Elijah's Island- He is ONE

5 Things You Need for Every Child's Birthday

 

 

My baby turned one! What a mix of emotions you experience as your sweet baby turns into a toddler. You feel devastated he is growing up too quickly but so filled with pride of the joyful, sweet, affectionate little boy he is becoming!

We had a ridiculous amount of fun celebrating Eli's birth with family and friends. I've been to my share of birthday parties but this is the first we've ever planned for our own. There are some things that were a great success, and some things that took too much effort and was not enjoyed by many. My Mother always gave us fun and creative parties and I wish to follow her lead! I will share what I've learned... In my opinion a good party needs a few essentials:



1. A Good Theme
Parties always have a theme, even if it's super simple like, well, "party!" Guests most likely will want to join in the fun, even if it's just the fun of anticipation and knowing what excitement lies ahead provided in the details of the invitation. The more specific the theme is, the easier it will be to plan everything around. Also, I feel the more creative, the more fun you will have too!

2. An informative invitation, simply explaining the theme of course! Also, are you exceeding an invitation with your words, as in "join us", "you're invited" "we hope you can make it" etc? It's popular now to have a cute poem about how old a person is turning, and then a date, time and place; there is no warmth in that! We like to be personally requested to attend, it makes a big difference. Other important attributes is to add the planned activities so guests can come prepared and have the most fun possible: Is this indoor? outdoor? A drop-off if this is a kids party or are parents expected to stay? etc. It is also popular now to put an email for an RSVP, which is fine, as long as there is also included a phone number in case someone gets lost on the way to the party, or has a last minute question! I know a lot of elderly folks who don't use computers. This was Eli's first birthday invitation: (I quickly made Eli's invite on the free program, GIMP and had them printed at Staples, very affordable.)

3. Easy and Pleasing Food. What kind of crowd is attending? Plan your food around your people, and secondly, look for clever ways to tie it into your theme. Thank goodness the crafty food labeling is popular now so you can make any food fit your party. Our party began at 1PM so I wanted to have sandwiches, chips and such. Filling food for all ages! Not very Gilligan's Island, so I totally opted for the food labeling.

4. Decorations (including utensils, plates, napkins)- Because this is the first party I have ever given my son, I went all out! I bought scrapbook paper and  made pendant garland. I bought lots of burlap to go on tables. I took all the frames from my house and filled them with pictures of my son's first year. For his first year of life we took a staged picture of Eli every month, so we printed those and made garland out of the pictures. I did not do everything "Gilligan's Island" theme, because if I am spending much time and energy into making decorations or money purchasing them I want them to be easily reusable. I picked colors: red, white, and blue, and burlap accent. I hope we'll get to use the decorations over and over because they are adorable. Even if its just streamers from the dollar store, decorations put us into party mode!

5. Activities- Who are your guests? What do they like?  You will need activities for the young ones. Adults will be happy to eat and talk, which they can only do if their kids are kept busy! We had a pool and it kept everyone busy, it being one of the hottest days of summer, ugh. It could be a playground, craft activities (paint a picture, decorate a mini cake, make a super hero mask), games, etc As long as there is something to keep little minds and little fingers busy and having fun! Kids don't need a lot to get started.

As a side note, and hindsight being 20/20 there are a few things I would have done differently. I would have prepped the food the night before as I was rushing to get it finished. Since it was at my mother-in-law's I actually wish I would have set up a lot of things the night before. I also would have left Elijah with his great-grandma for an hour or so before the party so I could get everything set up. He was an extra handful and I didn't get to do things as quickly as I wanted. We feel blessed to have so many family and friends who came to celebrate Eli and we will always cherish this day with everyone! I am already thinking of his next birthday, not that I want it to arrive too very soon. xoxo

Craft: Meal Cards

One of my most difficult wifely challenges has been meals. Choosing what to cook, shopping for ingredients, then preparing the meal. Ugh. This whole ordeal has kept me always feeling like a failure. I always go over budget and almost always forget ingredients. I am a decent cook so at least that is something.

I've began shopping at Aldi and I really love it! I've had a few produce mishaps but quickly learned you have got to be very careful about picking out your produce there, I even eat a grape before I buy a bag. Carefully check strawberries for mold, etc. Shopping for groceries has become a lot less frustrating and I rarely go over our budget. Though another Aldi problem at the beginning was the small selection, which has actually become a blessing. Aldi has everything you need for simple meals, and cooking simple meals has made my life easier. Also if I forget to grab something (I always do) I don't have to walk half a mile to go get it, Aldi is tiny and  no one will complain they are plagued by too many choices. My favorite thing at Aldi is the organic grass fed ground beef, my husband and I can taste the difference and it is delicious. I still go to Trader Joes every few months and stock up on marinara, refried beans, frozen eggplant parm, etc.

Aldi solved my shopping/budgeting issues but I was still at a loss on mundane meal planning.  My husband is no help, if I ask there is no answer. So I made some meal cards of every meal I enjoy cooking and eating!
I took a small amount of  time while Jeremy and I were watching a movie to write down all of our family meals on plain white cards. Then I jotted the ingredients and the simplified cooking process down on the back. This has made making my grocery list easier having all of the ingredients listed so accessibly. I also forget how to cook certain things if it's been a while so that was made simpler for me as well.

 

  I used pretty scotch masking tape on the edges and covered a fridge clip with the same.  Now all I do is hand my husband the fat stack and he is happy to sift through and pick out meals.

 I have him pick three, and I will pick one. That way if he picks mostly meals that contain meat I can cook a meatless meal or if he picks time consuming meals I can pick a quick meal. etc.

  I wrote slow cooker on the crock pot meals- I work three days a week so I will cook one of those a week. His excitement makes me excited and it also makes me feel appreciated which is something we all want!

UPDATE- It's been four month since I began this and it's still going strong! I've added quite a few meal options to my collection and I'm so happy I began this process.
xoxo

sweet sweet summer time, 'Merca's birthday

I am loving summer with a baby!! Especially with a baby that loves water. :) We are all having so much fun this season. Jeremy's garden is doing good and we have been enjoying our fresh fruits and veggies. It is a little small this year but as our kids grow hopefully so will our garden! I'm still dreaming of a future with honey bees and goats!
I have also been having sooo much fun planning Eli' first birthday. He loves swimming more than anything and since his Granmama has a pool with a fabulous outdoor area we are having a swim party! It is Elijah's Island theme. (a play on Gilligan's Island) I'm really excited, I can't wait!
  Elijah gets more personality every day! He has begun eating table food and loves it. His favorites are tomato, grilled cheese, broccoli, and watermelon. He has been cruising like a champ, I really think he might start walking soon! It is so bittersweet watching him change so quickly, he's growing up so fast.

My sweet mamaw broke her hip right after this visit with baby Eli- she has been recovering so well- we are praying it continues. Mamaw and Papaw love baby Eli!!!

 Elijah started standing in his crib! I love going into his room in the morning and seeing him peek his bouncing head above the railing.

I can't believe it.

 We celebrated July 4th with Jeremy's family! Elijah enjoyed sitting with his Nanni during the parade! We went for a swim at Eli's granmamas house after the parade and off to work I went that night- boo.

My friend Dani and her mama were in the parade! :)

Bree loves Eli's toys, she is good at sharing though :)