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A Simple Party for our Madeleine Bean



I can't believe that I have been doing this for five years already: throwing a themed party annually for our little love. And this year's challenge for me is doing it while pregnant! This pregnancy is really taking a lot out of me. I feel exhausted all the time, literally. I have been pinning a lot of party inspirations over on Pinterest but ended up procrastinating anyway. Also, we only invited a few people because I really find it difficult to be hosting this time around.

I tried too keep it as simple as possible with a menu that was easy to prepare. Thank God for my mom and yaya Baby who helped me so much with the preparations and with cooking some of the food.

This year Bean requested for a Shopkins/ My Little Pony birthday party, and I have scoured the internet for all the free printable I could find. Good thing there were a lot! And I made a lot of paper decorations based on the color scheme of MLP and Shopkins.

Another thing that was a challenge for me was baking a cake. I do bake cupcakes every time Bean celebrates her birthday and order a custom cake based on the theme...but upon inquiry the price increase was just not within our budget. So I told Adam that I'll be the one baking the cake. I have never baked a cake before and was hesitant because I didn't want to disappoint our daughter (who kept on looking through the internet for her "perfect cake.") I was so relived to find out that people actually liked the cake! And our daughter absolutely loved it, which was more important to me.

All we wanted was for her to enjoy her day and to spend it with our family and friends. I am sharing a few photos of the party which I hope would help others realize that you can still have a blast and a great party even when you're on a  budget!


My first cake ever: funfetti cake with strawberry cream cheese frosting.

Shopkins-inspired loot bags.

Paper stars....



Surprisingly, the marshmallows and popcorn were a hit with the adults!


I can't believe she's 5 and such a lady.

When your cousin is your best friend!

....annual cupcakes.....

Miss Taylor Lane

with tita Summer.


...feeling like a whale but I wanted a picture with her.


....my everything....


with lola

a selfie with mamamita....

three generations....




...not really praising myself, but this cake was YUM!

Turning Five!


Wow! Time certainly passed by so fast that it seems only yesterday that I've written my last post. It also feels as if  I've just posted about Bean's fourth and now I am writing about her fifth! Her fifth year on this beautiful earth.

I know most mothers can't help but gush about and sing praises about their little ones, and so for me it is something I constantly do. And I really do feel the luckiest being miss Bean's mama. Ever since she could talk I have always made her promise not to grow up too fast and yet here we are. Just last year she was still so dependent on me and I find it surprising and such a blessing that lately our roles have been reversed! Ever since getting pregnant early this year I haven't been myself-- always plagued with nausea and vomiting; headaches and body aches. Normally, it would be me making sure our little girl is feeling okay, if she is well rested, fed, cleaned and okay but now she is the one always asking me how I feel or if I want to rest or take a nap. She'd help me by doing her schoolwork diligently, reminds me of things I forget, fetches things out of my reach (because everything I drop appears to be non-existent these days due to my big pregnant belly.)


We've been reading books ever since and this year I started teaching her how to read and write. And I feel like I've won the lottery because she's already caught up so fast! Bean will patiently finish a book by herself no matter how long it takes her. We'd often find her on a corner sounding of words and trying to write it on her own--thus, the many notes I've collected from her saying: I LUV YOU MOM, THANK YOU or BEAN LOVES MOM AND DAD. Most afternoons we find her drawing, coloring or painting which makes me super happy because it strikes a good balance with play time.

She's all that and more only having turned five!

All we wish for is that she be happy and content with her life and to find her passion. We want her to value experiences more than material things and to brave the world and find her adventures.

We are so proud to be her parents, and we also look forward to Bean's new role of being a big sister soon.

HAPPIEST OF BIRTHDAYS TO MY BEST FRIEND AND MY LOVE.

Mama and Dad love you so very much!


Last weekend we celebrated her birthday in advance and I will share about her mini party on my next post, hopefully soon!