TTMA First birthday parties

[fightersince83]

It is looming over my head that my LO is closer to being 1 than she is to being NB and that has me thinking of what to do for her bday party. I'm not really sure if I should plan much in terms of activities because she'll only be 1 so she won't be able to do a whole hell of a lot- BUT, I can't really expect that she and the other kids will be content with just sitting around. Sooo... Whatcha got for me N'15? Also, my baby's bday is very close to Halloween so it will likely be Halloween inspired if that helps at all. We've had 2 babies in my mommy group turn 1 so I guess that got me thinking about this.

[littleredfish]

For DD1 we did a small party of close friends and family. At the time we only had one other set of friends with kids so I just made goodie bags with chalk, bubbles, etc and have it to them at the start and unleashed them in the backyard.

For DD2 we'll have just moved and likely won't have a bunch of friends yet, so it will be mainly family.

I've been to huge parties that make no sense to me. Realistically the party is for you to celebrate your baby. Like a baby shower but for a different milestone. I'm personally not going nuts on a party where the guest of honor might lose her shit or need a nap at any given moment. Too much hassle.

Cute and small is my cup of tea here. Probably a "Guess How Much I Love You" theme because that's going to be her first birthday photos shoot theme, so I'll already have the stuff.

[sunfrogger88]

I'm not really sure yet. I mean we can't fit a ton of people to begin with, so that helps limit the invite list to begin with.

Invitees: my ils, my sil, my parents, my sister &her bf, my extended family (potentially 5-6 more people), and then we'll go from there (my Hs extended family is far). I'd like to invite a handful of my friends who love her so that would probably be an extra 8-12 people :-O

Theme...no idea.

I'll probably have it on her birthday or maybe the weekend before since it falls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving this year.. not sure what I'll do quite yet.

[younglove316]

For DD1 we had it at our house and invited friends and family. Our families are large and my husband has divorced parents so no matter what I try, I can't keep it super small without offending someone. I just brought out some of her toys and they played with those, there were only 1 or 2 other kids though.

We did find a super cheap hall by us for her second birthday so I'm going with that for DD2's party so I don't have to have it at our house. They had a little area that I just set up some toys and all the parents and kids loved it so I'll do that again because I'll have my moms friends with kids there.

I'm going to do small goody bags but Np clue what I will fill them with. Overall though it won't be anything too fancy.

[proceedwithcaution]

We do A big party every other year. So this year, baby's party will be big with friends and family and the toddler will have a family only party. Then switch.

I have no idea on themes though. I should start thinking.

[samelly]

I also don't do a big party every year. I had a big party for my daughter's 2nd and 4th birthday and just stuck to family for the 1st and 3rd. I think for the 1st, it is nice just to have family and maybe a few close friends.

[bunnyfer]

With DD1 we had a huge party but we also had traveled from FL to Nj for the occasion since that is where the family is. Her 2nd was much smaller character buffet at Disney. For her 3rd, we doing a Paw Patrol pool party with the family and whoever else wants to come that lives in the area.

For Ds, honestly, we keeping it small. Probably no party, or a small get together at least. Until they get older, it's really for the parents anyways.

[fightersince83]

What kind of activities do you suggest since we'll have a wide age-range of kids (my LO and her baby group buddies plus todddlers 1.5-3 & 7-10 yr olds)? There are some 12-13 year olds but they are old enough to be "too cool" to participate and can entertain themselves (hopefully). I don't think it will be a ton of people just close friends & their kids as well as my immediate family plus some people from the mommy/baby group. It'll be a backyard party so nothing fancy. It's actually going to be on DH's bday so it'll be like a joint b-day party unofficially but being real it's all gonna be about LO.

[rachaeleigh]

I'm really torn about what to do. Since we were team Green, the shower was fall themed and the nursery is neutral. Part of me wants to have a big pink, glittery, frilly party. That's so not me, but I guess I'm changing with all of these mommy hormones lol.
I definitely don't want it at our house. I can't relax or enjoy when there are events at our house so I've been considering renting a hall.
I also think I want some friends as well as family. I do feel really fortunate that so many friends have really made an effort to celebrate H as our rainbow baby, but also just be really around and supportive. I think it'll end up being big though since my friends breed like rabbits.

My only thoughts (other than pink and glittery) are to do it at an off time, so as not to worry too much about real food, and do more of a dessert/snack bar. Of course have some food, just not the main focus.
I've thought of a smores bar and/or hot chocolate bar. That should be season appropriate and would also provide kids something to do. I think that kids in attendance (other than babies) would around 3 to 10 in age.

[rachaeleigh]

Jul 3, 2016 20:13:26 GMT -5 fightersince83 said:

What kind of activities do you suggest since we'll have a wide age-range of kids (my LO and her baby group buddies plus todddlers 1.5-3 & 7-10 yr olds)? There are some 12-13 year olds but they are old enough to be "too cool" to participate and can entertain themselves (hopefully). I don't think it will be a ton of people just close friends & their kids as well as my immediate family plus some people from the mommy/baby group. It'll be a backyard party so nothing fancy. It's actually going to be on DH's bday so it'll be like a joint b-day party unofficially but being real it's all gonna be about LO.

I'm guessing you already thought/did this but checking pinterest for ideas of activities.
My friend printed out coloring sheets, had a coloring table. She also rented a bouncy house (not sure how much that costs)

[younglove316]

Jul 3, 2016 20:13:26 GMT -5 fightersince83 said:

What kind of activities do you suggest since we'll have a wide age-range of kids (my LO and her baby group buddies plus todddlers 1.5-3 & 7-10 yr olds)? There are some 12-13 year olds but they are old enough to be "too cool" to participate and can entertain themselves (hopefully). I don't think it will be a ton of people just close friends & their kids as well as my immediate family plus some people from the mommy/baby group. It'll be a backyard party so nothing fancy. It's actually going to be on DH's bday so it'll be like a joint b-day party unofficially but being real it's all gonna be about LO.

Are you looking for games or just some activities? You could do a fall themed craft or something like that. Maybe decorate a cut out leaf or pumpkin?

[fightersince83]

Those are good ideas! I like the coloring sheets and a simple craft. Yeah something that ideally doesn't require a ton of supervision since I'll have my hands full with managing the party overall. Those are good for a wide range of ages so they're great. I had been thinking of a bean bag toss game too. I probably need a couple things for the minis

[younglove316]

Jul 4, 2016 14:28:24 GMT -5 fightersince83 said:

Those are good ideas! I like the coloring sheets and a simple craft. Yeah something that ideally doesn't require a ton of supervision since I'll have my hands full with managing the party overall. Those are good for a wide range of ages so they're great. I had been thinking of a bean bag toss game too. I probably need a couple things for the minis

We just went to a co ed baby shower and they had mini cornhole set up for the kids to play. It was the same concept just smaller.

[bee1916]

We just invited close family/friends for DS1's 1st and 2nd birthdays. We held them at our home so we were pinched for space and had to keep the guest list small. For DS's first birthday, I did an woodland animal theme, decorated, made s'more snack mix, had a special shirt for him, cake, etc. He was so busy opening gifts and playing with the tissue paper that he didn't need anything else! For DS2, I'll probably keep it smaller again and think of a fun theme. I'm excited that if the weather isn't TOO cold, we can maybe be outside. DS1's birthday is in the middle of winter so we're always stuck in the house. It's always hard to guess what a midwest fall day will be like since it can range from 60s to freezing!

[colinsfebmommy]

We have a chili fest during this time pre baby and we got a bunch of mini pumpkins with all types of stuff to color, paint and stickers and they get to take them home. It's always a hit

[mandie]

For Ben, we did a splish splash birthday bash at a splash pad/playground. So that was easy.

For Allie, I think we will have a brunch party at our house with brunch food and a champagne bar. I will invite the cousins and the 11 kids that we do things with weekly. We will have a bounce house, sandbox, a digging pit, a bubble machine and a table with coloring. We own all of these already, so the party will be more focused on the older kids. We will have kids aged one month (or so) to 6, but I won't really have anything to entertain the 5 babies younger than Allie.

Her theme will be "twinkle twinkle little star." We are going to hope that the weather is nice, bc we can't accommodate that many people inside, but late September usually has beautiful weather here.

[themrsjrd]

I've had a theme picked for months lol but haven't done much planning besides that. The theme is Super Mario (1up!). Planning a party at our house (we moved into a new house and it is much more spacious for hosting a party this size).

I don't think we know how to have a small party when it comes to inviting the family. My family is very large and my husband's is medium lol. Plus, we have a good group of friends who love our son too, some of which have kids of their own...

I have found sooo much cute stuff on pinterest as far as decor, food, activities.

[littleowl913]

Since we had a big baptism for E, I'm thinking just a backyard bbq at my parents with family.

For the baptism, I got a face painter. It was that or balloon guy.

[fightersince83]

colinsfebmommy that's such a cute pumpkin idea! Gonna have to use that!

[fuzzylogic]

I honestly don't know. BIL is having a destination wedding right around E's birthday/Thanksgiving, so I don't even know if the IL's will be in town. But I do want to have a party for my mom, sister, and work friends and close friends who actually have an interest in E's well-being.

Probably just going to keep it easy and have it here, just easy food and good company. And booze. I promised them all there would be booze since this isn't really a "kid" party. At the moment, chili and fixin's sounds good, given the proximity to Thanksgiving and something spicy is always a nice counterpoint to the rich food that Thursday.

[sassypantzz]

DS will have a VERY small party at home. It will be lumberjack themed

[justbeth]

I've been pinteresting! I love party planning and I just finished up by daughter's Happy 'Fourth' party on Independence Day, so moving on to the next! I'm contemplating a 'Time Flies' vintage plane party at a local flight museum (that has a great kids area) or a 'Wild One' Where the Wild Things Are themed party at our neighborhood clubhouse/play ground. It will be family and close friends, but that's always a big crowd because we have big families and lots of kids 8 and under.

[melimo1315]

I love all the cute ideas people have for 1st birthday parties! DS1 is right before Halloween and I so wanted to do a Pumpkin/Halloween theme. DH and I decided against having a 1st birthday party because of issues with both of our families. We ended up celebrating just the 3 of us but I was definitely bummed about not having one. I still get a little sad about it but it's nice to have pictures of just us. We did the same for his 2nd birthday. I bought Curious George decorations and made banana chocolate cupcakes. We went apple picking during the day and made pizza for dinner. His 3rd bday this fall will be the same. I'm thinking of starting birthday parties once he's in school and has friends and classmates. Right now it's just a bunch of older cousins that ignore him hahaha.

We will follow the same route for DS2 hopefully. It may be a little trickier with his bday being the 25 and being so close to Thanksgiving (this year it will be the day after). It depends on we spend the holiday as well. Most years it has been just us and very low key.

I can't wait to live vicariously through all of you 😄

[ldubhawksfan]

No idea on themes, but it will probably be kind of big. Mainly it's just for parents, so food and booze, and cake for DD!

[rachaeleigh]

Just checking in with my latest obsession...I think I really like the "wild one" theme. It can be pink and girly but also tribal/outdoorsy.

I like the idea of a "build your own trail mix" table for a favor and like I mentioned before, a hot chocolate bar.

The funny thing is that I hate camping and this seems to have a camping feel lol

[colinsfebmommy]

We are doing a Charlie and the Chocolate factory theme lol Part because we love that movie, part because my daughters name is Charlee (Cheesy reason I know) and part because who doesn't love candy?

[sunfrogger88]

Jul 8, 2016 6:46:10 GMT -5 rachaeleigh said:

Just checking in with my latest obsession...I think I really like the "wild one" theme. It can be pink and girly but also tribal/outdoorsy.

I like the idea of a "build your own trail mix" table for a favor and like I mentioned before, a hot chocolate bar.

The funny thing is that I hate camping and this seems to have a camping feel lol

This sounds adorable!

[schmella]

rachaeleigh, I might have steal the build your own trail mix table

[fightersince83]

@rachaeliegh that sounds really cute!