Our little wild thing turns ONE tomorrow so this past weekend, we celebrated his big day. When I first started thinking up birthday themes for our little guy, I had planned to do a vintage baseball themed party. I pictured a baseball cake, a concession stand table set up complete with game day foods, team jerseys for the family, and a roster line up for a guest list. All the ideas had came together and I was ready to start putting my plans into motion; that was until we got to see our little man's personality.
Around seven months old or so, Boston became a man on the move. He was into everything so the nickname "Wild One" began to stick with him. It wasn't long after we started calling him that that I happened to run across the book Where the Wild Things Are in my classroom library. It was then that I had that "lightbulb" moment and my brain switched gears. I loved the book Where the Wild Things Are growing up as a kid and I'm constantly kissing on my babies and quoting the line, "I could eat you up, I love you so". I realized then that I had been planning the wrong party for our little guy. So I switched gears and started looking for ideas for our little man's Wild Rumpus.
As luck would have it, there weren't many Where the Wild Things Are party items out there. I searched high and low with no luck. But as a party planner, I wasn't ready to throw in the towel just yet so I set out to create my own vision by making Boston's party printables myself to coordinate with how I wanted his party to look. I wanted Boston's party to be simple so I settled on doing a traditional black and white color scheme with pops of yellowish gold. Since the book takes place in the forest, I knew I wanted to incorporate natural elements without going too over the top so I stuck with some burlap and wooden pieces. In the end it all came together more perfectly than I had ever imagined.
In the past we've always hosted parties in the late afternoon and while it allows time for preparation, it also takes up people's entire day. So we opted to host Boston's party in the morning to allow people to come eat, enjoy the festivities, and then leave without having taken up most of their Saturday. Having hosted his party in the morning, we chose to serve breakfast foods and drinks. The menu consisted of country ham and sausage biscuits, breakfast casserole, fresh fruit, and hoop cheese. For beverages we served coffee, sweet tea, orange juice, milk, and had a variety of soft drinks for those who needed that extra boost of caffeine.
I debated back and forth with whether or not to serve cake at Boston's party. Part of me wanted to keep with the breakfast theme and serve a doughnut tower but it was a birthday party after all, so in the end I settled on cake. As the co-owner of Cupcakes and Confetti, it only made sense for me to make Boston's cake. In keeping with the theme, I made two semi-naked cakes (a cake where the cake pokes through the icing) and chose to keep the icing uneven. I thought it added just a hint of rustic to the party spread.
We kept the guest list pretty small for this party as well; which was completely different from the parties we've hosted in the past for Harper doodle. Both Kevin and I come from large families and we both have a large group of friends which means we are usually hosting parties with groups of 50 people or more. It's usually not a problem as Harper's birthday falls in May so guests can mingle in and outside of the house. Yet, with Boston's birthday taking place in February, we were unsure of how the weather might turn out. While our house is fairly large, we in no way have room to host 50 people inside so we opted to invite our immediate families only (parents, siblings, a few aunts and uncles, and a couple friends who are like family!). I felt bad about leaving some people out who typically get an invitation to the events at our house, but once the party started, I was so thankful we had decided to keep it small. We were able to mix and mingle without leaving anyone out and Boston wasn't overwhelmed by a bunch of people.
After everyone had time to eat and talk, we did Boston's cake smash. This boy loves to eat so it came as no surprise that he dug into his cake...literally.
After cleaning up our little man who was covered in cake, we attempted to open presents. I say attempted because at a year old, he doesn't really get the concept. All he cared about was taking out the tissue paper and eating it. Silly boy.
Since the presents inside were a no-go, we took the party outside to give Boston his cozy coupe. That however was a huge hit both among Boston and the other kiddos at the party (;
Before guests left, we had everyone sign and leave messages for Boston in a copy of the book Where the Wild Things Are; as well as grab a crown to take home.
All in all it was the perfect party for our little wild one and we couldn't be more thrilled with how it turned out!
Sources (affiliate links):
Wood Serving Platters: Gift (similar here)
Wood Crates: Michaels
Plates, Cups, Silverware, Tablecloth: Walmart
Balloons: Ebay (purchased here)
Cake toppers: Glambanners (custom order)
Birthday Shirt: The Shindiggity Shoppe (custom order)
Party Crowns: Amazon (here)
Book: Amazon (here)
With Boston's first birthday party taking place next Saturday, I thought I'd share some of the items on his "wishlist". You'll notice pretty quickly that there aren't many toys on his list. Having just celebrating Christmas, our little guy was blessed with SOOO many toys that we had to put many in storage to pull out as he tired of the ones in the house. That being the case, we hated the thought of people spending money on toys he just didn't need or wouldn't play with all that much. So in lieu of toys, we asked our friends and family to donate some things our little guy could actually use. I'm not sure how much he'll approve of this little list but his parents sure do appreciate it (;
Rash Guards + Swim Trunks: Kevin's aunt has a pool and we have all intentions of spending our summer there. That said, our little guy will need quite a few swimsuits and the Cat and Jack line at Target sure doesn't disappoint.
Pajamas: At the end of last season, I scored big on Boston's wardrobe for this summer. I was able to grab tons of shorts and shirts for $1-$2 each piece. However, I didn't get my hands on any pajamas at the end of the season and considering our little guy is busting out of his current ones, I'd say it's definitely something he could use. I'm currently loving all of the three piece options Carter's has to offer.
Camelbak Kids' Cups: Sippy cups are one of my biggest nightmares. They can't break easily; can't leak; and I like them to all be uniform so I know which pieces go with what. That being said, we decided to skip all of the stage sippy cups for our little guy and jump straight to the Camelbak and Contigo cups for kids. Harper has them and we LOVE them.
Baby Wipes, Diapers, Diaper Pail Refills: We can always use diapers, wipes, and genie refills! And it always makes me sad that no one thinks to give them after you actually have your baby. Any of you mamas feel the same way?
Police Car Cozy Coupe: It might be a toy, but his cozy coupe can be used outdoors. Harper got one for her first birthday and still uses it to this day. Since she has no intentions of sharing hers, and it happens to be pink, this police car themed cozy coupe is just perfect for our little man. And apparently some friends of ours think so too, because they've already purchased it :P
Target Gift Cards: We were blessed to have gotten a convertible car seat for Boston at one of our baby showers. However, we need another one for Kevin's car. Since we hate to ask for a car seat as a gift, gift cards work great to be combined to get our little guy a new seat. And if we get too many gift cards, we can definitely use them to purchase other items he'll be needing throughout the year.
Well that's his list in a nutshell. We in no way expect our guests to bring our little guy something when they come to his party but so many people ask what he needs so hopefully putting together this little list will help.
It's hard to believe our little man is approaching ONE! It seems like only yesterday we were anticipating his arrival and here we are eleven months later anticipating his first birthday party. And when I say, anticipating, I mean it. I am so, so excited and can not wait for the actual event to get here. As the co-owner of a party business, it should come as no surprise to you that I've been planning Boston's birthday party for the last four months. Our intentions were to have a vintage themed baseball party for our little man but as we got to know his personality and started nicknaming him, "The Wild One", it only made sense to throw our little guy a Where the Wild Things Are birthday party. As a teacher, it's one of my favorite books, and it couldn't be more fitting for our little guy.
As I prepared for his birthday party, I also started thinking about his first birthday photo shoot. In my mind I knew exactly what I wanted. I shared my vision with my cousin, who happens to be an amazing photographer, and a few weeks ago, we got to carry it out. The end result was everything I could have envisioned and so much more. Just look for yourself...
Yall, this little girl is THREE years old!
Say whaaaat?!
The fact that I am now a parent of a three year old simply blows my mind. It seems like only yesterday we were anxiously awaiting our first born's arrival. I can still remember the sheer joy of hearing her first cry; I remember the weight of her being laid on my chest; and I remember counting those ten precious fingers and toes and admiring her olive skin and head of dark hair. It was all just yesterday wasn't it? Yet I look back over my blog posts over the last few years and I see that that wrinkly little newborn has changed into a little lady all right in front of my eyes. Despite the fact that I miss those days of being able to hold and cuddle her in just one arm, I love the lady she's becoming and I can't wait to see what all God has in store for her life. Without a doubt, he's got big plans for our girl.
Over Mother's Day weekend, we celebrated Harper's birthday with a camping party. When discussing party options with her, she promptly told me she wanted a tent party. I had no idea what she meant until one afternoon we were watching Paw Patrol, her absolute favorite show, and an episode came up where Ryder and the gang headed out to camp. She excitedly started shouting, "A tent party mommy! A tent party!". So from then on, I started planning out Harper's camping party; despite that she repeatedly referred to it as her tent party. Silly girl.
Here's some pictures of her big day!
The Set Up
In the past we have hosted all of Harper's birthday parties outside on our porch but having since given our porch a major makeover, we decided to keep all of the food and gifts inside this year. I set up drinks and snacks in our dining room and we threw up a mini tent for Harper's gifts to be placed in.
The Food
We opted for snacks this year instead of doing a meal. Mainly for the fact that after the guests left the party, we hosted a cookout with our immediate families. In keeping with the theme, guests got to sip on frosty sodas and ice cold water; make their own trailmix; indulge in some dirt cake; or enjoy the delicious tent cupcakes or campfire cake.
The Fun
My original intention was to host Harper's party in the evening so we could have a bonfire and make smores but since many of our guests had other obligations in the evening we opted for an afternoon party instead. But that didn't stop me from tossing together a mini roasting station on our back porch using a galvanized bucket, sterno burners, and lava rock. It roasted marshmallows like a charm. In fact, we loved the set up so much, we're still using it on the weekends to make smores with friends (:
While guests roasted marshmallows on the porch, the kiddos took turns playing in the camping tent, on Harper's swing set (a gift from last year's birthday), or her new trampoline.
Guests ate on cupcakes throughout the party, but we waited towards the end of the party to cut the cake and sing Happy birthday.
The Gifts
Following the cake cutting, Harper dove into her presents... quite literally!
The Favors
Before everyone left, the kids got to grab a camping chair and a favor bag that contained child-size binoculars to take home.
All in all the party was a blast and at the end of the day, our little girl was happy and blessed!
