The Many Layers of Me: Logan's First Birthday Party

Of course I started planning Logan's birthday party a few months ago. The theme actually came from Olivia. Shortly after her first birthday she fell in love with all things animal. She could name a ton of them at 14 months, she knew sounds they made, and she played with her little people animals all the time. I started thinking of doing a farm theme for her second birthday. It didn't happen, but I had already collected ideas. Logan isn't really "into" anything yet, so based off of Olivia's interest at his age, I thought the farm theme would be fun. I didn't want to do something now (like trains or dinosaurs) that he will love and ask for later.

The other part of my planning was that I didn't want to have it at our house. One, because it wouldn't have been big enough and two, because there are just things about it that I don't like. I looked into renting out a room at the church where Olivia goes to preschool. It is super close and it was super cheap, so that was the plan. I also ran out of time setting up for Olivia's first party, so I enlisted help for this party and had already been discussing ways to have Michael be there to set up too.

All that to say..... the only thing that actually happened as planned was that it was a farm theme. And I KNOW that some people don't think I should have had a party at all. But I had already put a lot of work into some of the projects, items were bought that were not going to be easily returnable, and I just wanted to do it for ME (first birthday's are for the mom, anyway) and for Logan. So I did. We had a party at our house that I set up for 100% by myself. :)

I made this sign for the front of the church to show which way to go. Obviously we didn't need it, but I had already made it, so I put it on the door.

Despite the fact that it is going to look like I did a lot, there are actually quite a few projects I cut out and items I didn't buy after we found out the party would just be a small family affair.

Most of what I did do was just with paper and a little crafting, which is very cheap and relatively easy.

My friend Stacy hooked us up with another fabulous Gigi's cake and cute little cupcakes!

Olivia did a lot of "helping" when it came time to open gifts.

Ahh. He's just so stinking cute!

We really do not need any more toys. Especially since I have to pack everything up. So I tried to ask for practical things. But I did figure that at least one fun gift was necessary. He loves the water and baths, so I went with a bath toy. It was a hit!

He loved all of the cards just as much as the gifts!

Michael's grandma hand made Logan a blanket. What a treasure! Now both of the kids have their own blanket from her.

My mom got him clothes (which is what I asked for), but she wanted to get him one little fun thing. Michael found these Go Go Wheels at Target once and decided that Logan needed the big track. We haven't gotten it yet, but this car will go with it.

Michael's mom got him a towel from Pottery Barn with his name on it. He has grown out of his baby towels, so this is perfect. (We got him a cheap one that I found on clearance. It will just be a back up, though. The quality of the PBK one is just so much better!)

The beauty of being 1, is that shoes and pajamas are exciting too!

He got all of the things he actually needed--new shoes, big boy towels, warm weather clothes for spring and summer in Texas, a keepsake blanket, a thermos sippy cup, and a few fun items thrown in to keep his attention! Plus, he has all of big sister's old toys, so he is good.