I tend to go a little overboard with decorations, mainly because my own parents weren't big party people to begin with, let alone with decorations. (sorry mom if you're reading this, haha). I made a deal with John that after this party the next "big" party for each boy would be at age 5, in return for me being allowed to go just a wee bit overboard with the theme :)
The event was held at the community center for Family Housing. We had anticipated using our house, but once the RSVPs came rolling in we decided that 35 people in our teeny tiny place would be a nightmare for everyone. At the last minute we snagged the center, and it (though ugly on the outside) was a perfect place. The place had tons of space for all the kids to run around and for the adults to just hang out. After a little help from my friend Laura and the copious amount of decorations, it turned out really cute!
The theme was "Rock Star," mostly because it was really stinkin' cute, but also because Cohen handled his crazy first year of life like a rock star. We are so proud of him, and were so excited to share this with all of our friends and family. Carter's class at preschool also joined in on the festivities: My plan was to make 12 small collages of pictures, each representing a month between birth and 11 months. I found a perfect backdrop for the collages in medium size white card stock guitar shapes, what a find! I enlisted the help of Carter and his classmates, and the week before the party they painted the guitars for me! They did a great job and turned out perfect, and they are so darn cute I am returning them to school so the teachers can put them up.
The birthday boy was just getting over a cold (or so we thought…read next blog posting for more on that), so he was great in the beginning but began to get tired towards the end. In true Rock Star fashion, he put his party pants on and had a great time!
As I mentioned before, with the help of our friend Laura, we were able to turn the community center into a fantastic Rock Star party: Rock Star posters and guitar collages adorned the walls, and inflatable guitars were on the floor. Red, gray, and white streamers were hung from the ceiling. Solid black balloons and Red “#1” balloons were tastefully bundled around the room. A Rock Star guitar pull string piñata hung in the corner, stuffed with appropriate favors for a first birthday: Gerber graduates treats and boogie wipes. A buffet table lined the back, draped in red and black table cloths, and held the snack bar and the presents and cake. There was a tattoo/sticker station, complete with Ed Hardy tattoos and Rock Star stickers. A walker with balloons tied to it was the perfect chariot for the “baby of honor”. And probably the most fun, was the welcome table, complete with shutter shades, spike bracelets, and guitar bubble necklaces. I also included a scrapbook page for all the guests to sign. I plan to scan this and have it as one of the pages in his photo baby book.
Out of all the decorations the stunner was Cohen’s birthday cake. It was gorgeous, and simply amazing. It was a three tier, confetti and gluten free chocolate cake, covered with butter cream frosting and marshmallow fondant. Now, normally I am not a huge fan of fondant but this stuff was to die for. I had a lot of people asking me where I found such a cake in Moscow, and I truly feel like I lucked out finding this lady. My friend Shelby sent me a link to a cake lady’s website she saw from an ad on craigslist…mostly because she advertised the ability to make gluten and allergy free cake. When I went to her website, I knew she would be able to make my dream first birthday cake for Cohen. (Seriously, my dream: I’ve been planning for this day ever since his first week in the NICU, dreaming of what it would be like to have a baby survive his ordeal and how to appropriately celebrate) This woman had recently moved to Moscow, and was at the beginning stages of getting her name out there. I called her immediately and booked her for Cohen’s party…good thing I acted quickly, because she is catching on: she’s booked until late March!
As for the party itself, it was a blast. Everyone looked amazing in their rock star gear, and the kids had a great time. The piñata was a lot of fun. The kids lined up by age, with the youngest going first. Kason was first, and the strings were just a tad too high for him…with help from his mama, he was able to give it a good shot! Next up was Carter, and he took the inflatable guitar he was holding on to and totally took a swing at the piñata! Yes, son, normally that is how you would do it…but for this one, just grab a string and pull :) Even after all the strings were pulled, the piñata wouldn’t open. Bummer. I promise the think did not come with directions! Anyhow, with a little help from me, the goodies began to fall! The tootsie rolls were a hit with the big kids, and the little kids loved the Gerber fruit snacks…but it was the mommies who really loved the mini packs of Boogie Wipes!
Next up was present time. Cohen had fun seeing the fun and thoughtful gifts he received. The first gift placed in front of him he dove right into unwrapping it. I ended up helping him a bit, or we would have been there all day :) Carter did a great job letting Cohen open his presents. I was a little nervous about how he would handle only Cohen getting presents because earlier in the day he saw a present for Cohen and kept talking about “Mine open baby’s birthday presents”…so I thought for sure it would be a disaster. To my shock and amazement, he did really really well! At one point, a joint gift for the boys was brought over, and I said "oh that's for Carter and Cohen." ...well, Carter overheard this and exclaimed “Oh wow, a gift for me, how nice” He was elated and it was hysterical. After that, he didn't care about what Cohen was doing. (Thanks Stef and Dave!).
After presents, Cohen dug into his birthday cake. In hindsight, I realize we totally forgot to sing him happy birthday, and he didn’t get any candles to blow out either. Oh well, he was beginning to fade quickly at this point anyways. At first, he started to cry and wanted nothing to do with the cake. John helped him by putting his fist in the cake and then putting the cake in his mouth. Talk about immediate reaction: Cohen was instantly better! He perked right up and began putting fistfuls of cake into his mouth. As I was watching him do this, something dawned on me: he looked really really young to be digging into cake like that. (remember, he is the size of a 9 month old!) I almost had a helicopter mom moment in wanting to take the cake away from him so he didn’t choke…but I didn’t, and I just let him go at it. To my amazement, he didn’t choke at all and ended up eating a fair amount of cake.
All in all it was an amazingly successful party for Cohen! We are so thankful to all of our friends and family (some of whom drove quite a way to get here) who were able to help us celebrate such a monumentous occasion in our lives. Thank you everyone!!
Next up was present time. Cohen had fun seeing the fun and thoughtful gifts he received. The first gift placed in front of him he dove right into unwrapping it. I ended up helping him a bit, or we would have been there all day :) Carter did a great job letting Cohen open his presents. I was a little nervous about how he would handle only Cohen getting presents because earlier in the day he saw a present for Cohen and kept talking about “Mine open baby’s birthday presents”…so I thought for sure it would be a disaster. To my shock and amazement, he did really really well! At one point, a joint gift for the boys was brought over, and I said "oh that's for Carter and Cohen." ...well, Carter overheard this and exclaimed “Oh wow, a gift for me, how nice” He was elated and it was hysterical. After that, he didn't care about what Cohen was doing. (Thanks Stef and Dave!).
After presents, Cohen dug into his birthday cake. In hindsight, I realize we totally forgot to sing him happy birthday, and he didn’t get any candles to blow out either. Oh well, he was beginning to fade quickly at this point anyways. At first, he started to cry and wanted nothing to do with the cake. John helped him by putting his fist in the cake and then putting the cake in his mouth. Talk about immediate reaction: Cohen was instantly better! He perked right up and began putting fistfuls of cake into his mouth. As I was watching him do this, something dawned on me: he looked really really young to be digging into cake like that. (remember, he is the size of a 9 month old!) I almost had a helicopter mom moment in wanting to take the cake away from him so he didn’t choke…but I didn’t, and I just let him go at it. To my amazement, he didn’t choke at all and ended up eating a fair amount of cake.
All in all it was an amazingly successful party for Cohen! We are so thankful to all of our friends and family (some of whom drove quite a way to get here) who were able to help us celebrate such a monumentous occasion in our lives. Thank you everyone!!
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