Jordyn's Birthday Party

I know I'm late writing this post, as her party was on August 10th, but considering the fact that I haven't written a single thank-you note yet, I guess it's not really that bad!

Jordyn's birthday party was a ton of work, but really fun, too. Somehow I thought I'd invite people over, buy some food, and we'd hang out and have a little cookout birthday party in the backyard. Easy-peasy.

Yeah.... Right!

I invited all the mom and babies we've been hanging out with all year, and their husbands, of course (those who have them; I'm friends with some local SMCs, too). And a few families and a single friend that I know from Camp Sunshine, including my doula and her family. And a few friends without kids. And my immediate family. And a few family members who live far away and who I figured wouldn't come, but also figured I should invite just because I should include them (two of them came!).

As the party got closer, I started counting the RSVPs, and realized I could potentially have as many as 45 adults (including a couple of teenagers and a twelve-year-old) and 22 babies/young children (mostly infants and one year olds, and a few around four or five). In reality, I think there were 30-something adults and maybe 15-18 children. But still. That's a lot of people!

The theme of the party was Minnie and Mickey Mouse. I ordered party favors, that is, once I figured out what party favors would work for babies (bubbles, rubber duckies, and minnie beach balls), and put them in Minnie and Mickey party favor bags. I also ordered Minnie and Mickey plates, napkins, cups, and table cloths (and decorations, but those got returned because I ran out of time and they never got put up). I also got Jordyn a Minnie Mouse shirt that she wore to the party (well, the first part, before her clothes were off for the baby pool and the smash cake).

Jordyn's birthday party outfit.

My friend Ali had offered to make Jordyn's birthday cakes, including a smash cake. She's a great cook and baker, so I quickly took her up on this offer.

 The two main cakes - Minnie and Mickey's hats! As you can see in the bottom lefthand corner, there were also a bunch of mini cupcakes.

 The smash cake, pre-smash.

 Jordyn was not shy about diving right in to her smash cake!

 Mommy and messy birthday girl!

Post-smash, pre-bath.

On Friday, my dad and I went to Cosco to buy the food and drinks. I was totally confused, because I really have no idea whatsoever how to shop for food for such a large group, and not really knowing who would eat what. How many people would eat burgers? Turkey burgers? Veggie burgers? Would people eat more than one burger? How many people? And why do hamburger buns not come in packages with the same number of burgers that come in a package?? Ketchup and mustard were obvious, but did I need mayo? Relish? Pickles? Lettuce? Tomato? Onion? Then there were the drinks... Soda? How many kinds? Diet? Lemonade? Bottled water? Did I need to have milk for the kids? Juice? Where was I going to *store* all of this "keep refrigerated" and "keep frozen" food until the next day?? It was a little bit of a mindfuck. I just hadn't thought it through, to be honest.

The food tables, and my brother at the grill in the background. You can also see the table full of gifts on the left.

I'd arranged for my dad to be the grill master, and for my brother to be his assistant. It worked out great for them to have jobs to keep them busy. My dad also helped me set up the shade tent before the party, and in the days before, he helped put together a slide show of pictures of Jordyn from her whole first year. I had it playing on my laptop during the party. My mom and aunt helped with Jordyn and in the kitchen doing things like slicing tomatoes and putting pickles in bowls. Ali (and her husband and baby) came over early and helped, too.

Jordyn got really cranky and ended up sleeping for the first hour or so of her party. Oh well, once she woke up she had a great time!

I had our baby pool and water table up and running, and a bubble machine, a tunnel, and a couple of balls were out there, too. The weather was absolutely perfect (if a little too hot), and the kids loved getting wet. After Jordyn quite literally dove into her smash cake, I used the baby pool to give her a little bath, and then we dumped it out and refilled it.

I think fun was had by all. I of course didn't get to talk to everyone as much as I wanted to, but I tried to move around and sit with different groups of people as much as I could. I had to be reminded about the party favors for the kids when people started to leave, so the first few people to leave didn't get them. And I had to be reminded that it was probably time to do the cake soon. And I can't even tell you how many times I went up and down the stairs to get something from inside, including new batteries for the bubble machine at one point.

And then, before I knew it, it was over. Everyone had left except for my immediate family and my aunt who'd driven up from Philadelphia. We cleaned up as a the sun started to set, and then we finally tackled the big pile of presents. Jordyn was pretty tired, but she hung in there while we opened most of the presents outside, and then finished up inside because the mosquitoes had come out. She got some great gifts, a couple of which we played with on the spot to keep her occupied. And, of course, the requisite un-developmentally-appropriate gift (a swaddle blanket... c'mon, really?? And that gift-giver has a 3-month-old, so it was pretty obvious that it was a re-gift). Some of the highlights are a rocking horse (from my parents), a refinished toddler-size table and chairs (from my sister), lego/duplo blocks, and a talking/singing dog stuffed animal toy.

 The rocking horse from my parents. Jordyn likes it more than it looks like she 

does in this pic!

It was a really fun party, and a lot of people commented that it was a great party, so I think it truly was. But honestly? I'll never do that again! It was SO much work. SO much more work than I thought it would be. She'll have birthday parties in the future, of course, just not in our backyard, at least not without it being catered (ha, yeah, right!).

And now to tackle the thank- you cards...

One last pic of the birthday girl, wearing the very old Mickey Mouse ears my dad wore for most of the party.