A Circus Party ~ Grayson's First Birthday ~ The Decorations

So the good news is that my husband is quite amazing and he bought me a fancy new camera for Mother's Day...yaaaay!!! The bad news is, that just so happened to be the weekend AFTER Grayson's birthday party. Womp womp. So these pictures were taken with my little dinky point and click, and they are most certainly not the highest quality. But they got the job done.

When I was trying to come up with the "theme" for Grayson's party, I went back and forth between a few. A rockstar party was high on the list because he loves music so so much, and I also thought a pirate party would be fun. But at the end of the day I just fell in love with the idea of a circus party. I'm somewhat morally opposed to the actual circus (don't they seem kind of sad for the poor animals?), but a nice fake circus sounded great. 

Like I said, I planned this in roughly three weeks, so I'm quite pleased with the outcome. It's certainly not a "Pinterest Worthy" party, but when I realized how stressful the planning was going to be on such a cramped time frame, I quickly decided that I wanted the day to be more about celebrating my baby boy with all of our friend and family than driving myself (and everyone else) bonkers striving for perfection. So we got a slightly quick and dirty version of a first birthday part, and I absolutely loved it. And so did G man, which is what really matters.

Oh! And this will be the first glimpse into our new house! Someday I plan on doing a house tour type thing....but who knows when that will be. 

Guess we'll start outside - this wasn't too exciting, and everything out front was basically done on a whim. I decided people would need to know which house the party was at since this was the first time for most people coming to our new place, so it wasn't real thought out. But it worked!

In our front room I had my little made-over buffet front and center displaying a few photos of the baby of the hour. I also had the Dr. Seuss book "If I Ran The Circus" out to serve as a guest book of sorts. I just asked guests to leave a little note inside for Grayson to read someday. If you think this idea is genius, I totally can't take credit. I copied from one of the many circus parties that I pinned on Pinterest for inspiration. Pretty sure it was this one. But wait - don't go look at that party, it puts mine to shame.

In the front room I also displayed my favorite decoration, the chalkboard sign. I absolutely loved this thing, and it was so super cheap! I ordered it from this shop, and Racheal did such an amazing job. I hate that this is the only real photo I got featuring it. That glare, my reflection...sigh. Anywho, it was precious and I love that all of his quirky little favorites of the moment will be captured forever. 

The kitchen/dining/living area was the main area where the party took place. I ended up having two tables of food - one for sweets and one for everything else, and then we had the drinks set up on the bar - which I totally forgot to take a photo of. For food we had cheddar bacon ranch pinwheels, buffalo chicken bites, and pizza bites, along with chips and guacamole, goldfish, a few different kinds of popcorn, and peanuts - which I think people thought were just decoration, because I don't think a single little peanut was eaten. Drinks were red punch, mimosas, sangria (don't judge the alcohol, our friends wouldn't have come without it. JK!) and then just water, sprite and coke. I would say the biggest hits were the buffalo chicken bites and the sangria. Those both went quick. 

On our sweets table we had animal crackers, M&Ms, the goodie bags (which had rubber duckies, sunglasses, bubbles, and goldfish) , and the cakes. 

OK, can we talk about the cakes for a second? I randomly decided to post on our new neighborhood Facebook page, asking if anyone had a suggestion for someone who could do birthday cakes in our area, and like nine people commented mentioning this one woman in our neighborhood. She sent me a few photos of her work and I was sold. And you guys....they were PERFECT! Seriously, I was completely obsessed and wanted to cry when it was time to cut them. She and her mom do this out of her mom's kitchen (which sounds pretty amazing when she described it) , and they even made all the little figurine toppers and the banner! Seriously, cutest little birthday and smash cake I ever did see. Love love love.

Aside from the beverage area, which like I said, totally flaked on taking a pic of, the only other area of focus was the fireplace area where we had all the gifts, and then the backyard, which had minimal decorations. It was a gorgeous day, so several people decided to hang out back there for awhile after all the presents and cake and whatnot, so I'm glad I put up a few decorations. 

Overall I have to say I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out. Grayson had an amazing time being the center of attention, and I think our guests enjoyed themselves. I actually ended up having a lot more fun than anticipated. You know when you're the host you always feel obligated to - well, host I guess? Somehow I was able to relax a bit and just enjoy. A lot of the credit for that goes to my amazing husband, my incredibly helpful mom, and my sweet best friend Rachel, who helped blow up balloons and put out food and decorate all morning, even though she is pregnant and miserable! With everyone's help things got done and I'm pretty proud of my little last minute first birthday party. 

Now - I'll be back tomorrow (ehhhh, that's a bit iffy, not gonna lie) with the final birthday post. The one where you actually see pictures of the birthday boy :) Hope you'll join me!

Grayson's First Birthday Party ~ The Build-Up

Planning my first baby's first birthday didn't quite go down like I expected. If you guys recall, we listed our home for sale and started house hunting early this year kind of on a whim. We very quickly got our house ready to put on the market and started spending every free minute out and about, searching for the perfect place. In right around three or four weeks we sold our house, found a house, changed our minds, found another one, and got our offer accepted. We then had about a month to pack up everything in our lives and move it into our new place. I'm exhausted just typing it all out and remembering how insane it was.

After we got in to our new place and I started the incredibly fun yet ridiculously stressful job of trying to find a new place for all of our many, many things, I realized - umm, my child will be one in LESS than ONE MONTH and I need to plan an epic and memorable party. Like, yesterday. 

Oh guys. I wish you could have witnessed the insanity that my life spiraled into. Not only did I need to plan this party in less than a month, I needed to get my house in the best possible condition it could be in - like, unpack all the boxes, try and decorate it all up to my ridiculous personal expectations, paint walls - you know, all of the things that really matter. (wink wink, heavy sarcasm)

But, as A promised about 347 times in my (daily) moments of sheer panic, it all got done. Of course there were some things I wanted to happen that didn't, and decorations I forgot about, and memorable activities that I accidentally bypassed, and photos I neglected to take. But all in all it was a pretty freaking fabulous party if I do say so myself. I relaxed and had fun, Grayson adored being the center of attention, and I think our guests enjoyed themselves.

By the way, I hope the above explains at least in part why I've been totally and completely GONE from the blogging world for the majority of the past three or so months. I do intend to come back on a regular basis, but I don't think it's quite time yet. 

SO - this post was originally going to be all about the decorations and what I did and why and how and blah blah. But now that I've rambled on and on, I think it's gonna turn into a three part kinda thing. I'll be back tomorrow with the decorations, then the next day with the actual party photos that only I really want to see. That's a pretty lofty goal for a girl who hasn't blogged in months, but what can I say? I like to live on the edge. 

I'll leave you with just a couple pics of the handsome little birthday boy to entice you to come back for the real deal. 

And P.S. - I miss you all. 

12 Months!!!

So, this is the very first "birthday" post for Grayson that I have ever posted late. Why is it late, you ask? Well, apparently with everything going on in my life I totally forgot to renew my domain...so my blog was just GONE when I logged in on the 24th to make my post. Like, gone. I freaked out, almost cried, almost had a nervous breakdown, because this thing has basically served as Grayson's baby book for the past year, not to mention has chronicled the first almost-three years of our marriage. But luckily I have the most amazing husband in the world who did tons and tons and tons of research, sent emails, talked to Google on the phone (didn't even know you could do that), and basically saved the day.

So now I'm back in and ready to talk about my ONE YEAR OLD child. How. Is. This. Possible. This year has flooooown by. I know, I know, it's so cliche, but seriously - how is he one? How has he gone from a teensy tiny little ball of adorableness to a walking, dancing, laughing boy? It's been a quick year, but hands down the absolute BEST year of my life.

Grayson,

Well, you've done it again. You've successfully made this past month the best month yet. You are becoming just the funniest, cutest, sweetest little guy I ever did know. You make every single day an absolute joy - aside from the tantrums, but we'll get to that - and I love you so much it's almost frightening.

You are such an independent little thing these days, and I'm really starting to see who you will be someday. You have to do things on your own. Once you figure out you can do something, it's all over. You are walking like a champ, and unless you are just being sweet or feel a little unsure of the terrain you're walking on, you don't want to hold my hand. I can almost feel you thinking "I can do it myself, mom!". You also are really wanting to use your spoon to feed yourself on the rare occasions I don't just give you finger foods, but it is the biggest mess ever so we're trying to hold off on that a bit. You also really want to brush your teeth yourself. Daddy is so proud of your independence - I think it reminds him of himself. The cutest thing you've started doing on your own, just a few days ago, is getting in the pantry, finding the box of cheerios, grabbing a big handful out, then walking off while chowing down on them. You leave a big trail of cheerios in your path, and Addie trots along behind you eating them up. It's just so funny how big that makes you seem.

You are still the biggest flirt ever, and with all these birthday celebrations I'm seeing even more how much you love being the center of attention. We've had two dinners now where we all sang happy birthday to you, and you just sit in the center, beaming at everyone. All eyes on you is how you like it. In fact, if we go too long without someone paying attention to you, you'll fake cough or fake laugh until you get everyone's attention. I think that's another thing you get from daddy ;)

You're still obsessed with Addie, but now it's turning into a bit of aggression, which is kind of scary. You will do so well to pet her so gently, but then you'll get excited and just started whacking her in the face while laughing like a maniac. Poor dog has no idea what's going on. I'm pretty sure you've been saying "Addie" sometimes, too. We haven't got an "official" first word out of you, but there have been several times you say something that sounds just like a baby version of Addie, usually while pointing at her. It's true (one-sided) love. 

You are a true mama's boy, and I absolutely love it. You hug, kiss, squeeze, and love on me all day every day. You walk up to me and lean against my legs with your little face pressed up against me, then raise your arms for me to pick you up probably about 100 times a day. If I'm on the floor, you're in my lap. If I'm on the couch or sitting at the dining table, you're crawling up on me. It's nice to be loved so much by someone you're just as obsessed with. 

You are super goofy, and you've learned how to get a laugh out of people - and man, do you eat it up. If you make us laugh, we're in for a repeat performance. For awhile. The silliest things make you crack up, and then daddy and I make ourselves look like crazy people trying to get more laughs. 

This month you really started walking good, and from the day you took more than just a couple steps in a row you have been on the move. Your baby talk is sounding more and more like words, and there are several sound you make repeatedly for the same thing that let me know talking is coming up pretty soon. Ba-bem is the most frequent sound, and you seem to say that for bubbles and bunny (we have bunnies in our backyard a lot and you're obsessed with blowing bubbles), followed by Ah-Ie (I'm guessing that's Addie) and a very loud DA!, which I think is for daddy. The only time you really say mama is when you're crying or upset, then it's MaMaMaMa + tears. Nana swears you said mama clearly when I was gone the other day, but she also swears you've been saying puppy, so who knows ;)

You are full of smiles these days, and you have started giving this really goofy grin where all your teeth show, you scrunch up your nose and close your eyes while lifting your chin. You do it all the time, and it seriously makes us all laugh like crazy every time. You are completely and totally obsessed with the song "The Frigate That Flies" from The Pirate Fairy movie, and the second you hear the first note you give us that crazy smile, then start dancing like a little maniac. You also really love the "Let It Go" song from Frozen, but that one just makes you smile this serene little smile and sway back and forth to the music. 

You've started the whole tantrum thing in a major way, and it's driving me and daddy nutty. You will throw back your head if someone's holding you and go limp, and if you're on the floor you'll throw yourself down on all fours and cry and cry. You screech all loud and act like the world is coming to an end. This usually happens when we take you away from something you want or won't let you have something. I'm hoping it's a phase, because OMG it's not my favorite. 

You have eight teeth now and look so big. You still only weigh about 21 pounds, but you've grown to a little over 29 inches...you're definitely on the smaller side of things, but I guess that's to be expected with the mom and dad that you've got :) You were sick for the first time, like super high fever, no energy, just wanted to lay around and sleep, for the first time a few days before your birthday and mama hated it. But you were still a surprisingly happy little guy even during all of that. 

You are loving walks outside in the gorgeous weather right now...I hope you're really soaking it in, because it will be about 105 every day before too long and our walks might be cut short. You are just as obsessed with music as ever, and your dancing skills are just getting cuter and cuter. If you're crying, the best way to cut it short is to turn on music - just about any song will stop you immediately. You still love bath time, and meal time makes you pretty happy, too.

You definitely still hate diaper changes, so I'm guessing that won't ever change. Nap time is getting to be a little more difficult, too, since now you know what's going on and try to fight it. You really hate being told no, and you just can't figure out why you can't do every single thing you want to do. Other than that, you are a pretty cheerful little guy!

You are such a joy to be with, and you bring so much happiness to so many people. I don't know what I would do without your goofy little personality and silly little smile to light up my days. Your daddy and I talk about how blessed we are to have you all the time, and we are so incredibly happy that you are our little boy. We love you!

Mama