This Mama Needs Grace

Thatcher is officially one year old! Truly cannot believe how quickly this past year went.

I learned a lesson or two from throwing Hudson’s first party, so I kept things simpler for Thatcher’s first birthday celebration, but it turned out to still be a very special and memorable celebration. He had lot of giggles and snuggles and I think he felt special!

Thatcher has been such a chill and mellow baby. He truly is one happy camper, so I thought it was the perfect theme to celebrate our boy. I also love a theme that involves hot dogs & s’mores.

I really tried to keep things simpler this time around. We decided to just keep it at the house and mostly just include family and a couple close family friends. This alone made party planning easier!

I also did way less DIY. With Hudson’s party, I made a high chair banner, a birthday cake banner, a month banner, and the list goes on. This time, I bought a month banner on Amazon (I used this one). It was nice to just print out the photos and easily string together the banner from the kit.

I will say my one regret and diy project was making a balloon garland. Balloon garlands look cool, but it took way too much time and by the time we hung it up outside, tons of balloons popped. It also required so many balloons- it felt a bit wasteful. Lesson learned. No more balloon garlands. Thank you, mom, for the hours you spent helping me put it together!

Cake was another area I kept much simpler compared to Hudson’s party. This time around, I ordered a yummy lemon cake from a local bakery. I kept it super simple and just asked for a semi-naked cake- I thought this fit the more rustic camp theme. And then I ordered this pretty cake topper from Etsy. My friend was going to make sugar cookies, but plans changed and she brought yummy mini cupcakes instead which were gobbled up by the kids.

For the smash cake, I decided to make a healthier cake for T. I really loved the recipe I used. It was oat based (you just have to grind oats in the blender) and used maple syrup as a sweetener and yogurt as frosting. It was actually pretty simple and came together easily. As an added plus, Thatcher loved it and dug right in! It was a great consistency and easy for him to smash. Also, I remember reading about this when I was planning Hudson’s first birthday: precut a slice of the smash cake so it is easier for baby to grab and dig in!

For food, Lance grilled hot dogs and chicken sausage on the bbq. My mother in-law brought a big bowl of pasta salad. We had watermelon slices and trail mix packs and cheese sticks and apple squeeze packs.

For activities, I had a time capsule station for people to write notes to Thatcher on his 18th birthday. I did this same thing for Hudson so felt a bit of an obligation to keep up the tradition with Thatcher. I used this printable from Etsy.

I also set up a little craft table in our playroom. I put butcher paper over the table, placed crayons in little glass jars, and bought these wood ornament pieces for kids to color on and decorate with stickers.

The ball pit bouncer we bought back when Hudson turned 1 was also a hit for Thatcher and even all his older cousins and friends!

A camp party is not complete without s’mores! I had all the ingredients ready to go, but we never had the time. So instead we saved it and had birthday s’mores on Thatcher’s actual birthday!

It truly is hard for me to believe that a whole year has gone by. Thatcher, you truly are one of our greatest blessings. The news of being pregnant with you came at a really hard time when we were still grieving the loss of our second babe. Thatcher, you brought hope in a really dark season. And this entire year, you have continued to be a source of calm and joy for our family. It really is hard to imagine us ever being without this happy little camper along for the ride. Thank you, Lord, for entrusting us with Thatcher. Thank you for his sweet, gentle spirit. We love you, Thatch!

P.S. T is walking! He started taking his first steps 3 days after his first birthday!