Well, my little man 'M' is officially one! I am not sure if I should celebrate or cry - he is just growing up TOO FAST!!!
For his first birthday Eric and I chose to have a "Little Blue Truck" theme party. Starting at about five months, M became obsessed with reading "Little Blue Truck." (I am not sure if it was the book itself or the bizarre noises I passed off as animal sounds.) After scouring Pinterest and Etsy for ideas for months, it finally came together! I was just thrilled with how everything turned out.
Over Christmas vacation (I was blessed with two weeks off), I made this cardboard truck to use as a photo prop. As guests arrived, they posed driving the truck for a picture! This was a great way to document all of the guests that came to celebrate M's birthday. I used cardboard from school and reinforced it with paint stirrers. The balloons were ordered from Bargain Balloons and arrived VERY quickly. I was thrilled with the price and quality.
I read a GREAT blog post on not using disposable party items. Instead, use reusable items that can be used for birthdays and parties in the future! It sounds simple, but I hadn't really given it much thought! So, I purchased bandanas at Hobby Lobby for about $1 a piece to use as napkins. Eric folded them and we arranged them in a basket. They were easy to use, wash, and store. In addition, we used clear glass plates that my mom found on sale for $1.25 a piece. Since they are not a specific color or style, we will be able to use them every time we entertain in the future. All of our white serving platters came from Kohl's a few years ago when they had a 40% off sale on the Food Network line of dishes. 
Since the party started at 2 PM, we served light snacks and drinks. I prepared homemade lemonade, water, and milk boxes for the adults and kids, and then blueberry mojitos for the adults. Everything was a huge hit! I labeled the food to the best of my ability using these cute little chalkboard tags from A.C. Moore and a chalkboard marker. Again, they came assembled and were only $1. All I had to do was paint the wood white (which I guess I didn't HAVE to do.) While I made M's cake, I did not make the cupcakes for the party. The ENTIRE family was sick the week prior and I did not have time to bake. Instead I ordered 2 dozen cupcakes (1 dozen yellow, and 1 dozen chocolate) with butter cream frosting and white chocolate pieces on top with decorative blue icing from a local baker.
We used M's dump truck to hold chips (I cleaned it thoroughly before filling it) and mason jars for the drinks. My mom had paper straws left over from my baby shower so we used those as well. I added a few table cloths around the house to brighten things up. On the gift table we attached a banner I purchased through Etsy with M's name. Had I really thought things through I would have ordered the banner to read "Happy Birthday" so that I could use it with multiple children or at multiple birthday parties. Oh well!
Since there were a few "older" children coming to the party - a four year old and a two year old - I prepared a cute little coloring craft. Using the templates from The Mailbox website (educational magazine), I printed out a few trucks and the farm animals. I then used a copier (at school) to shrink the farm animals before printing them so they could all fit in the truck. I made an example for the kids that had not read the book and then left the supplies on the table. This was an easy activity to prepare, and it came in handy during some down time for the four year old boy!
As people entered the party, they walked passed a chalkboard (from Hobby Lobby and originally purchased for my sister's wedding) inviting everyone in. In the foyer I arranged pictures of M from birth through 11 months. We also displayed an additional newborn picture of him and a wooden blue truck that a family friend made for him. I really don't think I could have done a better job decorating! I was thrilled with how well everything turned out. It was also nice that the weather was quite agreeable with us all day.
Back to M's cake. Instead of exposing my son to sugar for the first time, I chose to make him a healthy banana applesauce cake with a maple cream cheese icing. It turned out wonderful. Both him and my husband enjoyed eating it. To decorate the top I added halved blueberries (so that he couldn't choke). I also "dressed up" the high chair with a little #1 pennant and ribbons. I saved this decoration in case baby #2 (when we decide to expand) is also a little boy.
All in all the day went very well. The house was cleaned up and everyone on their way home by 5 PM. M crashed early and quickly that night - he had a long day.
I know that M will not remember his 1st birthday, but I looked at the day as a celebration for me. I survived (and LOVED) the first year. His first year was so full of new things and we both made it through all of the good and the bad together and better for it. Happy Birthday M!!!
