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Andrea S
05-19-2004, 03:39 PM
What did you/or are you planning for 2nd b-days??

Andrea
mom to Andrew 8/14/02

Hallie_D
05-19-2004, 06:16 PM
We decided not to do anything major. DS has a good buddy from day care (Henry) whose birthday is two days before his. We are good friends with Henry's parents, so we are having a joint party this Sunday at a little park in our neighborhood. We invited all the kids from their class, plus parents and sibs. We enclosed a note with the invitations asking guests to bring a new or gently used, unwrapped children's book INSTEAD of a gift, and we will donate the books to the pediatric ward of the hospital where Henry's mother works.

We are serving cheese and crackers, fruit, cake, and lemonade. We are not giving away goody bags or planning special games (but we are bringing bubbles and balls)--we really just wanted the opportunity to let the kids play and to get to know the other parents a little better.

DH is taking DS to visit his family in New Orleans in a few weeks, and there will be a family celebration there with all adults except for three cousins ranging in age from 9-18 months.

raynjen
05-19-2004, 07:15 PM
Well, I felt kind of bad about N's first birthday, so I really wanted to make her 2nd one memorable. Having said that, I didn't spend a ton of money either.

We did a VeggieTales theme. I used plain red, yellow, and green decorations (streamers, balloons, tablecloths, napkins, cups, etc.) to keep the cost down. For the 'themed' elements I bought a Happy Birthday sign, plates, invites, 'sprinkles' for the table, and cake. My friend made the cake for $25 and it turned out awesome (see below).

We invited three friends from playgroup/church along with their parents and siblings, some adult friends of ours (who honestly begged to come - really!), and a couple of strays (we are always on the lookout for stray people :))

I printed out coloring pages off the VeggieTales website and put those along with a bunch of crayons in seperate cups on our coffee table (covered in a table cloth to catch all the stray marks). When all the kids arrived we played 'Pin the Nose on Larry' (which I made on poster board and covered in contact paper). Then all the kids got guest 'badges' that said things like 'Super Duper Colorer'.

I made a compilation of VeggieTales songs that were playing in the background this whole time. On the middle of the CD were a bunch of motion songs (If Your Happy and You Know It, The Hokey Pokey, Head Shoulders Knees and Toes, etc) so all the kids (and some adults) danced and sang along.

While we were dancing DH was preparing the cake in the kitchen. I had put two layers of table cloth on the coffee table (which had been moved to our dining are for this purpose) so we just pulled off the one with the crayon marks and Viola! clean table. The kids each got a slice of cake and a cup of ice cream (the kind that comes prepackaged in cups - so no scooping) a brand new Take'n'Toss cup with milk, and a Pampers disposable bib. The adults got cake and veggie pizza (croissant crust, cream cheese spread, raw veggie toppings).

Then we opened gifts. As soon as possible after the gifting I popped in a VeggieTales movie for the kids to watch to distract them from the toys and give the adults some time to catch up. It sound like a lot, but we kept the party to under two hours. Of course, some of the adults without kids lingered on afterwards to chit-chat, but they helped clean up too.

The kids got a goody bag with a 1/4 sized coloring book, fresh pack of crayons, bouncy ball, 'blowout' (not a noise maker), and a car.

One thing a did that kept me from going crazy - I asked one of my childless friends beforehand if she would photograph the party for me. I didn't have to worry about doing 4 things at once AND I got some pretty awesome photos! By the way, hands down the balloons were the favorite part of the whole party. We didn't have a lot to take down afterwards as so many of them were pulled into play!

Jen in Okinawa
Mom to Noelle (2 1/2)

One photo showing, the rest are just attached.

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/6375.jpg

AngelaS
05-20-2004, 08:03 AM
What a FUN party!! My dd also loves Veggie Tales (BOB!) and we really didn't do anything exciting for her birthday.

I made a cake which we ate after one of her favorite suppers and then her dad, sister and I watched her open gifts.

Andrea S
05-20-2004, 09:47 AM
Looks like a fun party.

Andrea
mom to Andrew 8/14/02

Karenn
05-20-2004, 11:49 AM
Honestly, we're really not planning much. We'll have the grandparents, aunt & uncle over for dinner, cake & ice cream, open presents and play. That invitation list includes all of his favorite people. :) I figure there are plenty of other years to have birthdays with little friends. For now, we're keeping it low key and just family.

Jen- that cake is adorable! It's funny- Colin loves the Veggie Tales music, but he wouldn't recognize Bob or Larry in a million years since we haven't watched the movies yet!

nigele
05-21-2004, 02:34 PM
We are definitely having an Elmo birthday party!!! Beyond that, I'm not sure what we'll do but I've been thinking about it a lot lately. What a timely post!

MelissaTC
05-21-2004, 03:07 PM
I rented a party room at a local preschool. It has a moonwalk, bouncy ball pit, a play town (each room has a theme with different dress up/dramatic play toys), ride on toys, lego table, etc.. It is awesome. We have a bunch of kiddies and I did not want to do anything at my home since the kids love to run around. It will be from 10 am - 12pm on a Saturday. I opted to bring my own food (cupcakes & juice) but they offer cake & paper goods as well. Matthew loves Thomas the Tank so that will be the theme...

Kimberly H
05-21-2004, 09:05 PM
Mia's second birthday (first with us) falls on Thanksgiving this year. Great for symbolism, lousy for parties. I'm not sure what we're going to do so I'll be watching this thread.

I want to be Jen when I grow up - she's got all the super cool ideas!

hjdong
05-21-2004, 10:10 PM
Jamie's actual 2nd brithday (first with us also) will be very low key. However, he will be having, not one, but two red egg and ginger parties this summer - one where we live and one with the in-laws. This is a chinese banquet usually given to celebrate a child's first month of life and is where the baby is named. Since it's traditionally given for a 1 month old, it's not very kid friendly. Luckily, Jamie loves food so he should be happy. Actually, it makes me feel kind of old to be throwing a banquet rather than receiving one (wedding) or attending one!

raynjen
05-25-2004, 02:54 AM
Mia looks absolutely gorgeous in her baptism outfit - positively stunning!

We completely flubbed up Noelle's baptism as it had to keep getting postponed (Daddy kept deploying to the war) until she had outgrown the family heirloom and every baptism gown available in town. We ended up putting her in her niceset dress, but it didn't lend itself to a baptism very well (blue and green plaid - maybe it would have worked if we were Scottish :))

Jen in Okinawa
Mom to Noelle (2 1/2)

Kimberly H
05-25-2004, 08:32 PM
Jen, thanks for the compliments and I'm loving the Scottish comment!

We had to postpone Mia's baptism twice and I had a friend going to China for her 2nd daughter all ready to buy a bigger dress and bring it home in time. She *barely* fit into it (big rib cage, tiny dress) but it worked.

Thatchermom
05-26-2004, 06:58 PM
We had a big party for his first (30 people, bbq), but I was making a wedding cake the weekend of his second so no real party this time. Instead we had several small celebrations (dinner with aunts & uncles, ice cream with grandparents, that kind of thing) with important people in his life. In the end I think it worked out well. The big party thing may have been too much for him this year, and it would have been hard to cut down the list and leave people out. We celebrated on and off for two weeks, and it was fun. Seemed like every few days he was getting new toys instead of all at once, ending with his sandbox from his adopted grandparents. No toy outshadowed the other that way, and he spent a lot of days feeling pretty special.

We already have plans for his third - a friend of DH's is a Seattle firefighter (drives the engine)and has invited us to have his party at the station. DS will be so excited, I can't wait!