Darcy's 4th Birthday

Aloha Sprinklerinos,

It seems like 5 minutes ago I was sitting on my old cream sofas at about 8.30am in the morning, with a tiny newborn laying on a duckegg blue hand sewn pillow whilst I typed about my labour and delivery story to share on my blog. That post was written in 2 parts because in those days I never had more than quarter of an hour to myself and I was rushed off my feet learning the art of motherhood. 

I'm not sure I've yet mastered it but 4 years on, I feel relaxed and confident and very happy with how that newborn is turning out. 

Every year I try and get a picture of us all together at cake time. I love it. 

This weekend we celebrated her 4th birthday with family and friends and although you may have already seen this pictures on my instagram or twitter, I wanted to share them here too so that I can preserve the memories and also because you might not follow me there. 

The day started out slightly flustered because the house was a tip and I had no food in. The day before I'd gone out to do these errands but just after buying all the decor I felt really poorly and drove home to be near my own bathroom haha. Luckily it was just an afternoon situation and with a bit of rest I was fine again. 

So, Matt came over to take my shopping list and grab all the food items and I set to work on the house. I tidied and hoovered and dusted and decorated and after about 3 hours it was looking great. Very party ready! 

We had decided on a Frozen theme because it's one of Darcy's favourite films (along with Cinderella) and I thought I could do a decent job decorating and co-ordinating to that. I taped blue, silver and purple crepe strips to the windows, scattered frozen glitter sequins eveeerryyywhherree, bought in balloons, hung paper pom poms, layed out lilac and silver paper plates/napkins/cups and my Auntie Judith made cupcakes with silver sprinkles. It all worked out so well. 

By 4pm everyone was arriving, coats were being thrown on the spare room bed, cups of tea were being made and Darcy was jumping for joy every time someone new came to the door. We invited mostly just family but also a few of our close friends, our neighbours and a couple of children from Darcy's nursery (who I think she was MOST pleased to see and immediately took them up to her room to wreck it!). 

Although Matt and I separated last year, we enjoyed the day together. It's hard to explain because most couples who split up don't get along but we decided not to be a Husband and Wife team, we never opted out of being a parent team. We love that team a lot. There's only 2 people in the entire world who know the joy of being Darcy's parent so we gotta stick together on that one! Also, we want her to always remember her parents treating each other with respect and kindness so a party all together just made sense. It was really nice. 

We did all the usual party activities - opened presents, chitchatted, served nibbles, laughed as kids went cray cray hyper, lit candles, sang 'Happy Birthday' and thanked people as they left. It really was the perfect day. 

This one is pinched from Zoe's insta account because just look how beautiful that wrapping paper is. It's from Oliver Bonas. 

Darcy loved it. She loves to have special things in the house like balloons or sparkles or magic wands and kept telling me it was her birthday party and she was going to be 4 and picking out wands for all her friends.

On her actual birthday (2 days later) Matt and I took her to a lovely nature reserve that has a kids park, then to lunch at Frankie and Bennies and then to the cinema to see Cinderella. That night she stayed at Matt's place (she woke up with me) and to celebrate on my own, I ordered takeaway. 

I vlogged both the party and the actual day so keep your eyes peeled for both of those very soon! 

It is so wonderful to share highlights of life on my blog again. Long may it continue!!

Toodlepip!

xx