ollie's first birthday party - Kaitlyn Phipps Photography

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ollie’s first birthday party

Really, I should’ve just named this post “the day that Ollie fell in love with balloons.” Goodness gracious did this boy get into some balloons. He couldn’t have cared less about people or food…just balloons. We even kept them around for a few days afterwards and he essentially abandoned his toys in pursuit of balloons, balloons, and more balloons. He even figured out how to grab the end where the balloon is tied ever so carefully and with an adorable concentration face. I digress…

Today, I’m sharing a glimpse at Ollie’s birthday party. Mostly because I’m delaying writing his one year post because of #emotions. And also because I felt a significant amount of stress in planning his birthday party and wanted to share how it turned out! I’m not sure where all the stress came from, I just felt so much pressure to do everything to make his first birthday special. There was some of that dreaded momma guilt that comes from seeing pinterest perfect parties online and wondering if I should be doing something more and something bigger. But in the end, I’m glad for the smaller amount of time I spent planning and am happy with the results of doing some small projects to spruce our house up for all his guests :]

Friends, I know nothing about planning events aesthetically, but I’m pretty happy with how this turned out! Lots of teal and gold to play off the colors in our small house, some banners, and a cute little month to month picture wall that is still proudly hanging in our living room. And lots of balloons :] Almost all of Ollie’s grandparents came down which is saying a lot! He’s got 6 and they all drove 4-5 hours to get in! We also had a few friends come to celebrate :] It was a sweet time to see everyone crammed in our house. Was there enough space for everyone? No, surely not. But there was enough food and enough Ollie love to go around. And it was fun to see so many different areas of our life come together in one room. Cannot believe our little guy is a toddler now!

Here’s a little picture glimpse into the day! I didn’t pick up my camera too much in hopes that I could enjoy being with people once they arrived and we took some instax’s that went home with guests, so there are lots of people missing from these images. Namely, Ollie’s Mimi and David’s aunt who drove so far in to celebrate, and some sweet friends.

Okay I’m especially proud of those marshmallow treats :] They were a little tedious, but SO delicious.

I made his felt crown and it barely stayed on his head but was so worth it.

Krysta and Neal making faces at the little boy, he just loves them. And Kristen and her daughter Izzy, Ollie’s friend!

Our dear friends who are like family and my Dad, acting casual in front of the picture wall.

You may have seen this on instagram…but that cake was something I literally slapped back together after his first cake smash on his actual birthday, two days earlier. Icing and sprinkles solves problems.