Winter ONEderland

On Thursday, Hugh turned one.

Initially, we were not going to do a party. We were going to just celebrate at the beach with his birth mom and my parents. However, the closer we got to his birthday, the more I thought about it and realized that he *may* be my last baby and could be the last to turn one. What a sad thought. I don't want to have regrets.

We decided to do a Winter ONEderland party. Afterall, he's only one once, and being born in the winter makes this theme awesome and easy to pull off.

I started off by heading to Pinterest to see what ideas I could gather for the party. I found loads of pins and boards all centered around this theme. It was overwhelming, but I was able to create a list of things that I wanted for the party. I found a shop on Etsy that had invitations and I decided that I could make them myself. 

I think it turned our really cute.

After I made the invites, created the invite list. We invited all his friends from playgroup, and then some friends from Gus's playgroup. These moms were there with me when we found out about Hugh, and they were there to support me when we started back up at playgroup when Hugh was just a newborn. They love him and I was excited to invite them to share our special day with us.


We ended up inviting 18 adults and 20 kids and had 16 adults and 18 kids at the party. Not too shabby! 


I found an awesome shop on Etsy called Amanda's Parties to Go that sold a complete decoration set. I was excited and got it for $25. Steve was able to print things for me and soon enough, we had all the decorations needed. I went on Oriental Trading Company's website and was able to get some winter decorations, party favors, and plates/cups/napkins/table cloths that matched our theme.

Next, I had to decide what Hugh would wear for the party. I decided to go with the same lady that made Gus's shirt for his 3rd birthday. I think each year, we'll order Gus a shirt with his age and then when Hugh has his birthday, he'll get the same shirt in the same color and they'll match. The Etsy shop where I got his shirt is called Gorno Couture.

Once the shirt was ordered, I had to figure out the cake situation. Thankfully, I found out that Gus's friends at school, J and C, have a mom, Nikki, who does cakes! She has her own company (Via Roma Cakes) and she agreed to make our cupcakes and baby cake!

 Hugh's baby cake (SO AWESOME)

 Snowmen, penguins, and snowflake cupcakes!

On Thursday, we started to get everything ready and thankfully, Kathryn and Lesley came early to help. It meant a lot to have them come and help me.

Here are the pictures from the party!

 Vixen Veggies and Dasher Dip

 The BEST crockpot cocoa recipe EVER. You MUST try it!! We had a cocoa bar!!

 Yule Logs (aka- little smokeys in a ketchup & brown sugar sauce)

 Reindeer Oysters (aka meatballs-- KC Masterpiece Hickory Brown Sugar BBQ sauce and Smucker's Grape Jelly served with Costco meatballs)

 Polar Punch (White grape juice, Sprite, Blue Hawaiian Punch and Rainbow Sherbet)

 Hugh's monthly pictures for the first year of his life

 The spot where he enjoyed his cake and gifts!

 Gifts for each child (A reindeer bell, a penguin ornament craft, bubbles, chocolate, a free book from Scholastic, a snowman cup, and a Santa beard and noise maker)

 Reineer Feed (aka- fruit salad), as well as Chilly Cheetos and Festive Fritos

Each child also got a snowman snack (Raisinettes, mini marshmallows, pretzel sticks, mini chocolate chips, and a fruit roll-up scarf)

The party was a great time and we even had "Pin the Nose on the Snowman" for the older kids to enjoy.

Here are some pictures of everyone enjoying the party. I also made a DVD of Hugh's first year and it played on the tv while everyone ate and chatted. I think it was a big hit. :-)

 Aubree and Riggs excitedly awaiting Gus's arrival from school

It was time for cake and gifts and Hugh wasn't sure what to make of the cake. He took his sweet time, and caused some of the older kids to keep asking him to hurry up so they could enjoy cupcakes!

 Hugh's view

 Our family

 "Hurry up, Hugh!!"

Jackie giving Hugh a pep talk about eating his cake

After the cake, Hugh opened his gifts. He really enjoyed this and was very happy to get so many wonderful gifts from friends!!

Overall, as much work as the party was, it was totally worth it. We were surrounded by so many wonderful, loving people and it was amazing to see all the support. We really are so blessed to have so many friends here in Georgia. As much as we missed being able to celebrate with our family, we really felt loved by our friends.

Here are the names and sites used for this party:
Pinterest
Birthday Shirt
Winter ONEderland theme decorations
Party Supplies and Gifts for Guests
Cake and Cupcakes
Wishlist