OK! Let's talk 1st birthdays

[peanut4us]

I just realized that I have about 4.5 weeks until Sara's 1st birthday... we will be out of town for a week the week before her birthday, so I gotta get it together now.

What have you done? Or planning to do? I am really interested in the "less is more" theory of life. I don't want people to bring presents, i don't want to have goodie bags, I'm not sure I want hats...

What I do want is her own smaller cake, a larger cake, ice cream, the weather to be nice so we can do it on the deck (anyone know where I can book that? :)). My mom is flying in. I haven't decided on the guest list yet. I don't really want to make it a "big" deal... no real invitations (unless you see it as a must). I'd rather just call people the week before we go out of town and say we're having a "get together" on Sara's birthday.

Is that tacky? I'm not a party person. If you ask me to define torture, I'd probably have "party-planning" somewhere on my list ;) The people I'm thinking of inviting are old family friends that we only get to see once every few months because we are all so insanely busy. I want that day to be about spending time together and letting Sara play with the "big kids" you know? Maybe not. This probably sounds lame. Hmmm. Thoughts. Can I do it this way, or is it just tacky?

[stillplayswithbarbies]

Logan's birthday is March 25. I will make a cake, which we will have after dinner at home with just the immediate family. I don't do parties. I do think I will get her a cute birthday princess hat and maybe put up some streamers and balloons. We'll open presents before dinner I think.

The in-laws are coming up for Easter which is just a few weeks later, so they will bring their present then.

None of our family lives here so we don't have to worry about inviting them.

...Karen
Jacob Nathaniel Feb 91
Logan Elizabeth Mar 03

[peanut4us]

See that's what I mean. Something simple. Maybe we should just do that... and then I can have a BBQ get together in April, when it is pretty likely the weather will be consistently nice to plan the shindig out doors.

LOL! I said I don't like planning parties... and I don't... except BBQs. Man, there is nothing like a good BBQ. i like the food, the informality of the gathering. The fact that I can have the children eat and play outside without seeming rude :D

I still want to do something special with Sara that day though... besides the cake? Hmmm. I'll have to think on it.

[McQ]

Declan's birthday is during the week so that night it'll just be the three of us. I am going to have a a little party on the weekend and have a few friends over with their kids. My 3 closest girlfriends from college all had babies within 2 months of Declan so I love seeing our kids play together. I will do a cake, have yummy treats to snack on and will do invitations (for the baby book). But I won't do things like a clown, grab bags, etc. Just friends hanging out, watching their kids play and munching on food. Doesn't get any better than that.

Allison
~ mommy to Declan 3.24.03

[nathansmom]

Nathan's party was a laid back party. I didn't send invites nor did I decorate. I asked that everyone I invited not to bring gifts. Nathan had more fun playing with Olivia, Hunter and Josh then he would have with any type of games. I did get Nathan a small cake and he did not like it. Besides family I only invited Celeste (Olivia's mom), her husband, and Josh's mother.

[papal]

Joey! I am so glad you are planning to do something small. That will be the most fun for Sara and the least stressful for you!!

A friend of mine recently celebrated her son's 1st birthday and it was such a huge shindig that i swore i would never do that for Leela. She invited over a 100 people.. rented a local restaurant.. sent out eVites (actually that was the first time i saw an eVite and thought it was pretty cool)... had a baby registry at BrU for presents (i thought that was a bit tacky, especially since the only things on there were the Leapfrog book things)... the works. The baby was crying throughout because he was tired of being passed around and my friend was exhausted because she had to mingle with everyone.

Basically what i am trying to say is you are very very smart indeed to avoid a big party. Something small at home (where Sara would be most comfortable) would be the wisest thing to do IMO.
If you want to send out real invitations you can pick up some stamps and blank cards at Michaels.. they are really easy to do. Have Sara's hand print on the front with a party-hat on one of the fingers or something like that. :) The only reason i would do them is so i have something to save for the baby book.

[cinrein]

We just celebrated Anna's first.

I'd get Sara some balloons. Anna loved the balloons we had up in the room. Her mylar balloon is still kicking 2 weeks after the party.

My family all lives about 3 hours from me, so we actually had 3 birthday celebrations. The first was on Anna's actual birthday and it was just her, me and DH. I decorated a teeny tiny cupcake sized cake for her. She had a special crown that her Abuela got her a while ago. She hated her cake, but enjoyed smushing it.

Second party was with DH's huge immediate family on Valentine's day. He is one of 5 kids, and all are married with kids. I did do loot bags for the kids and games just so they'd have something to do. I have to tell you the best game was a bug hunt. I bought 66 plastic bugs from Oriental Trading and dollar stores and hid them all over the upstairs (would have done this outside but it was too muddy). They were told to go find them and not come back until they were all found. Haha! That got us about half an hour of peace. Next time I will buy a lot more bugs. I made a huge cake with a teeny ladybug on top. Anna got the ladybug and refused to even touch it.

Third party at my parents with my brother and his family. My Mom made a nice dinner and I made yet another cake with a ladybug on top. Three times was a charm for the cake, cuz this was the cake that Anna finally got into. My brother's kids are very young, so no games or loot bags. Just a nice cozy get together with babies playing nicely.

I'd have to say that all 3 parties perfectly fit the variety of people I had at each. It sounds like your family is pretty laid back and casual, so I think your BBQ or even a potluck dinner sounds great. I don't think your plans are tacky at all. I just want to point out that if you want to reconnect with some friends with busy schedules, you probably should give them more than a week notice.

Cindy and Anna 2/11/03

[kransden]

You should do what ever makes you comfortable. In 10 years what are going to be your most important memories of the day? That you had a good time or you were a stressed out mess? I had a bbq (20 people- small for me)with family and a few friends. I got a lot of flack for not inviting more of my friends, but they got over it. (Be prepared just in case)

I did have goodie bags and I think you should too if you can. Why? Well when I was picking up the helium balloons at the dollar store I saw baby stacking cups and a couple of other baby toys. I decided to get them, and a couple items for the older kid that attended. The babies all had their own toys to mouth on and there was no stealing or crying. The older child had something to destroy besides my daughter's toys and my house. It was really well worth the extra 10.00 I spent in terms of a tear-free afternoon.

BTW the kids really loved the balloons too. I had no idea!


Karin and Katie 10/24/02

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

We're doing an adult party and I nervously have told people they can bring their kids.... few people even know it is his Birthday (which is a good thing) because I too didn't want gifts, and now have to admit it is the selfish side of me that doesn't want them because I can't keep up with everyone who is comings kids B-day...

But I have hired a gal to do a cute cake
I think I'm buying a pinata for the older kids coming to the "adult party"

OH and I got him a cute hat that is cloth and looks like a Birthday Hat :)...it was sale for 70% or I never would have bought it-got it at oopsie Daisy the other day normally $20...

He's getting his trike and that is it, mom and dad sent $100 so I don't know what I'll get with that :)...
Neve
http://home.nc.rr.com/ourbabytristan
AKA "mama2be"-forgot password
and Baby Boy Tristan born @UNC
Feb 25, 2003
Brother to 3 pups "gees" and 2 kitties

[cchavez]

I think we are putting a decent amount of planning into Diego's b-day but it won't be very big. Our arbor should be done by then so people can hang out inside or out. There will probably invite 15 people. DH will grill fajitas. I will make sure there is appropriate food for the little ones too. Oh, we are doing Elmo's World so we will get the plates, cups etc. I plan on doing some balloons but not too many. I am probably going to get him a personalized (talking) Happy B-day Elmo to use as the centerpiece. Oh, and we will get an Elmo cake and smash cake. Probably will do crayons and bubbles for goodies.....

I am excited about this but I know it is more for our memories rather than his!!!

[LucyG]

I totally hear you, Joey! We had DD's first birthday party last week. The guest list was: Mommy, Daddy, Baby, and our two dogs. We had cake (even the dogs!), opened presents, and took a jillion pictures. It was the best time! We had similar parties with the grandparents on the weekends before and after her actual birthday. All three celebrations were low-key, and I'm so glad we went that route. It just fit us and how we like to do things. I say go with whatever makes you happy. A relaxed time with family and close friends sounds great to me.

[amp]

Not tacky in the least! We are also in the think stages of DS's birthday at the end of May. This is what I envision or what we have already talked about.

We will have it on his birthday, since it's a Sat.

We will hope to have it outside if the weather permits, but will be prepared to be indoors if need be.

We will probably have balloons since DS loves them!

We will have both sets of grandparents here.

We will invite maybe 2-3 other couples, one of which has kids. There will be no goodie bags or favors.

We may do invites (either homemade or store bought) and may even specify no gifts.

We will just do something easy to eat (like order pizza or a big ole multi person sub from somewhere, salad, beverages, snacks, etc) so neither DH or I needs to spend the day in the kitchen.

For the cake, we might make it, or maybe we'll buy it. I'd like one small cake for DS to tear into all by himself. Then I'd like a cake for the rest of us to share.

Small and easy is not tacky! Repeat, small and easy is not tacky. Simple is good. And I surely don't think anyone you are close to is going to think anything else!

*Enjoy* your daughter's birthday with her! That's what you'll remember!

[khakismom]

Joey, what you're envisioning is so not tacky. :) It sounds wonderful, and is exactly what we did for Kathleen's first. We did do invitations mainly because I wanted one for her baby book. It was pretty much family and maybe a few other friends. I had some munchies and cake, and adult bevs, and that was it. No gift bags, no clown, no party tent. :) It was very low-key but so much fun. Kathleen's 2nd birthday was the same, and her third will be too. Ellen's will be an outdoor barbeque so there may be more people, but it will probably be along the same lines.

[mamahill]

I invited families over, but made a note of "No gifts please" on the bottom, and requested people bring a high chair or stroller. When I turned 1, my mom had all of my baby friends come over in strollers and high chairs and it's a really cute picture. I wanted the same for Ainsleigh. We had about 4 high chairs and 3 strollers. We ate in the garage - not the most pretty place, but easy to clean up. If we had a deck, that would have been perfect. We had streamers and balloons. A cake for Ainsleigh and cake, cookies & ice cream for the rest. It only lasted about an hour and a half, but it was great fun. Very casual, but it still felt like we were marking it well.

I would say that a bbq later on would be just fine. Do what YOU want - you're the mom!

[mattysmom]

We just celebrated DS's 1st birthday this past weekend. On Wednesday (his actual birthday) we gave him his Kettler (which he loved!) and ate carrot cake (my mom made it from the recipe from "what to expect the first year - and it was actually very good!) Then this weekend we celebrated with our immediate families dh and my siblings (2) came into town for the weekend - we went out for dim sum (Chinese brunch), hung out while ds napped and then opened a few presents, ate cake and played with the balloons. While it would've been fun to have friends/friends with kids over, we figured that we'd be able to do that for future birthdays and this one was actually very emotional for me and I wanted to spend it with just our families. It was a great day.

[barbarhow]

Joey-Can you believe how fast the year has gone? If I remember correctly, Sara and Jack share a birthday. We are going a similar route for celebration. We are in a temporary apartment and couldn't fit all our immediate family so we have decided (with the help of the boards) to have a prebday celebration with DH's family, a post bday celebration with my family (not until May) and an actual day of celebration with just us-or maybe my brother and his kids if we go away for the weekend with them. Either way, it will be low key, small, no invites, but-yes-I will make a cake.
No I don't think its tacky. It sounds perfect. I would love to be able to do something outside on a deck. It sounds just perfect. Enjoy. And Happy Birthday Sara Anne!
Barbara-mom to Jack 3/27/03

[liya]

Well you know what i did!!! I did a small party at home with family....Ari had a blast and so did we...No real invitations just a friendly phone call!! :) Im savin up for college and might as well begin to save up for the good parties when he is older and actually knows what he is doing. Most of the time he was really upset and sleepy not really worth a whole shabang ykwim...

It will be awsome. Thanks to the mamas here i got reasurance and for sure it was a blast...