So, I kind of love throwing parties. I start planning Drew's party months in advance. I know, I know. Drew won't remember it, he's ONE!!! But memories last a life time, right? That's what I keep telling myself anyway. In my next life, I am going to be a party planner. Not because I am particularly good at it. But simply because I enjoy it. And how much fun would it be to throw a nice party on someone else's dime!!!
Anyway, Drew's 1st Birthday Playgroup Party was Friday. He had 8 of his closest buds join him at his Mother Goose themed shin dig. We did it purposely when the "big kids" were at school, so the focus could be all on Drew and his baby friends. I took a ton of pictures before the kids arrived of all of the decorations, but then once the chaos began, I sort of forgot to take any pictures of the guests!!! And somehow I managed to forget to take a picture of the cake table! Oh well. I kept with the Mother Goose theme and did a simple blue cake with a D on it, and I wrote out the nursery rhyme, Pat a Cake, Pat a cake and placed it next to the cake. I also made little blue cupcakes with white polka dots, to keep in line with my blue and black and white with polka dot theme.
The invitations, I made from hand. It's kind of what inspired the entire theme of the party. I wrote out the poem, Little Boy Blue, but made a few changes to make it birthday themed and entitled it "Little Boy Drew".
For favors, the kids got a little silver frame with their silhouette in it, that I made ahead of time. I lined them all up on a shelf with poem, "that's what little boys are made of." The babies also got a Mother Goose Nursery Rhyme book.
The menu also matched the theme, I know. Big surprise. We dined on Yankee Doodle Macaroni (AKA Chicken Curry Pasta Salad), Peas Porridge (Baby Friendly Chicken Salad), Mother Goose Fruit Salad (I couldn't come up with anything more creative than that!), Humpty Dumpty Deviled Eggs, This Little Piggy Likes Roast Beef Sandwiches and finally Curds and Whey (Tomatoes with Goat Cheese and Vinagrette).
For the decorations, I just made lots of whimsical pom poms to hang from the ceiling, I made a banner for the wall, I used lots of balloons, and I made some paper windmills. I made a little sign for the door and made some paper flowers, and tied bows on everything and anything. I also got a bright idea to make a sign for the front yard that said "follow the bread crumbs to Drew's 1st birthday party". I thought it was very Hansel and Gretel-esque. I even tied a balloon to it, to draw more attention to it, since it was small. BAD IDEA. The dumb thing flew away. So by the time guests arrive it just looked like I had a dirty walk way with large crumbs and a few ants to boot. Oh well.
Drew donned a homemade birthday hat, which my brother said made him look like the pope. Perhaps I should have made it a little shorter? Oh well. He was adorable in it, nonetheless!!
In leui of gifts, everyone was supposed to bring a donation for the Humane Society. But, my friend's didn't listen. They brought donations as well as lots of gifts for the birthday boy. Drew is almost as spoiled as Evan is!!!
What totally made the party for me was that my brother came all the way from Seattle for it. My Mom also took time off work to make the party, so it was really special for me and for Drew. That and being surrounded by all my friends and their beautiful babies of course! One year ago I was stressed, anxious and worried every minute of the day, about Drew. He was hooked up to feeding tubes, on a breathing machine, and under a bili-blanket with little black goggles, fighting for his life. And just look at him now. He is thriving, healthy, strong and right on track to being an active toddler. I just love this boy so much, and I am so glad that sitting with him in the NICU is a distant memory. My little boy Drew, AKA the Pope, is such a special little boy who is loved by so many.
