Elise's 6 Month Party

So I realize that I already posted a blog about Elise reaching the 6 month milestone. I'm sure it seems extravagant that we decided to throw a party for her so soon.

BUT as I've also blogged about it before, you know that my husband is getting close to his 6 month deployment. This means he will be gone for our daughter's first birthday party in January. This makes us both really sad. More than we'd both care to admit, I'm sure.

So, we decided to go ahead and make a big deal out of her 6 month birthday. It happened to fall on Independence Day and we were planning to be at the lake with family anyway. I just figured we would do fun finger foods, and spend time with our parents and take pictures. But it ended up being even more special. We even had extended family there from OKC and Florida. I was so incredibly touched that they brought presents for Elise.

This party turned out to mean much more to us than we ever expected it to. Having everyone there to watch us help her open gifts, eat her first cupcake, and play with family members was wonderful. We created enough memories to hopefully get us all through Elise's first year party, which I'm sure will be bittersweet for both my husband and me.

At her party, I had some Pinterest sweets made, we grilled burgers, had one amazing fruit salad, and some of us even got to spend some time at the lake.

Words cannot begin to describe the almost palpable feeling of love and support we felt that day from our families. It's so comforting to know that Elise has so many people that are willing to reach out and love on her. I also needed to be reminded that our families are there to support me as well. Not that I ever thought otherwise, but sometimes the idea of doing this parenting thing alone for 6 months can feel daunting. I sometimes crave the feeling that I'm not alone and I'll have support if/when I need it. Whether its a sitter so I can get out and breathe for a bit, or even just a long phone call from a loving support person. Those are invaluable to a deployed spouse. Especially one with a baby!

Here's some photos we took from the party! Pardon the quality, our SLR camera actually died mid party :( so we had to use the phones and ipads instead!