My baby is ONE!! How has this already happened??? You never realize how fast it really goes until you get to the first year mark. And then you’re backtracking thinking, did I soak in the baby moments enough? Did I have enough gratitude during the hard times? That wasn’t so bad – let’s have another baby! This entire first year was all about learning and figuring out parenthood. The baby stage came and went in the blink of an eye. I don’t feel sad that he’s not a baby anymore, for some reason. I’m loving seeing his personality develop and seeing him grow a sense of independence he never had before. I love teaching him new things, showing him things in the great big world and playing with him.
With all that being said, we needed to make a big deal out of his first birthday. The only problem is…….we live in Maryland….and our ENTIRE family resides in different parts of Florida. We couldn’t ask everyone to make such a big trip for his birthday. In addition, my dad’s hip was basically destroyed and he could barely walk. Scott’s grandparents are in their 80’s and had never flown on a plane and were willing to fly for Grady’s first birthday. Everyone wanted to be involved in this little boys’ birthday….
So I started planning for the party to be held at my parent’s ranch in central Florida. It was a somewhat central location for everyone to meet in the middle and they had plenty of room. I don’t know why I decided on a pirate theme. Maybe because I grew up in the Keys and like the whole idea? It ended up being easier than expected and I shipped everything down beforehand. There were so many people there and I was so busy I didn’t have a lot of time to take pictures. I’ve linked everything I purchased in case you’re interested!
The red loot bags I purchased at Dollar Tree. They were 3 for $1. I used a sharpie to make it look like a treasure map. I filled the inside with a bag of Pirate’s Booty (every kid’s favorite), rings, tattoos and an eye patch. The skulls, skeletons and jewels were also dollar tree. The coins were from my St. Patrick’s Day box from teaching. My parents have a hutch right when you walk in that was perfect for all the goodie bags and for the “present drop.”
Loot Bags // tattoos // eye patches // rings // bird skeleton // skulls // jewels // gold coins // “Thanks Matey” tags
Pirate ship cooler // pirate vest
My mom found this chalkboard sign from Marshall’s and wanted to use it for the party. One of my friends from back home actually hand lettered it for the party. She’s so talented. The back had some little clothespins for pictures and I just so happened to have a few extra small pictures leftover from Grady’s baby book.
I also included some things for the kids to dress up with while at the party. I think they liked the necklaces more than anything. My nephew walked around with around 36 around his neck. My mother in law had a ton of them stored away in her garage and I bought a bunch from Dollar Tree. My mom brought the treasure chest from school (she’s a teacher) to hold the loot bags.
pirate bandana // pirate beads
Yes….my parents have paintings of cows on their walls…don’t judge….they’re ranchers.
My dad saw this blow up shark at a party rental store. He was pretty adamant about getting it for all the cousins and kids coming to the party. My mom also thought it was a great idea because 1. it was in the middle of August and blazing hot and 2. the kids wouldn’t be running through her house but outside playing. They ended up renting the slide and a snow cone machine. It was well worth the money!
Grady’s smash cake was from Publix. I ended up making the high chair banner myself. I used my Silhouette to cut the skull and number one out of felt and just glued it on to a flag I cut. All the fabric was from Joann’s.
The adult cake was also from Publix. It’s was actually the same flavor we had at our wedding (vanilla with raspberry filling). We also had Publix cater the food. If you ain’t had Publix subs and wings then you’ve missed out on life.
Look at those faces!!! All the cousins!
Left to Right: Scott, Grady, Me, Grady, Daddy
Grady was named after my godfather, Grady. He’s 95 years old. He drove an hour and forty five minutes to attend Grady’s party. It meant so much that he was there.
My best girlfriends drove almost an hour. We were Kindergarten teachers together. They ended up becoming my best friends, my bridesmaids and now they’re my family.
Left to right:
My brother in law, my sister, my sister in law, my niece, me and Scott, my nephew and niece, Momma and Daddy. And then there’s my crazy child.
When it was all over, we thought WE MADE IT. We flew our one year old down to Florida and held a party with around 50 people coming and going. No one was injured and a good time was had by all. What made it so great was seeing all our friends and family. It became more of seeing the ones we loved than about Grady’s birthday. We were exhausted and had to get up at 4:30 the next morning to catch a flight but it was all worth it. We made some awesome memories and it was the first time Scott and I REALLY worked together to make sure everything ran smoothly. Go us.
