Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Any party planners out there?

So here I am, asking for advice... again. What can I say, everyone has given me some pretty good advice so far!

Elise's second birthday is coming up and it just so happens that it's also two days away from her dx anniversary. We're going to be out of town on her actual birthday and dx anniversary, but we're trying to plan something for when we get home.

Because we're in Texas (so very, very hot), an outdoor party can be a little dicey (Elise's birthday is September 4th), but our house is just too small to host a bunch of kids and their parents. Plus, I don't need the stress of cleaning a house only to clean it again a few hours later! So we're planning on renting a little gazebo at a neighbourhood park where there is a playground and some dolphin statues that spray water.

Food is obviously going to be a big deal, because I'm not going to have stuff that other kids like, but Elise really shouldn't be eating (and by that I mean because of the insulin/carb regimen she's on, certain things just don't fit into her meal plan). So I'm thinking we should grill hamburgers and hotdogs, have some veggies and a fruit plate.

My main question centers around the birthday cake. Should I order one for Elise to blow the candles out on and serve to the rest of the guests, and then have a special one made just for her to eat? To me, that seems to be the best situation. Elise has never really had sweets like that, and I'm worried that it will be too much for her little body.

What have you guys done for birthday parties for the wee ones? Does anyone have a great birthday cake recipe that is D-friendly, but doesn't contain splenda or any other artificial sweeteners? I'm looking for something that's somewhat healthy and natural. Any other food ideas? Party tips?

Last year we had a small party for her, that consisted of the kids of the couples from our small group. We got the phone call from Elise's pedi in the middle of the party, telling us Elise had diabetes and that we needed to take her to the hospital ASAP.

So this year we're going to do it right, and I'd love any advice you have to give!

9 comments:

  1. You could make a cake just for Elise, I wouldn't think thats unusual at the age of 2....OR you could use whipped cream as the frosting :) YUM! Very low carb, add a couple sprinkles or a tad of food coloring? Better yet, color the whip cream with the juice from berries?

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  2. Sorry no good advice, but I was wondering the same thing about the cake, Alivia's birthday is the 8th of september.

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  3. A cake just for Elise would be completely appropriate! I wish I had some D-friendly cake recipes- but I don't! The whipped cream frosting is a great idea! We give whipped cream to Jada in place of ice cream sometimes when her blood sugar is too high. The party food sounds great-- most parents appreciate healthy food at a party!

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  4. We've only done seperate cakes for the girls 1st birthdays but since her last bday was such an unpleasent experience for you all, then giving her a cake to herself is definately appropriate :)

    What about making her a small one using muffin mix and then topping it with whipped cream and 2 candles? Kaceys blood sugars dont spike as bad with low carb muffins like they do with cake. -OR- You could do a character cake and just give her a small piece of it. This past year was Kacey's first birthday with diabetes and we didn't go through the trouble to make a different cake because on that special day she was allowed to have it :) She didn't have a big piece because she's not a huge sweets eater anymore. If Elise doesn't eat many sweets then giving her a cake of her own would be a waste of money too. So making her a cake out of something she likes would be fun. How about taking a pie pan and filling it with the colored cool whip that Kelly mentioned...then she could play in the cool whip...you wont have to worry about the huge carb intake...and it makes it fun for her too! Also keep in mind, the excitement is going to make her run high anyway.

    As far as the meal plan....hamburgers and hot dogs sound like a great idea. Along with the fruit tray, you could do a veggie tray and cheese tray w/ crackers. If you don't feel like cooking then you could always go with a meat tray (ham, turkey, etc) and make sandwhiches and have some chips and then pretzels mixed with goldfish.

    Hope you get some more great ideas! :)

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  5. You have such good mom friends, don't you? :)
    Hang in there. Bdays are always hard. Not that everything else isn't, I know. I think for my siblings they would have the same cake as everyone but no icing (or very little) on it. But then, of course, they reached the age where they were the ones making the call more than my mom, and I think they'd probably do what they wanted. My brother you can always say things to and I give a harder time; my sister is a little more sensitive. Me: Uh, Joe, do you really think you should be having all that icing? Him: Shut up, Maria. Me: Okay." :) Just enjoy the day as much as you can!!!

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  6. I like Jill's idea of the muffin with whipped cream!

    MMMMMMMM....that sounds fantastic!!!!

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  7. For their first couple birthdays we used coolwhip. (I think that has a lot of artificial stuff in it though,) but it has like no carbs. Whip cream is the best choice. You could make like a small 6 inch single layer, cut it in half and fill it with the whip cream, (and maybe strawberries or raspberries.) That will make it look bigger and the cake part will be minimal.

    Anything that you decide, I'm sure will work out brilliantly for Elise. She is going to be so caught up in the day she'll probably end up just taking a couple bites anyway!

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  8. I made mini cupcakes for Addison's 2nd birthday. I used a mini muffin baking tin and the size was perfect for Addison to have a treat but not worry about him overdoing it. The recipe I have is from a Vegan (don't cringe yet!) Cupcake book. I will look it up and send you the recipe! It uses agave syrup for sweetener. Everyone loved them and no one seemed to notice they had no dairy and no refined sugars!! I did not use any frosting but whipped cream sounds like a good idea...

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  9. We have had many, many birthdays and many, many cakes since Cara's diagnoses (that is what happens when you have 6 kids)lol We always just take most of the icing off of the cake. The icing is where all the carbs are and she likes it better like that anyways. She is not a sugar lover....Thank God!
    I did make cupcakes for Kylie's birthday and that was great because you can make it just the right size and with just the right amount of icing or whip cream frosting. I placed all the cupcakes closely together and it even looked like a cake :P it was really cute!!

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