Happy 1st Birthday
Parenting

Happy 1st Birthday

August 11, 2016 /

This weekend we celebrated our daughter’s first birthday. I’ve been saying for weeks that I can’t believe she’s one. How has a year past since my 60 hour induced labour, c-section, constant feeding and the fear of looking after a new-born. Looking back it’s been the quickest year of my life, the best year of my life, and also the hardest year of my life. So it was fantastic and truly well deserved to have a little celebration at the weekend.

Wimpole Hall Park and Farm

Friday was her birthday, and both my husband and I had taken the day off work to spend the day together. We decided that we would visit Wimpole Hall just outside Cambridge for the day, on the way to my parents house. Wimpole Hall sits within the Wimpole Hall Estate, which is a beautiful National Trust property. There’s a house, a farm, walks, and of course a cafe and restaurant. We went on such a beautiful sunny day, and started by having lunch outside in their restaurant. I seemed to purchase a lot on the menu, and it was a little tricky carrying it all back to our table.

Wimpole Hall Farm Pigs

After lunch we headed off for a walk, mainly to try to get our little one off to sleep, which was a losing battle, and instead decided to head to the farm. The farm is excellent. We happened to turn up at their pig feeding time which was slightly crazy. The pigs began to go wild at the smell of food, leaping up to the top of their cages, and making squeeling noises. Our little one seemed to be quite taken by the pigs, and was very happy to watch them running around.

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Not only are their pigs at Wimpole Hall Farm, there are cows, shire horses, goats, donkeys, rabbits, and miniature ponies. We enjoyed walking around in the sunshine, showing our daughter all the animals and making pretend animal noises.

The farm was too much excitement for our little one who promptly fell asleep in her buggy, allowing me and the hubby to go for a nice walk around the grounds of the house. It is beautiful and there is truly something for everyone at Wimpole Hall.

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We then made our way to my parent’s house, and we’re so happy to arrive after a sickness incident in the car. For those that have read my previous blog posts will know that our little one has a tendency to be sick on every car journey. Nightmare.

1st Birthday Presents

Later that day our daughter received her presents from Nana and Gramps. She is so lucky and got a lot of John Lewis clothes, a fake phone, and also money for a TP Toys Swing for our garden. She loved her fake phone, although I think I am going to have to pretend it is a real phone so she keeps using it.

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Party

On the Saturday my parent’s were hosting a BBQ to celebrate her birthday, and we had invited my husband’s family down to join in the fun. We are really grateful that they made the journey down from Cheshire, and booked themselves into a Cambridge hotel to help us celebrate.

Happy 1st Birthday

Before the party started we spent hours preparing food, decorating the house, sorting out the music, and putting our party pack from Party Bags and Supplies to good use. We ordered the Owl party kit, and I was very impressed with it. The party pack included a huge table cloth, 8 paper cups, napkins, and 8 party bags. The party bags were the best thing, containing sweets, a bracelet, a head band and a whistle. It was really exciting writing the recipients names on the bags. All the children received a party bag, and so did Nana and Granny too. There are so many fantastic Party kits at Party Bags and Supplies, that I would definitely use them again for a future birthday party.

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It wasn’t long before everyone started to arrive, and we kicked off the celebrations with Pink Champagne that I was given when I went on maternity leave from work. It was lovely to see my mother-in-law, father-in-law, my sister-in-law, her husband and 3 kids, and my brother-in-law, his wife and new baby in one place. They were all so generous and bought our daughter so many gifts. She received loads of clothes and toys. She loved her VTech Train, either that or the packaging was preferred, as she spent most of the afternoon climbing on and off the box. As well as this she received a toy lawnmower which is great for helping her learn to walk.

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My Dad cooked us a lovely BBQ, we had sausages, burgers and chicken, as well as lot of salad bits. There seemed to be a never ending supply of food, which we had to force our family to eat in the end. Once the food had settled down, the cake was brought out. We chose a gorgeous cake from Waitrose, and I must say it was delicious. Luckily there was enough left over for us to take back to London with us the next day.

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We had a lovely day in the sunshine with everyone, if anything it was slightly too hot. The girls enjoyed playing badminton, making dens and playing on the rope swing. I hope that we get the opportunity to have a similar party next year.

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Night Out

That evening once our little one had settled down for bed, we enjoyed a night out in Cambridge. Night out’s are few and far between for me and my husband, and it was nice to get a taxi into town, enjoy some drinks, have a kebab, and get a taxi back. My sister came out with us, and we had such a laugh and gossip! I was feeling slightly ropey the next day, but it was totally worth it.

Happy 1st Birthday

We all had a fantastic weekend, it was made extra special having all the family together, the weather, the food, and the champagne & beer. I have had a fantastic first year of being a Mummy, it’s been life changing and equally as fun. We are both looking forward to the next year and seeing our little one turn into a toddler, developing that little personality of hers.

Happy Birthday little one 🙂

Claire x

Notes
I was offered the Party Bags and Supplies Party Pack in exchange for a review.
All photos are my own.

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