I’ve been excited about having a summer birthday to celebrate ever since I got pregnant with Jocelyn. So even though I was a bit overwhelmed at the idea of throwing a party together during a busy summer of work, piano painting and the living room make over, I knew an ice cream party would be a nice laid back way to celebrate on a hot summer day.

The party started out small, with me intimidated by hosting in our small house and keeping kids happy without a big bounce house and a ton of games. However, next year I’m not going to worry about that. The kids all had a great time and I was reminded how it’s the simple things in life, like ice cream sundaes, slip n slides and even a simple game of pin the cherry on the ice cream cone that can be a ton of fun. It was a beautiful day and I’m excited to share that with even more people next year. (Yep John, MORE people next year!) One of the most unexpected joys of the day was as we were getting ready in the morning, the neighbor kids came over to help us decorate and Miles was so excited to see everybody bustling about getting ready.

I put together this slideshow of the day and between the photos that just kill me with cuteness and the emotional music, my heart is feeling so full this morning. We feel so thankful this precious girl is in our life. Watching her grow alongside Miles brings me more joy than I could ever explain.

A few snaps from the day in case, God forbid, you aren’t a slideshow watcher:

Miles amongst the sundae bar.

I made an ABC book with blank pages and a letter on each page for guests to draw something for each letter. Miles chose J. Look at that little cute face!

Thanks for letting me share this special day with us!

PS You can see glimpses of my living room make over in the slideshow. I’m still waiting on sponsor approval to post the official make over photos. I hope you like what bits you do see. We LOVE the big change from red to grey.