Somewhere Over the Rainbow Birthday Party(ies)

When I was pregnant with Mary my sister in law threw a lovely surprise brunch and gave me a cute set of newborn rainbow legwarmers. When Mary was born I decided I would take her monthly pictures in those (as well as two other monthly pictures I'll share later) and then she could have a rainbow themed first birthday!

A Rainbow Baby is the name given to a child born after a loss - the beauty and hope of a rainbow doesn't negate the storm that ensued and still lingers. And while I will always think of Finley as our rainbow baby in that sense, I also find the term fitting for any child born post loss.

Mary's actual birthday fell on a Tuesday. Her birthday brunch would take place the following weekend, but I wanted to do something special on her actual birthday as well, so I made a sprinkle funfetti cake and had two friends over as we celebrated our one year old. We got a most special Skype call from Miles and he was able to join us as we sang happy birthday and watched Mary devour her (small slice of) cake.

Then for her "party" I hosted a small "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" themed brunch. My mom came in to town as well as my Aunt and Uncle and several local friends. I ordered a rainbow decorated cake and cupcake from Whole Foods, and wouldn't ya know it - the Meatball had NO interest in her cupcake. Truth be told, I didn't think the cake was that great either. So maybe I should stick to boxed cake mixes from now on! A local friend made Mary's shirt and I ordered the little rainbow hair clip off ETSY.

I'm really pleased with how it all came together as I did far less planning and prep than I did for Finn's first birthday, but birthdays, especially first birthdays, are just so special, and I didn't want Mary's to feel any less significant. She already will have to compete with Christmas and the busyness of the holidays, so I'm especially grateful for all those who helped us celebrate her - both near and afar.

Ok, I think that was rainbow picture overload. So in closing, I'll leave you with these. It's a good things those balloons finally deflated or I would have kept taking pictures of her.

 

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