Inadequate Mom Goes to a Birthday Party

We had a great time at Judson's first birthday party!  Such a good time, in fact, that Rob and I were both incredibly stressed when we left.  Seriously, who knew that kids' birthday parties were this serious!?  There has to be a theme.  And everything has to follow the theme.  You have to invite the whole daycare class.  You have to have personalized favors.  Stuff for the kids to do!  Stuff for the parents to do! Sheesh, I never knew.

I might have had in my mind that I would have a party to celebrate the fact that I kept a PERSON alive for a whole year.  And by celebrate, I mean drink.  But I really should have figured out that nothing is about me anymore.

I'm super duper glad we went because we really would have been sub-par in our birthday party throwing.  Anyway, I got to work yesterday and Joy and I planned out Em's birthday party, which will be Nov 3.  Fall Festival!  And since everyone should have their Halloween costumes out, we can do a costume party/contest.  We wanted to have it at a park, but decided on our house/backyard since having an outdoor event in November is probably tricky. Anyway, we are excited and Joy is going to help; this is right up her alley and having helpers is definitely right up my alley.  Plus, we will get lots of bonus points from the dads for having college football on the TV.

But back to Judson's party.

Tara and Wes (mostly Tara and her mom, I bet) did a wonderful job planning Judson's first birthday party. It was farm-themed and held at the "Top of the Barn" (it is what it sounds like) and petting zoo at Oak Mountain State Park.  The food was great, the weather was beautiful. All the details were super adorable, and let me just say this : Em had SO. MUCH. FUN.  I didn't expect her to play as hard as she did, but she did every activity and really enjoyed herself.  It helped that this was the perfect type of party for kids her age and there was plenty of stuff for her to do.  

And she loved the goats.  Currently, she thinks every animal is dog so when we walked up she was saying, "daw, daw!" But since she is still pretty young, I guess I can let it slide :)

Super Cute Invites:

Em's gift:

Pre-gaming, baby style.

Theme cupcakes.

Birthday boy gets all set to smash a cupcake.

"What is all this singing?"

Happy Birthday Judson!

Em plays in a ball pit.  

Gabe is her boyfriend.  

She shows her love by poking him in the eye and taking his toys.

That's my kind of girl :)

Told you, she is a bully.
Love hurts, Gabe.  Best you learn now.

Noah and Gerald

Judson opened presents for like 100 years.

I'm sure some of Em's birthday presents will be re-gifted to Christmas.

No, Gabe's mom didn't throw him out the window, but Gabe's dad DOES look concerned :)

...Still opening gifts.  The adults took 'shifts'.

The petting zoo.  The kids loved it!

Turns out, I'm surprisingly afraid of goats!  

But only the ones that try to eat my clothes.

So now the social butterfly has been to her first birthday party! And to celebrate that milestone, on Sunday night SHE WALKED.  ALL THE WAY ACROSS HER BEDROOM.

Happy Tuesday!