First Birthday Party!

Lincoln May 20th, 2012

I am just getting around to posting about Lincoln's party and it is already June! May was so completely busy for us, with the party on the 20th, Lincoln's surgery, and Lincoln's Aunt Amanda getting married on the 26th, Linc's actual birthday (and all that goes along with that - shower, bachelorette party, rehearsal and dinner, wedding, and gift opening brunch!) I haven't had time to take Lincoln's 12 month photos yet! So, without further ado, here is Lincoln's First Birthday party.

First off, I have to say that I had a ton of inspiration for Lincoln's party. Foremost, Chrissy, another CDH mama, threw a fantastic and beautiful first birthday party for her survivor Clara, which was my first point of inspiration to even have a big party for Lincoln with extended family and friends. My inspiration for colors and theme came from Lincoln's invitation, designed by his Uncle Pat. And, lastly, in addition to the grand Internet, wonderful Ms. Martha Stewart played a big role in my  decorations.

I had so many wonderful pictures to choose from thanks to "Aunt" Jenell's photography of the party. It really was difficult to choose which pictures to share. Thank you Jenell.

I decided to have the party at our neighborhood park, under a pavilion. This is the same park that Lincoln and I frequent on our walks, so it was the perfect place. The day was beautifully sunny, but extremely hot at 90+ degrees. Several balloons were popping as we were setting up due to the heat, but thankfully most of them survived. I was watching Lincoln closely to make sure he didn't over heat, but he handled every thing very well. He really enjoyed his party.

I love Lincoln's cute smile here! Please, ignore my nervous down turned smile! It was a big day!

The pavilion filled up fast with friends and family.

I decided on blue and green for the party colors. I love the invitation Uncle Pat made and decided on "Mr. Lincoln is Turning ONE" and Lincoln's picture as the theme. I think it really turned out cute. But with a face like that, it was bound to be adorable!

Sam's Club provided the cake. It was affordable and oh so yummy.

 

Lincoln's smash cake.

I kept the cake simple and just made the cake toppers myself. I made sure Lincoln's cake had a special "ONE." I also made the banners for the tables using Martha's circle cutter and several magazines for the letters. We had to tape them directly to the tables instead of letting them swag because the wind was so strong! I still liked they way they turned out.

It was so heartwarming to watch the Donation's table fill up!

I made this picture collage of Linc's "1st" year. Martha's idea. It was really hard to choose just enough pictures to make the number 1 out of the 1000+ I have of Lincoln!

(yes, that's a big bowl of peanut butter in the middle!)

We served snack foods since the party was in the afternoon. Pretzels, Chex Mix, ants-on-a-log, Ritz and cheese, homemade cookies courtesy of G-G, and cake, of course! Water, soda, beer and juice boxes to drink.

I did this signature table instead of a signature book, which I had originally planned to do. This was actually one thing I didn't copy from another party! Craft paper was taped on to one of the tables and crayons were provided. Guests were asked to leave messages and drawings for Lincoln to read when he is older. I don't think everyone got a chance to sign the table, but it still turned out nice.

The kids had plenty of things to do to keep them entertained. Being at the park there was plenty of room to run and play at the playground. I also had set out bubble wands as favors and sidewalk chalk to keep little ones busy. The "big kids" had beer and ladder golf to enjoy!

I think that every one had a good time, but it's all about the kids at a one-year-old's party, right?

There was even a little impromptu hop scotch near the end of the day!

A lot of friends and family came to celebrate Lincoln's big day with us. Some were meeting Linc for the first time. Not many one-year-olds that have 50 people come to their party! Lincoln is a special guy! I couldn't possibly post pictures of everyone but here are just a few of the guests.

I LOVE Layla's expression toward Linc! She's so cute.
Me and Linc with Aunt Jen, Cousins Layla and Aubrey.

Great Aunt Val and Great Uncle Mike

"Uncle" Josh and "Aunt" Kelly

Cousin Paige, her mom, Cousin Christina and Aunt Amanda

Cousins Matt and Jim

Aunt Chris and Uncle Pete

Great Grandma and Grandpa Olds - with a wink from Grandpa!

"Uncle" Paul, Uncle Pat, Cousin Vince, Great Uncle Doug, and Cousin Brian

G-G (Great Grandma Thompson) and Debbie

Lauren and "the Godfather" Jake

Aunt Amanda and Cousin Aubs

Lincoln really enjoyed his party. I couldn't have asked for a more well behaved boy. He wanted to snuggle in my arms for most of the time, but he was eventually coaxed out and enjoyed being held by someone other than mama!

Great Grandma Olds

Grandma Kathi

Great Aunt Carla
(you can see how red Linc's face is here from being so hot!)

Wearing "Godfather" Jake's hat! Such a little boy now!

Aunt Amanda
Getting ready for cake!

Lincoln did well trying his cake. He's not very big on sweets, so it was not a surprise that he didn't dive right in. I have to admit, this is was not Lincoln's first taste of cake. When Linc started to slow with his weight gain, I tried offering him everything! With some help from Mommy and Daddy though, he managed to get a good taste, and had fun making a mess!

Daddy and Linc having a moment as I run to get the cleaning supplies.

The aftermath

After eating his cake, Lincoln changed into his CDH Survivor shirt. A gift from Grandma Kathi that was perfectly appropriate for the party! It reads-

"WARNING: I'm a CDH Survivor

Determined, Defiant, Rebellious, Bold, Brave, Tenacious, Insolent, Stubborn, Fearless

- It's how I am where I am!"

And while I was working on party planning for the past month, Lincoln's Dad, Dan, was working on this bad boy...

Completely custom built wagon by Daddy for Lincoln. Complete with air bags so it drops the rear axel to the ground with the flip of a switch!

Lincoln likes it! And so does Daddy!

Soon after doing cake, the air shifted and a cool breeze brought a few drops of rain our way. No one really got wet, as we all fit comfortably under the pavilion. It was just the cool off we needed to stay comfortable outside. The combination of the excitement, heat, and then cool breeze sent Lincoln into a slumber. I happily cradled him for the rest of the party as he got in an afternoon nap. He woke up just in time to join in a balloon release initiated by his cousins. 

Lincoln's party couldn't have been better. I want to thank everyone for coming to celebrate with us. It has been one hell of a year! Lincoln is such an amazing boy! He has overcome more in one year than most of us in a lifetime. It was wonderful to see the love and support Lincoln has surrounding him. A special thanks you to the family who helped make the party possible by helping with set up and transport! We love you all. Here's to many more wonderful years for Lincoln!