candy that everyone LOVED, the food, reserving and renting the park site, cleaning it all up to make sure it was perfect for her party and much much more, and her Tia Rebeca and cousins for helping with loaning all the food warmers, advice, and for making her very special cake. Thank you for everyone for everything…. Her 1st birthday is a truly special and landmark day and I am so pleased and so happy everything went as smoothe as it did.
Happy Birthday my little Butterfly Princess Mia, we ALL love you….
