G had an absolutely wonderful first year of life...in my humble opinion. He got to celebrate his first family wedding at just two weeks old; welcomed a new cousin just a month after arriving into the world; hit up a football game at Kinnick Stadium in Iowa City last fall; went on vacations to La Crosse, WI; Minneapolis, MN; St. Thomas & St. John, USVI; San Juan, Puerto Rico; Des Moines, Disneyworld, and Anna Maria Island, Florida; enjoyed too many walks and bike rides to count; and somehow managed to stay alive despite all of his big brothers scheming to get him alone and tackle him. A year to celebrate indeed! In honor of the day, I choose a party theme of Woodland ONEderland. Was this really a 'boy' specific theme? No. Was is something mom enjoyed decorating for? Yes. Did it fit our adventurous little one year old? Absolutely. G is notorious for eating all sorts of sticks, grass, leaves, sand, dirt and rocks, so a Woodland ONEderland was maybe the perfect theme for our little explorer!
To avoid completely missing the boys afternoon nap times or having the party run into bed time, I opted to have G's party right away in the morning. The boys LOVE breakfast food, and a celebration to start the day was the perfect decision. I kept the menu relatively simple with bagels & cream cheese, oatmeal bake, mini donuts, fruit, yogurt & granola, coffee and a mimosa bar for the adults, and of course...CAKE.
One of my favorite DIYs of G's party was this frame holding all of the milestone photos of G's first year. I used an old frame found by mama J at Goodwill, deconstructed it, attached some twine and mini-clothespins found at Hobby Lobby, then clipped a picture of G from every month of his first year of life. So much fun!
G loved being the center of attention and having ALL of his relatives here to celebrate his special day, and was completely in his element. His favorite gift may have been a cellophane balloon on a stick that Aunt H attached to his gift bag, as he sat and played with it completely entranced for a long time before being convinced to open any of his gifts. Another HUGE highlight was this truck which he immediately took to, and had the BIGGEST smile of pure joy I think we've seen!
The cake smash was quite literally a 'smashing' success, and the definite highlight of the day. G immediately dove right in, making just about the biggest mess that our kitchen floor has ever seen, and loved every. single. minute. of it. He did in fact eat probably about half of the cake once he realized it was something edible, and not just something to smash, and it was quite a delight to watch him shovel it in about as fast as he could probably thinking 'this is really good, I better eat as much as I can before mom takes it away!'. G had so much fun at his celebration, and we couldn't have asked for a better day to celebrate our little man's first birthday!
Party Sources
Moss Runner // Milk Bottles // Serving Pieces // Birch Straws // Cakes & Cake Toppers (bear, buck, coyote, squirrel, doe & fawn) // Plates // Burlap Chargers // Wood Slab Centerpiece // Little Explorer art // Mason Jars // Invites // Happy Birthday & One Banners // cake smash backdrop made by yours truly // Flowers // Cakes
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for visiting! Let me know if you have any suggestions of recipes I should try, fun ideas to do with the kiddo, or a suggested adventure to add to our bucket list!