A Simplified First Birthday

It doesn’t seem possible, but I now have a one-year-old.

I can’t believe LJ’s first birthday has come and gone. It seems like it wasn’t that long ago that I had the sweetest little newborn snuggled up on my chest. At the same time, it’s so hard to remember what life was like before him. He has changed our whole world and we’re so grateful for this year of his life!

Justin and I decided a long time ago that we wanted to keep LJ’s birthday party very low-key and simple. We know some parents choose to go all out with themes, decorations, coordinating food items, etc. and if that’s your thing, that’s great and we totally support you!  For us, we decided we wanted to focus on finding a few small ways to have a special celebration without a ton of work or stress. Today I wanted to share what we did to keep things sweet, simple, and fun!

LJ’s First Birthday Party

Our situation was a little unique in that LJ’s birthday fell on Thanksgiving this year and we were going to spend the day at my grandparents house with extended family on my dad’s side celebrating both Thanksgiving and Christmas. Instead of having a separate party on another day, we just decided to have a small celebration after the Thanksgiving meal but before the Christmas gifts. We called it ThanksBirthMas. 😉

After people were mostly finished with the meal, I set out a small dessert station on my grandma’s kitchen island.

I had purchased cupcakes in three flavors from a local baker (chocolate with peanut butter frosting, vanilla with buttercream frosting, and blueberry with cream cheese frosting) and I set out a few toppings people could sprinkle on top if they wanted. I already had the cake stand and three dish serving set so I just brought those along to have a cute little way to arrange the items. I also set out my Letterfolk board to round out the display.

Our baker had also made a smash cake for LJ based off a picture I found of a cake I liked on Pinterest and I stuck a “1” candle on top. I also attached a gold “1” balloon to LJ’s high chair.

I passed out party hats to everyone as a fun way to say “okay, it’s birthday time now!”

We all sang Happy Birthday to LJ and ate cupcakes while he dug into his smash cake. His cake was vanilla with peanut butter filling and he loved it!

He was upset when we decided he had eaten enough and took it away. I think he takes after his mama’s sweet tooth!

Justin and I had decided we wanted a “no gifts” party and had let our family know this desire a few months ago so everyone was on the same page. In lieu of gifts, we asked people to bring a donation to a local charity. We chose a local organization that distributes books to hospitalized children throughout our region. This organization is near and dear to our hearts because LJ had to spend a week in the NICU after birth and he received three books from them during his time there. We so appreciated this kindness during a very stressful time in our lives and wanted to pay it forward to other families.

Our families were totally on board with this and were more than happy to bring donations instead of gifts. Some people chose to wrap the books and LJ had fun tearing off the paper and opening his birthday cards. We were thrilled to get to make a donation to a great organization in LJ’s honor.

Once we had collected the books and LJ had opened his cards, we thanked everyone and the birthday portion of the day was finished.

Justin and I were very happy with how the party turned out. It wasn’t perfect or Pinterest-worthy. It was simple but still felt very special and celebratory. Even if we wouldn’t have had a combo Thanksgiving/Christmas on the same day, I doubt we would have done much more with the party. The point for us was to hang out with family and celebrate and we have lots of wonderful memories of our time together!

And just for a little walk down memory lane…

Happy birthday my sweet little LJ! We love you SO much!