Parker's First Birthday Bash

Let's forget for a moment that Parker Bear turned ONE nine weeks ago. Let's also forget for a moment that his birthday party was eight weeks ago. I could list the reasons why it took me so long to get this post out but I'll spare you that and get right to the point - my first baby is a one-year-old and we had the time of our lives celebrating him!

You might remember that his actual birthday, May 12th, fell on Mother's Day this year and we celebrated with both sets of grandparents and had a fabulous weekend!

Then on Saturday, May 18th we celebrated Parker's First Birthday with a "What Are Little Boys Made Of?" themed birthday party with snips, snails, and puppy dog tails all the way around! Of course I had a "secret" Pintrest board for months and months and months as I planned all the little details, some of which I shared with you back in May. 

Well, I am pleased to report that the party went off without a hitch and even with close to 20 children in our home and even more adults, everyone seemed to have a great time! AND my uber talented sister-in-law, Aunt K, was generous enough to selflessly take pictures of the whole event. All photo credits of the "good" photos go to her. The other ones? Were probably taken with my iPhone. 

Without further ado, here is a recap of Parker's First Birthday Party in pictures!

Fine print: apologies in advance for the picture overload!

The birthday boy eating his lunch (as guests arrived) and showing everyone how big he is!

We provided two different cakes (a "clean" smash cake for Parker and a "fully-loaded" cake for adults) as well as mini cupcakes. All desserts sported our theme with snips, snails, puppy dog tails and of course number 1's!

"Puppy Dog Tails" were long pretzels dipped in blue-colored white chocolate

We also served BBQ Pork, Quinoa Meditteranian Salad, Fruit "Rainbows", "Snail Shells" (chocolate dipped cake batter and cookie dough truffles), and "Snakes in the Dirt" (gummy worms in dirt cake)

We decorated the foyer with a welcome table to include favors for our guests and a photo banner of the birthday boy!

Another bigger photo banner hung in the den above our fire place.

This "Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails" wreath was placed in the kitchen and I absolutely LOVED this adorable sign we found to hang up as well!

We had a banner made for the big kitchen window and a matching one for Parker's high chair!

Our kitchen chalk board was updated to reflect the reason for the celebration!

And of course Parker wore a coordinating birthday onesie specially made just for him!

When it was time for the main event - the CAKE SMASH - we stripped Parker down to his (cloth) diaper, sang Happy Birthday, blew out the candles, and let him at it!

He LOVED it! And although he didn't get near as messy with his party cake as he did with his cake on his real birthday, he absolutely loved playing in it and showing it to everyone!

Outside on our patio we set up an activity for all of our little guests. I had painted little terra cotta pots with chalk paint and each guest could draw on and put stickers on a pot to take home with them. I think they liked it!

Parker's big cousins Olivia and Ella Grace creating masterpieces!

Parker had such a wonderful time visiting with family and friends at the party. It was so fun to have everyone together to help us celebrate our special day!

Parker with Nanny M, one of his most favorite people!

Parker and Uncle Joey

Twinkle (my mom) and Rachael, Parker's big cousin who is 7 months older than he is

Bing and David playing with the "puffs" we had hung around the house - they eventually fell down!

Honey playing with David under the kitchen table - a great hideout!

These two sweet cousins of Parker's are only 2-months apart but are on different sides of our family:

We managed to get all of the cousins together for a picture - this was quite a feat!

And one of my favorite pictures of the day... When we asked David to give Baby Parker a kiss, Parker wasn't looking at David so David used his hands to turn Parker's head to him to kiss him! So funny!

It was such a wonderful fun day that we didn't want to ever end!

After the party was over and all the guests went home, Parker took his much needed afternoon nap and when he woke up, our family gather around to watch him open some presents. 

Our friends and family were so generous to bring such wonderful surprises to our little boy! We ended up opening the gifts slowly over the course of the next two days. It takes Parker a while to open gifts and since there was no rush we just took our time and enjoyed the experience!

Parker got some gift opening assistance from  his big cousins David and Rachael too!

Honey and I gave Parker a red wagon and he really liked it!

All of our family stayed the night - some in our home, others nearby - so that we could spend some more time together over the weekend. Parker got to enjoy some early morning playtime with his big cousins David and Rachael the day after his party:

And I wouldn't dare end this post without sharing this hilarious moment I captured! Although he was laughing and playing right up until this moment, Parker had no idea what was on his head. When I placed his birthday hat on him and tied the bow under his neck, this is the look I got!!

I love him to pieces!

Thank you for reading and helping us celebrate our little miracle boy's very First Birthday! We had so much fun at his party and can't believe how fast this first year went! Now, what do you say we start thinking about next year's party? Ok, it's too soon for that. Ask me again in the fall!