HAPPY BIRTHDAY EZRA! (Ezra’s First Birthday Party)

Ezra turns TWO today!!!! The date on the calendar is just mere confirmation of what the last week has obviously shown me…drastic changes are happening in this little life! Almost overnight it’s as though he knows that hitting this milestone means he must now act his age. I won’t call it terrible…but it’s definitely trying! Last night he did a front flip into his crib and landed on his face, then immediately tried to climb back out. I guess I won’t be able to wait too much longer to convert his crib into a toddler bed! We had a Thomas party for him, which was a HUGE success, and I’ll be blogging about that in the near future. But, I’d like to commemorate his 2nd birthday in a different way…by blogging about his FIRST birthday party!

I never got around to it last year. We had his party just a few days before Russ came home from Afghanistan for his 2 weeks of “mid-tour” leave. And our RnR time was filled with so much struggle and adjustment that by the time he was gone again, all that transpired before RnR seemed like a distant memory from another lifetime. I wanted to blog about the party, but was so busy blogging about our time together that it just slipped through the cracks. So I just let it go. But a few weeks ago I thought it would be very neat to see the changes that the last year has brought to Ezra!

We set the party date for August 27th, a Saturday. I had given Russ the option of waiting until he was home to have the party, but he chose to get it out of the way beforehand. [Just an explanation for my non-military readers as to why. 1) Two weeks goes very fast. And when you haven’t been together as a family for nine months, you don’t like to share that time with ANYONE. It’s like a huge do-not-disturb sign goes up on our front door. We don’t even let extended family come visit us. It’s our time. Therefore, parties are out. 2) Parties are loud, noisy, and generally have lots of kids. And their mommies. Russ really doesn’t know most of my friends. He kinda remembers their names, but even those he usually gets mixed up. This is even more the case when he’s deployed. He lives his life, I live mine. So the thought of “celebrating” with a bunch of girls that he doesn’t really know and their noisy kids mere days after returning from a war zone was not his idea of “rest and relaxation.” It would have been awkward at best or panic-attack-inducing at worst.]

I really wanted a small and personal party. I invited our midwife, pediatrician, and lactation consultant (none of whom were able to come…boo…) and a handful of close friends who had been there for me during my pregnancy and the first part of our 2nd deployment. I also invited my mom and my mother-in-law. I wanted it to be a time to thank people for being in Ezra’s life as much as it was to celebrate it.

I also didn’t want to go crazy with decorations or a party theme. Ezra wasn’t really old enough to be “into” anything other than just being a baby. I bought a candle…just a candle. Just because I liked the colors. And those colors became the theme of the birthday party.

Ezra’s First Birthday Party

Just so happened to find letters for the cake that matched (at a different store) and my mom bought the little car.

We found blue and green wrapping paper, a balloon, a birthday bib, and even a monogrammed dinnerware set at a specialty gift shop…all random purchases that we didn’t really PLAN, but all ended up coordinating with the color theme!

Here is Ezra, the night before the party, taste-testing his frosting:

Party day dawned bright and cheery:

And we finished decorating the house, getting the food ready, and putting out the party favors:

My mother-in-law brought me home a bouquet of roses, which we used as favor (thank you) gifts to all of the mothers in attendance for all that they had done for me and Ezra. Each mother got to take home a rose.

Here is the birthday boy!

Seeing his cake for the first time:

Ezra started off the morning getting his first present. His Cars push-car, a joint gift from both of his grandmas. The best part about this toy is that he STILL plays with it every. single. day. He loves to push it across the room and bang it into the cupboards and appliances. And ride it!

Ezra wasn’t feeling 100% the day of his birthday party. I can’t remember exactly why…whether it was a cold or teething or both, but he spent the morning sleeping and we had to wake him up when all the guests got there. He was a little overwhelmed at first!

He definitely enjoyed the food, especially the cheese balls and the watermelon!

All ready for cake! Ezra really wasn’t sure what to do with the cake..he didn’t like being messy and got so frustrated that he actually HIT the cake!

Once he got his own piece on his own plate, he was much happier:

Then it was time for presents and playtime!

His favorite things to play with were his new car and his blocks!

Super-special thanks for all the help from my Mom and Mom2! I couldn’t have pulled off this party without them!

By the time the party was over, we were all tired, but happy. And enjoyed an after-party cup of coffee!

I’ve created a compilation of the video footage from the birthday party. It’s a little long but enjoyable to watch! The giggles at the end when Ezra plays with the balloons will make you smile, I promise!

Ezra’s 1st Birthday from Aprille on Vimeo.