party details.

Here are the details from P's birthday bash that I promised I would post. That post last night kept me up entirely too late, so I thought I would do a better job with a clear head on a good night's rest. (That didn't happen, but that's another story and another post.)

Wagon cake
The cake was created by Mark at Classic Cheesecakes in Atlanta. His company also did our wedding cake in May 2005 and did a wonderful job! I knew that I needed someone creative and competent at designing something from scratch. I knew he would get the job done. When he first brought the cake out for me to see, I thought that he was carrying one of the miniature Radio Flyer wagons like I used on the tables! He is wonderful and fairly reasonable. Oh, and the smash cake was a little wagon wheel. How fun! The black icing made for hilarious pictures! Check him out at www.classiccheesecakesandcakes.com



Invites
I am a HUGE fan of Etsy. I love original and artistic products, and I envy the crafty women (and men) that are capable of designing such products. I have always prided myself on shopping locally, or in this case, Etsy-ly. If you've never checked out this site, please do! You can find some really great stuff! Anyway, the invites were done by InkSpot Workshop out of Atlanta. I have used her for a ton of gifts in the past, and I just knew she would do a wonderful job on the invites. Heck, the whole party revolved around her awesome invites. I gave her a theme and some color options, and she ran with it. She created a what she calls a party pack, complete with invites, hand-lined envelopes, favor tags, and thank-you cards. Reasonably priced and excellent communication and customer service. What else can you ask for?
www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5750053



Pictures
Taylor asked a friend of his to come and take pictures the day of the party. We just knew that our hands would be full, and we didn't want to miss out on all of the fun because we were too occupied with snapping photos. This was the greatest decision we made. We had tons of time to spend with our baby boy, and lots of pictures, 360 actually, to keep for our memories. Michie did a wonderful job. Even better, he gave us a cd with all 360 images. We can use them how we like! (Like post them to my blog!) His name is Michie Turpin and you can reach him at (678)770-0731. Oh, and by the way. The pictures from the birthday post were a combination of his, mine, and my dad's pictures. Mostly Michie's, but there were a few other pics I just had to include!

Birthday hat and bib
Another Etsy shop. Goldenshop is the name. Another wonderfully talented and crafty stay-at-home momma. I sent her a copy of the invite and she created the cutest bib ever! She even hand-selected a different font for each individual flag. Such a perfectionist. I can't speak. If I can get the black icing stains out, I would love for Phoenix to wear it everyday!! The hat didn't stay on for long, but it is adorable, as well. (P hates hats.)
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5744498


I think that those are the main things. If I am leaving anything out, please let me know. The birthday banner, high chair bunting, guest party hats, wagon centerpieces, and favors were courtesy of a la moi. I have a very, very tiny part of my brain that screams "crafty!!". It usually stays hidden, due to lack of time and zero initiative. But, I had a lot of fun designing and creating for the party. I also have really become best buds with this machine they call the Cricut. Anyone ever heard of it? I borrowed it from my cousin, Rachel, and wow, it can do magic. If you are into scrapbooking, which I'm not AT ALL, you would LOVE this machine. I think it's a little pricey, though. I may have gone just a tad bit overboard on my one-year old's birthday party, but I thought my sweet prince's first year of life was something that deserved an awesome celebration. After all, he is my number one boy!

1st birthday party.

I've finally sifted through all 360 plus pictures of P's birthday party and narrowed it down to 100 or so that I absolutely love! Not sure how many blogger will let me post, but we'll give it a whirl. This will be a mile long post, so grab a beverage, sit back, and enjoy. Sorry for the picture and detail overload, but this one's definitely going in the blog book for memory's sake.

P's first birthday party was none other than a wagon-themed outdoor festivity down at the lakefront pavilion in our neighborhood. As you can probably tell from previous blog entries, we absolutely love it down at the lake. It was the perfect spot for 12 kids and 30 or so adults to celebrate P's first year.

Details have been changed for privacy reasons, but here is a pic of the invites.

And the pavilion.


Setting up. Hmmm, I look a little stressed....

My wonderful dad and father-in-law worked very hard to get the jumper going. None of the extension cords worked. I was about to call it a loss....thank goodness I didn't. The kids loved it!

The birthday boy himself. It is impossible to get shoes on this kid unless I sing the Hokey Pokey. "You put your left foot in, you put your left foot out, you put your left foot in, and you shake it all about." It works every time.

The birthday boy was a little overwhelmed at first.

But warmed up quickly.

Baby P and Nanny.

Four generations of Rices.

Taylor and baby P. They really are best buds.

Details, details, details.








The firetruck from Beme and Grandaddy Rice was the hit of the party. Every kid wanted to play on it.




Officer, I swear it's just a kid's birthday party. We're not being rowdy. No, the cop came by to check on things because my dad opened the door to the kitchen in the pavilion, which was supposed to be locked, and set the alarm off. It's kind of ironic that the cops show up at a one-year old's bash!

The bubble machine was wild! Look at all of the bubbles! The kids loved it....unless they stood too close to the machine and got shot in the eye with bubble detergent. That thing was powerful!



"Speed unwrapping", is what Taylor called it. We knew P's attention span was pushed to the max. Whew! We hurried and avoided a meltdown.


Time for a milk break, which we left at the house, by the way. Taylor had to go back and get a sippy cup and some milk. He was getting very, very sleepy....

I think he got a second wind! Check out that killer milk mustache. I wonder if we could get him in an ad? Too bad its soy.


A few of the little guests.







Smash cake time.








Once most of the guests had left, mommy got some P time in the jumper.

This must have been the 80th time he lost his shoe. I just left it off.


The party was a blast! I still can't believe we are already celebrating my baby boy's first birthday! Where does the time go? It is late and I am exhausted, but I promise I will post later with links and more info on where I got the cake, decorations, bib, hats, etc. Hope you're not too pictured out!