It’s hard to believe it’s been over a week since Lawson turned one! In the months leading up to his birthday, I went back and forth on throwing him a party. In the end we settled on a small gathering with our family. Mandy really sealed it for me in this post about her son’s first birthday (he’s a little over a month older than Lawson). Her words about his first birthday being a celebration of milestones and surviving the first year of parenthood with support from family and friends hit home.
While I promised myself we wouldn’t go too crazy, I did settle on a camping adventure theme pretty quickly. It’s honestly the easiest theme to plan a menu! We stuck to camping basics – chips & dip, hamburgers & hot dogs, fruit and trail mix, along with water, iced tea and beer for refreshments. One of Lawson’s gifts from us was this national parks map, which we also used as decoration on the day of his party with a few balloons in the same color scheme (mint green, dark green and gold). And for party favors, I couldn’t resist s’mores marshmallow pops from Fluff It!
As a thank you to Lawson’s grandparents for their love and support the past year, we made them each a book of photos from Lawson’s first year. Shutterfly has so many great options and the process of creating the photo books couldn’t have been easier (we used 3 different styles from the baby photo book category)! To say his grandparents were surprised to receive a gift on Lawson’s birthday is an understatement. And I may or may not have gotten a little emotional reflecting on his past year while putting them together.
Of course, the highlight of the day was the cake! I had entertained the idea of baking it, but ultimately went the easy route and ordered the smallest cake from Urban Cookies. It was such fun to watch Lawson try to touch the candle as we were singing happy birthday! He couldn’t decide what to do with the cake for a bit. After feeding some of the frosting to Jim, he dug right in! I will admit to feeling some anxiety as he kept eating handfuls of frosting. I thought he’d never sleep that night and his little stomach would be in shambles. :)
When Lawson was born, we were welcomed home from the hospital by a banner that Jim had made for me. For his birthday, we decided to take it out and snap a few photos. Even I get sentimental and save some special items!
We’ve attempted to implement a 3-gift rule for Lawson. I was really proud of our families for (mostly) sticking to it! For the record, we also abide by this rule. I try to find 1 book, 1 toy and 1 outfit.
As we reflected on the day, Jim and I both agreed it was perfect. We wouldn’t have changed a thing. Now we need to plan our first camping trip and add a tree to Lawson’s national park map!
photos by grandpa chuck kartak and awesome aunt kenzie cole
A big thank you to Shutterfly for providing the photo books to commemorate Lawson’s first year!