If my whole family wasn’t coming to town (ACK) for Baby Evan’s first birthday, I would be a posting fool about all the decorations, games, crafts and fun I’ve been buying and making for  the party. Some of it is just so damn cute I can barely stop myself. But as my friend Sarah is always saying, it’s important to make wise choices. Of course, Sarah is usually talking to her 2 year old, but it’s still an important concept. Like for example, when Baby Evan chooses to eat mulch and Sarah’s daughter gets very concerned that “Baby Eban not make wise choice” even thought she TOLD him to stop eating that mulch! Of course, the wise choice in that situation would actually be for”Baby Eban’s” mother to stop her child from eating the dirty mulch on the playground, but Baby Eban’s mother is still working on remembering these things. Like I said, I’m trying to make wise choices so I’m starting with NOT posting every detail of the birthday party before anyone even gets her so they can all oooooh and aaaaaah over my skillz and talent. Plus I’m counting on that party to give me at least four days worth of posts (I know you’re SO excited) so I can give my brain a little break while it recovers from an influx of house guests and company.

So my wise choice for today is to give you just a sneak peak of some of the stuff I’ve found so far:

Dollar Store, 3 for $1

That container used to hold Boy Scout popcorn (if you don't know what that is you clearly your family is not as BLESSED with Eagle Scouts as mine is)

From Celebration Express online

Dollar Store

I’m having a really ridiculous but majorly stressful problem re: inviting people to Baby Evan’s birthday party. On the one hand I don’t want to exclude anyone and end up causing hurt feelings because OMG A, B & C got invited but D totally didn’t. But on the other hand, really, who wants to waste a whole Saturday afternoon squished into my living room watching my child not eat cake and playing pin the nose on the clown? It’s my own kid’s birthday and even I think that sounds like the third circle of hell. I don’t want anyone to feel like they have to come if they don’t want to.

My problem lies in the fact that in the past six months my circle of local mama friends has exploded from exactly one (Hi Amanda!) to 15 or 20. More if you include all the kids whose name and age I can list (the true sign of mama friendship). Do I invited everyone I see on a weekly basis? Do I invite just the half-dozen people whose husbands I’ve met once or twice? Do I even invite the husbands? God, they’re going to be SO BORED. There’s not enough beer in Connecticut to make a first birthday party fun for most grown ups. What’s the level of friendship required to put someone through that? I don’t think anyone likes me that much.

And, oh nooooo, what if everyone I invite brings gifts? The last thing my spoiled kid needs is 40 toys. I really should have put one of those cute little no gifts rhymes on my invitations – like “the gift of your presence is present enough” – although considering I didn’t even remember to put Baby Evan’s NAME on the invitations maybe it won’t even matter. Maybe no one will show up. It will just be my parents and my in-laws staring at two hundred dollars worth of plastic plates and cups and candy. Of course, then I’ll be the one who feels snubbed and left out and I’ll never be able to show my face at Stroller Strides or knitting group again. I will have ruined my life over a stupid birthday party.

So listen, people of the internet and also real life friends who might stalk read my blog: I’d like to invite you. I will invite you. I did invite you. There’s probably a card in my diaper bag right now with your name on it. If you have any desire at all to be here to help celebrate Baby Evan’s first trip around the sun, let me know. I promise it will be as much fun as a first birthday party can possibly be.

Although Baby Evan will neither appreciate nor remember his first birthday party, I cannot stop myself from going a little overboard. And by “a little overboard” I mean I’ve jumped right off the ship without a life jacket and am struggling to keep my head above the dangerous waters of hand-made crafts and custom Etsy listings. If you thought the wedding industry was full of over-priced, high pressure sales, then you’ve never considered renting a cotton candy machine for a baby’s birthday. It is INTENSE. (For the record, we are not renting a cotton candy machine for a child that does not eat, no matter how much I love cotton candy.)

To keep the cost somewhat under control I’m doing all the decorations and invitations myself, with the help of a lot of craft-store coupons and maybe a tiiiiny bit of creative plagiarizing from other people on the internet. I decided to go with a totally unoriginal circus/carnival theme and have found some really great inspiration thanks to Google.

Caroline at Armelle Blog had an adorable photo booth, an idea I am definitely stealing:

Via @caroline armelle photo's Flikr stream

And Kara from Kara’s Party Ideas threw possibly the best circus themed party ever in the history of the world and I’ve been scouring the internet to find some of the things she used. Seriously, check out her website for the most amazing kid’s birthday party I’ve ever seen:

Via Kara's Party Ideas

My bloggie friend Silence and Noise is about to celebrate her son Bresho’s 1st birthday with a circus themed party of her own and I can’t wait to see the pictures and steal some of her ideas too.

Here’s a sneak peek of what I’ve been doing for Baby Evan’s party:

Part of the invitation. I'm going to order them as photos from an online company like Snapfish.

The vintage tray from my grandmother that inspired my theme plus some homemade confetti and rolls of tickets.

A combination of fancy craft papers and a lucky find at The Christmas Tree Shops means I don't have to create my own circus animals or patterns.

I don’t know how I’m going to keep from going even more overboard in the next month (uh, besides hitting the limit on my credit card) but I cannot wait to have everyone here and show off the final results.

In the past 30 years, my wonderful husband has done a lot of stuff. He learned to play several instruments, kicked ass in marching band, became an Eagle Scout, graduated high school, saw The Matrix in the theater 79 times, decided college wasn’t for him (it interfered with Matrix-watching time), joined the Navy, survived boot camp, became a really excellent dancer, blazed up the military ranks at wild-fire speed, got married to your truly, adopted a dog, bought a house, traveled to Japan/Hawaii/Singapore/Greece/Gibraltar on a nuclear submarine, made Chief (E7) in less than 10 years, bought a boat,  and contributed 50%  of the genetic material needed to make Baby Evan. Next up, he’s hoping to get picked up as a Limited Duty Officer and contribute some more genetic material, several times over. Since most of E’s friends are internet-based (or deployed) and extended family is a 10-hour drive, we’re going to celebrate with a nice sushi dinner and some family time. But 30th birthdays are a Big Deal so I did my best to make it a (surprise) special occasion.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

When I got up to feed the baby at 5 am last night I also packed a lunch for E to take to work (so he wouldn't have to hike to the cafeteria in the snow). I also included some special treats.

I also decorated the dining room for the evening's cake eating.

Did you guess the theme yet?

Carrot cake with cream cheese whipped cream frosting - E's favorite. The frosting is slowing sliding off the cake (I made it too thin) but it TASTES absofrigginlutely delicious.

Baby Evan helped with the frosting.

And this is a picture from our craft project this morning, when Baby Evan made daddy his first of many birthday finger paintings. The gift is the only thing that's still a surprise.

I don't think the Crayola people had this in mind when they labeled it "non-toxic".

After much hang wringing and deliberation, I’ve decided I can’t let my first child turn one without at least attempting to commemorate the occasion with cake and singing. Of course, he doesn’t actually turn one for two more months, but I like the plan ahead. This morning I brought up the subject with my darling husband:

Me: So do you want to have a party for the baby’s birthday?
E: Sure.
Me: Should I invite all our relatives? And some mom friends? It might be a lot of people. Or maybe no one will show up.
E: Sure.
Me: Ok, we’re officially having a party. With a cake. And a theme. Oh, what should the theme be?
E: Sure.
Me: My internet friend Emmie did robots. Want to see her son’s robot party? Robots are really cool, right? But we could do something else. Maybe animals, like my baby shower. Or doggies. Or numbers. Or boats. I love boats! Or PIRATES. I’m going to go check Etsy for first birthday party decorations and get started buying stuff. Good thing we’re getting that tax return, because these things are ADORABLE.
E: Sure. Wait, what?

So it’s settled – Baby Evan is having a party and I am currently in obsessive planning mode. Although if I truly did like to plan ahead, maybe I’d have something planned for E’s 30th birthday which happens to be THIS THURSDAY. Sorry honey, I think once you have kids your own birthday’s are never really special again. So far the only thing on our calendar is attending the birthday party for a friend’s daughter, which may not exactly be the kind of debauchery-filled, Vegas-themed, crazy all-nighter he had in mind. Although you never know – maybe that’s EXACTLY what they’re planning for their one year old. In which case I’m REALLY slacking in the party department