First Birthday Extravaganza

Mr. ONEderful

When I first started planning Jellybean's birthday, the ideas seemed to be endless and it all got a little overwhelming. I finally decided to just let my mom handle it....with inputs from me of course. It would be a good excuse to escape to the Pacific Northwest, have the entire family meet him all at once, and give my mom a chance to take part in something big for her grandson. Since we live so far away and I'll have lots of opportunities to organize birthday parties, I decided it would be better to let someone else take the reins on this one while I just interjected my inputs here and there. Besides, he won't remember this birthday and I can get a little out of hand with planning events so I'd rather use that craziness for moments he'll remember.

The Location

We went back and forth for a long time on location. My stipulation was that I wanted Filipino food at the party because...well, if I'm going home, I'm eating Filipino food! Since I didn't learn how to cook it myself, I have to make up for it when my mom is around. That limited our venue options significantly because not a lot of places let you bring your own food. Well, if we were going to do Filipino food, why not have the event at the Filipino American Center in Portland? It's a big open space and they let you bring your own food. Boom! Location picked. Food guaranteed.

The Theme

This I went back and forth on A LOT. At first I wanted airplanes, then a Little Prince theme, then a Jellybean theme...the list was endless. Every time I thought of something, I decided wait- let's do that for when he'll actually be able to enjoy it, ok time to think of a new theme... I eventually settled on ONEs. He's turning one, it's not something I can use later in his life, and it was simple enough. Colors? Well that's easy, Seahawks colors of course! Blue and Green! Someone at the party also pointed out that those were my high school colors so win win for everyone. I'd be covering the FilAm Center with the number one in blue and green and serving Filipino food. This party was on its way.

The Guest List

Most of my family lives in the Portland metro area so of course they were all invited. Fortunately, Matt has 3 cousins that live in Portland too! Makes visiting family in that area really easy and really fun because we get to see both sides. Matt has another cousin that just had a baby in California and she came up for a family reunion/Jellybean's birthday. Then Matt's sister in Colorado said she'd come with her one year old daughter so Matt's parents couldn't let all that fun happen without joining in and they flew in from Hawaii. My best friend Trudi, originally from Vancouver like me, drove down from Seattle. My other best friend Jessica recently moved to Vancouver from Seattle so of course she was there....and both their parents came! These girls have been my sisters since we were in middle school, we grew up together, went to college together, and so their parents naturally became another set of parents for me and my son essentially became their adopted grandson. I can't say it enough- I have so many good people in my life that I'm beyond grateful to know.

On his birthday, Jellybean was surrounded by my family, Matt's family, and my best friends. Aunts, Uncles, Grandparents, cousins..... the list was truly bountiful and plenty. My son celebrated his first year of life surrounded by such loving people it literally brings tears to my eyes (maybe it's the pregnancy hormones) when I think about. I can't think of a better way celebrate a first year and many future birthdays than by being surrounded by genuinely good people. My mom had some of her friends come that I didn't know but she planned the party so she was able to enlist her Army of Filipino women to help her cook and Jellybean got more hugs and kisses as a result. My bottom line though was that I wanted a majority of the people there to be people I knew he'd have at this party and any other birthday party we would choose to have in Portland in the years to come. People guaranteed to stay in our lives.

I grew up surrounded by cousins. Parties, BBQs, camping trips, vacations, whatever it was, my cousins were running around with me. Jellybean won't have that opportunity since he will be a military brat so I want to take advantage of times that he'll get to know his relatives and when we're home, I want him to spend time with people that love him unconditionally so he knows the value of not just his immediate family but his extended family too. Second cousins, third cousins, great aunts...it doesn't matter how far "removed" that person is from direct relation to me or his dad. Family is family and I want to instill that belief into my son from an early age. My stepdad, who isn't technically my stepdad anymore, raised me for a better part of my life. He's not my "blood", but he's grandpa regardless and when we go home, he'll get to know his grandson. The same goes for Trudi and Jessica who aren't technically his Aunts by blood but love him just as much as my sisters do. On his birthday, Jellybean was surrounded by all these wonderful people and I hope to raise him a way that he's aware of the fact that he has family all over the country who are interested and invested in his healthy and happy upbringing.

The Party

I flew to the west (best) coast two days before Matt because I had party planning to get to! I didn't want to buy a bunch of stuff and carry it across the country in my already way too heavy suitcase so I planned to get there early to run around for a few days with my sisters and start the hectic party planning. Earlier I said I wanted my mom to plan the party but we all know that I'm way too Type A and OCD to really give someone full control of something that involves me (how am I in the military again?). She handled the food, venue, and family word spreading while I took care of decorations, to include a popcorn bar and photo booth. When I told Matt how much I spent on Jellybean's party décor and he was astounded.....well you'd think after all these years he'd get me! I had a lot of fun running around with my sister and filling my very small rental car with way too many bags from party city.

The day of the party was hectic...OF COURSE. My family is notorious, and I mean NOTORIOUS, for never ever being on time. EVER. I think that's why I'm so obsessive about being on time if not early. I grew up in a house with very little planning where if there was planning and things fell by the wayside nobody cared. Where be there at 2PM meant leave the house at 5PM. The chaos of the world I grew up in turned me into someone completely opposite. I NEED a plan. 2PM means leave the house by 1PM. Vacations mean everything is planned to the minute, to include rest time. Dishes never stay in the sink and last minute planning drives me crazy. So, maybe I should be grateful for the chaotic life I grew up in because it turned me into a super organized-drive my husband crazy-person.... That morning my mom had me running around town getting last minute items at which point I just said F it- I don't have time for this it should have been pre-planned/organized- picked up my husband, baby, and middle sister, and went to Portland to decorate. The party started at 1 and I don't think the rest of them showed til 2...... so one hour off isn't too bad right. Matt's family showed up at 1 and so did my non Filipino friends but everyone else was on what's notoriously known as Filipino time.

I like to think everyone had a good time. We had a good turnout, lots of kids, and hopefully good food. If you didn't have a good time, I'm sorry....I did my best! I'm 5 months pregnant, running after a one year old, and planning a party on the west coast but living on the east coast. There's only so much I can handle!

The Cake

This I was extremely excited for. We ordered a sheet cake from Fred Meyer and they gave us a smash cake for free (thanks for the tip Jess!). I didn't want anything too fancy, just cream cheese frosting with blue and green birthday themed décor all over. I put Jellybean in front of the photo booth and on top of a plastic table cover and....he started wailing. Of course! This kid didn't know what a cake was! I'd been strictly depriving him of all processed sweets the first year of his life. He wouldn't' recognize cake staring him straight in the face....which it was. While carrying him, I dipped my finger in the icing and put it in his mouth. This kid went from night to day in a matter of milliseconds. I was able to sit him down and step away while he hungrily, greedily, and yet somewhat cautiously went at the icing. He had about a million people hovered around him taking pictures of his first cake experience. It was pretty funny. I'm not sure he even got to the actual chocolate cake part, I'm pretty sure it was all frosting. The pictures that followed were priceless! Matt was kind of worried about him eating so much sugar but I'm pretty sure, and as you can see from the pictures, most of it actually ended up ON him vs. in his tummy. And as a bonus, the icing didn't stain his skinny jeans from Baby Gap! ;) His poop for the next two days looked just like the icing though.....

Thank You

To all my family and friends that attended, I want to thank you for taking time out of your Sunday to spend it with me and my family, most importantly to meet my sweet boy and shower him with love. It truly meant a lot to me and I'm so grateful for your support. I can't ever accurately describe just how much family means to me and the positive impact growing up in a big boisterous family had on my life, but I hope you all know that I recognize my blessings and am thankful for you!