Cooper’s First Birthday Party

 

*I apologize if this gets super long.  I had 399 pictures I could  have posted, so I tried to narrow it down and make collages so it was less stuff!*

Last weekend, we had Cooper’s birthday party.  We had made the decision a while ago to just have it at my parents’ house, since we weren’t sure what the situation would be with ours, since it was on the market.

I’m just going to go ahead and say that I will probably never plan a party at someone else’s house, it was just too stressful to get everything done.  Especially since we had to leave our house spotless also, as we were having an open house the same day.  Haha :)

But, thanks to TONS of help from a couple of wonderful friends, as well as my parents, it turned out perfectly!  But, it was HOT out!  Somewhere in the mid 90’s I believe.  Hot enough that next year, I think we’ll do it indoors!  Luckily my parents have a wonderful, big covered patio, and my dad had just installed a misting system, so it was bearable (albeit barely :) )

I have to admit, I’ve had the “theme” for his birthday since before he was born.  About 2 years ago, we had a fundraiser at work, and the theme was Dr. Seuss, and it was ADORABLE.  I was on the planning committee, and it was just so fun and whimsical to plan that one day during my pregnancy, I just thought, I’m going to do Dr. Seuss!

Once I started planning, though, it turned into more of a red and turquoise party with little whimsical touches.

My amazing friend, Jenny, sewed so many things for me!  She sewed a couple of pennant banners, a huge table runner, and this adorable banner as well!  She is awesome!

I had contacted someone to make a shirt for Cooper, but, well, they basically said they couldn’t do it, so I just made one myself!  I think it turned out really cute!

Entrance to the backyard party.  I made the wreath out of felt circles.  It took for.ev.er!  But, I absolutely love the way it turned out!

The “sweets” table.  We had cupcakes, sugar cookies, a couple different red and turquoise colored candies, and you can tell, but the popcorn was red (strawberry) and blue (bubblegum) also!

The food!  My parents and I hung the lanterns from the chandelier at 10pm, in the dark, the night before the party.  My dad stood on the table and I ordered him around :)  You can also see the table runner that Jenny sewed together, so so cute!

I hung Cooper’s monthly pictures above the beverages.

Tables!  That no one could even use because the sun was blazing down on them!  Oh well, they looked cute :)

At the end of the patio, we set up one of Cooper’s birthday gifts, a pirate water table, for the kids.  Needless to say, it was a hit!

Smash cake!  Katie posted this on one of her Weekly Faves posts a while back (I love those posts!) and I knew that I had to do it for Cooper.  I love how it turned out!  I was so nervous about it because I did it the day OF the party.  Next time, I will NOT do it the day of!

He was so cute with the cake.  He started out just picking tiny bits of frosting from the center, and slowly eating it.  Then, it was like he realized that it was GOOD and he started going a little faster.   Eventually, he grabbed some big chunks and chowed down.  He ate about 1/4 of it, and probably would have eaten more if we’d let him.  He was so clean with it though, he is more messy with his lunches than he was with the cake!

The party was so much fun!  I think that everyone had a great time, despite the heat. Most importantly, I think Cooper had a lot of fun!  It was definitely lots of work, but when everyone was singing to him and then when he was eating his cake, I just remember thinking it was the best moment and it was all totally worth it!