First Birthday Party (part two)

I'm using this post (and last) to journal some of what I did at Noah's party while it's still fresh in my mind. I'm sure I'll come back to it and make some hard copy notes so that I can remember what worked, at what didn't!

The Food:

We decided that grilling hamburgers and hot dogs would work the best for us. Our friend, Kirk, offered to be the main man at the grill. That helped free us up to mingle with friends and family. I had a table set aside with all the fixings and a separate table for chips, macaroni salad and watermelon. We ordered a Costco cake for everyone and Noah had his own special cake from Albertsons (a FREE first birthday cake) that he could dig into (and he DID)! The food worked great and we had plenty for everyone.

Noah's cake:

Noah enjoying his cake:

As you can imagine we had to give Noah a quick bath (in the sink :)) right away...he had frosting everywhere. I'm glad I decided to strip him down to his diaper, it saved his clothes from the impending mess...I don't think a bib would have protected him all that well.

Decorations:

This is where I had some fun with the monkey and banana theme. I had brown table covers, yellow tableware and brown/yellow napkins. On the table with the chips/watermelon and macaroni salad I had two inflatable monkeys, one on either side. I got these for $1.99 at Party America. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of the decorations until after everyone had eaten...here's a picture of the table after some wear and tear:

On the round tables (that guests ate around) I had a bouquet of brown and yellow balloons tied down with a bunch of bananas. I loved that idea. It also worked well when the little ones needed a snack. I saw several kiddos eating bananas by the end!! I figured that I'll just make banana bread with the leftovers...a task for today, maybe. I was also able to find a Mylar balloon that was a bunch of bananas. I alternated having one of those in the bouquets.

I used a die-cut machine to cut several monkeys to hang from the patio cover...I forgot about them until it was too late! Anyone need some die-cut monkeys?? :) I'll save a few for Noah's scrapbook, but I have several left if anyone needs some.

The friends:

I had Noah right around the same time that several of my friends had their first (or second or third :)). In fact, there were 7 other babies Noah's age and 3 of them are within 2 weeks of Noah! Here are the faces of some of Noah's friends and family:

Noah and his cousin Lily:

Eva and her Mommy and Daddy:

Luke and Rachel some of Noah's favorite playmates:

Noah's cousin Ryleigh and friend Gracie:

Noah's friend Karis:
Noah's cousin Isabella:
Sweet Sienna:
Noah's buddy Mason:Noah's buddy Joel:

Check out this picture taken when Noah was 1 week old:


Yep, Noah, Joel and Mason!

First Birthday Party (part one)

Yesterday we celebrated Noah's first birthday with friends and family at his first birthday party. We had so much fun! I was a little nervous because Noah had been sick the past three days and unfortunately his naps yesterday were about 1/2 hour each. He usually takes 2 naps that are between 1 1/2 and 2 hours and occasionally a 45 catnap in the evening and he is in bed by 7 pm. Yesterday, he took 3 naps that were 1/2 hour and was obviously not feeling well. I now know the remedy for his infirmities...a big party with lots of balls and lots of friends!! As soon as he was outside he forgot how yucky he was feeling. He had some moments, but for the most part he did OUTSTANDING!!!

I decided to go with a monkey/banana themed party...it wasn't overly thematic, but I wanted there to have bits and pieces of monkeys here and there. I ordered some super cute monkey invitations from vista print; I highly recommend them. Here is a picture of the invitations:

We had the party at our friends house. They have such a beautiful, large backyard with plenty of shade space, a covered patio and lots of room for kids to run around. Since both sides of the family came out for Noah's party along with all his other little buddies from church and Temecula, we needed some space for kids. We had 2 inflatable basketball hoops for the bigger kids, but the little ones had just as much fun! I think my niece Isabella has a promising future in sports:

We also had a mini pool filled with ball pit balls...the kids had alot of fun with that, especially with the younger ones. As you can see, the big kids enjoyed it too:

Add a couple soccer and beach balls and the kids had a fun time keeping busy. Since we work with youth, we had most of this stuff right at our fingertips, one of the great benefits of JH ministry...:). Finally, we had a friend come and do balloon animals/flowers/swords/hats for the kids. Now that was a big hit!! The oldest kids were just under 5 and I would say that the 2 1/2-5 year olds had the most fun with this. Thanks again, Adam, for coming out!! We love you!

Part 2 will be posted in the next day or so....

Happy Birthday, Noah!

I can hardly believe it...my baby boy is 1 today!! What a great year this has been and what a wonderful boy Noah is. I'll post more about birthday stuff later...we're getting ready for pictures right now!