Yesterday was Eli's 1st Birthday party....and what a party it was!!
We had decided on a monkey theme a few months ago due to Eric & I really liking monkeys and trying to encourage Eli to do the same :) After a lot of online searching, I found ideas for food, decorations, & activities. It was SO fun to organize & plan Eli's big day and with Eric's artistic talent & my organizational skills, we were pretty proud of the result! Eric made monkeys out of construction paper and hung them around the living room & kitchen from yarn vines like this:
I decided that because some older kids would be there that I would provide some activities for them (on the table in front of the fire place). I printed off a monkey color sheet and provided monkey bubbles, masks & stickers. Oh, and we also had "Curious George" on DVD.
We ordered balloons and had a couple of displays including this huge "1" balloon:
For the cake, I decided to do cupcakes. I am not a baker but thought cupcakes would be fun & would give Eli his own "cake" for his big day. I found a recipe for monkey cupcakes and had to do it. Holly & my mom helped decorate them and here's how they turned out:
I made trees out of grocery bags & Eric made leaves. Of course monkeys hung from the tree!
I ordered these cute squirt monkey heads and placed them around the house for decor:
And here is our sweet birthday boy sporting his "1st Birthday Boy" shirt:
Here is Eli about to explore his cupcake (after mommy blew out the candle :)
Starting to explore:
Still not exactly sure:
Oh....I guess he decided it's pretty good!!
Yummy!!
All 3 of us....our little family :)
Do we have enough cameras???
Eli did SO well during the party. He didn't get fussy except for when we had to clean him up after the cupcake. He enjoyed opening all of his gifts....and there were a lot!! Here's some pics of the gift opening session:
Below are pictures of some family and friends who attended our beautiful boy's big day. Thank you all SO MUCH for coming. I know Eli enjoyed himself and while he may not remember it, he will look back in pictures and see all of you who came to help him celebrate!
Cousin Mallory & Eli in the not quite put together Radio Flyer wagon
My sisters & I
Sarah & Stephanie
Tori & Jack (& Callie in the background :)
Cheryl & Callie
Tiffany & Lilly
Chantel & Christopher
Kerri, Tatum, Tessa & Rowan
Emily, Josh & Mallory
Ursula & Jodi (& Holly, Chris & April)
Rodrigo, Mi Jean & Gael
Sue & Kalani
Aunt Charlene & Uncle Kenny
The breastfeeding crew
Eli enjoying his dumptruck
It was so amazing to be surrounded by family & friends who have watched Eli grow up and have supported Eric & I through the journey of this first year. We cannot thank all of you enough for your love & support. Eli is truly blessed!!
Tomorrow is Eli's official birthday. I will post a slide show of his first year & do a little reminiscing of the wonderful day. At this time last year I was at the hospital, probably about 5 or 6 centimeters dilated.... with an epidural of course!! He wouldn't be born for another 10 hours, though!!
We had decided on a monkey theme a few months ago due to Eric & I really liking monkeys and trying to encourage Eli to do the same :) After a lot of online searching, I found ideas for food, decorations, & activities. It was SO fun to organize & plan Eli's big day and with Eric's artistic talent & my organizational skills, we were pretty proud of the result! Eric made monkeys out of construction paper and hung them around the living room & kitchen from yarn vines like this:
I decided that because some older kids would be there that I would provide some activities for them (on the table in front of the fire place). I printed off a monkey color sheet and provided monkey bubbles, masks & stickers. Oh, and we also had "Curious George" on DVD.
We ordered balloons and had a couple of displays including this huge "1" balloon:
For the cake, I decided to do cupcakes. I am not a baker but thought cupcakes would be fun & would give Eli his own "cake" for his big day. I found a recipe for monkey cupcakes and had to do it. Holly & my mom helped decorate them and here's how they turned out:
I made trees out of grocery bags & Eric made leaves. Of course monkeys hung from the tree!
I ordered these cute squirt monkey heads and placed them around the house for decor:
And here is our sweet birthday boy sporting his "1st Birthday Boy" shirt:
Here is Eli about to explore his cupcake (after mommy blew out the candle :)
Starting to explore:
Still not exactly sure:
Oh....I guess he decided it's pretty good!!
Yummy!!
All 3 of us....our little family :)
Do we have enough cameras???
Eli did SO well during the party. He didn't get fussy except for when we had to clean him up after the cupcake. He enjoyed opening all of his gifts....and there were a lot!! Here's some pics of the gift opening session:
Below are pictures of some family and friends who attended our beautiful boy's big day. Thank you all SO MUCH for coming. I know Eli enjoyed himself and while he may not remember it, he will look back in pictures and see all of you who came to help him celebrate!
Cousin Mallory & Eli in the not quite put together Radio Flyer wagon
My sisters & I
Sarah & Stephanie
Tori & Jack (& Callie in the background :)
Cheryl & Callie
Tiffany & Lilly
Chantel & Christopher
Kerri, Tatum, Tessa & Rowan
Emily, Josh & Mallory
Ursula & Jodi (& Holly, Chris & April)
Rodrigo, Mi Jean & Gael
Sue & Kalani
Aunt Charlene & Uncle Kenny
The breastfeeding crew
Eli enjoying his dumptruckIt was so amazing to be surrounded by family & friends who have watched Eli grow up and have supported Eric & I through the journey of this first year. We cannot thank all of you enough for your love & support. Eli is truly blessed!!
Tomorrow is Eli's official birthday. I will post a slide show of his first year & do a little reminiscing of the wonderful day. At this time last year I was at the hospital, probably about 5 or 6 centimeters dilated.... with an epidural of course!! He wouldn't be born for another 10 hours, though!!
5 comments:
It looks like a great day!! Happy Birthday Eli!!!
Thanks for the great party! You and Eric make a great team; the decorations were inspiring, the cupcakes delicious, and Eric makes a fantastic pina colada (even if beginners luck played a role). We had so much fun watching Eli discover his presents! What a party animal!
Yay! The party was awesome and I was, once again, amazed by your planning and organization skills along with Eric's creativity (you both have all the characteristics :) Happy birthday Eli! We love you!
So fun! Amy, you and Eric are amazing party planners. Happy birthday, Eli!
looks like so much fun. the next post about eli's birth and your pregnancy made me cry! (hormones!)
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