Little Mr. {1st Birthday Recap}

Owen's birthday came and went by soooooo incredibly fast! It's hard to believe that just a year ago, we were spending our few couple of days at home with a teeny tiny newborn, scared out of our minds. We've all come a long way in 365 days and what better way to celebrate than with a fun and easy birthday party for the family!

It took us a little bit to figure out and agree on what theme to use but I decided on a simple monster theme for a few different reasons. One - it's not too difficult to come up with monster themed items - the silverware container, the sandwiches, the cake. Two - it was simple enough for a one year old to enjoy. I didn't want to use a theme that an older child would like or would get into a bit more (like a painting or italian themed party!) Owen is our little monster so it was a perfect fit :) I created the invite using PicMonkey.com.

I created a pretty simple menu for the birthday bash. I knew I wanted monster sandwiches and those were made with turkey or ham and either provolone or mild cheddar with green olives for eyes. We left out condiments for people to use as well. For sides I made a garlic lovers pasta salad using a store recipe so I am not going to share it for the masses. I do suggest you try it though so you can get it at Oneota Co-op in Decorah! We also had a simple veggie tray along with the punch and water. One day I will need to post the punch recipes. It's my favorite! Luckily for us, I bought way too much of the sandwich ingredients, made way too much of the pasta salad and bought twice as much punch ingredients that we're practically celebrating his birthday every single day this week!

Owen wasn't all that interested in opening the presents after the first couple so he let his Daddy take care of that while he tried out some of the new toys. I think the favorites of the evening were the chair my dad made, the lawnmower (thanks, Drew, for putting it together!) and the little hammer that's meant for an xylophone. Surprise, surprise - he could stick it in his mouth :) My guess is that if we had put together some of his other toys that those would have be huge hits as well. Right now, he's loving the noise making hammer and the little tambourine though he's using them both more as chew toys right now. Just this morning though, Owen kept reaching over to me with the tambourine in his hand because he knew that I'd shake it for him while he held on. He'll get the hang of it soon enough!

I asked a Luther student to make Owen's birthday cake. I could have created it myself but I'm not too confident even using a boxed cake. Somehow I would have managed to messed it up. Thank goodness I left this job to someone else because it turned out so darn adorable! Owen wasn't too shy but didn't really smash the cake either. He got quite of bit of frosting but I helped crumble the cake for him. Fearing a massive sugar high and subsequent crash, I took the cake and crumbles away after five minutes or so. We had monster cupcakes for everyone else. Note to self - have small plates for the dessert! They can get a little messy :)

Thank you for our immediate families for making Owen's First Birthday so special!