Rhett's Donut-Themed First Birthday Party

I have yet to blog Rhett's eight, nine, ten, eleven, and twelve month updates, but his birthday party?  Now that I can do!  Because it's way more fun to recap a cute party.  Especially when the party consists of donuts and drinks at 9:00 in the morning!  I'm certain our neighbors appreciated that. 😉

Anyway, I may have decided on a party theme (buffalo plaid) last December, but I can assure you I didn't start planning until two weeks beforehand and most of my plans came together two days beforehand.  My goal from the get-go was simple.  Instead of making an invite, as I have typically done in the past, I bought one on Etsy.  And instead of sending invites via snail mail, I imported the invite into Paperless Post and send it via email.  Easy, free, and quick.

Yes, you read that 9am start time correctly.  I know, that's crazy early, but hear me out.  December is such a busy time of the year and I didn't want to interrupt anyone's weekend holiday-prep plans.  I wanted it over and done so people could get on with their days.  And besides, I wanted to serve donuts so 9am seemed about perfect.  And you know, because we're "cool parents", we also served Bloody Marys, mimosas, and coffee with Bailey's.  Because let's be honest.  First birthday parties aren't that fun.  Alcohol is generally appreciated.

I ordered the O N E balloons and buffalo plaid party supplies from Party City, made the monthly-photo banner, and borrowed all of the tree stumps from Vanessa.  The cake was from Price Chopper, a local grocery store, and I added the burlap banner to the top myself.  Donuts (including the ones that spelled HAPPY BIRTHDAY RHETT) were from Daylight Donuts.

The details of a party are always my favorite part and they definitely didn't disappoint!

And yes, I bought a shirt to match the party theme.  Because when it's your third and final baby's first birthday, that's just what you do!

Rhett's gift from us was his PB chair.  He has no idea that it spells his name, but somehow he knew right away it was his.

I couldn't tell you what anyone else got him because opening gifts with an uninterested 1-year old and about eight interested 3-5 year olds is very stressful.  (And oh look--the party guests matched the theme!)

Next and final birthday activity - the smash cake.  He loved it, if you can't tell by the next series of photos.

Despite "ending" at 10:30, our neighbors stuck around until after noon.  It was a perfect, perfect morning celebrating our baby and exactly what I had envisioned for his donut-serving, buffalo-plaid themed first birthday party.

Happy birthday, Rhetti Pie!

Six Last Minute Gift Ideas Under $30

I did a similar post last year and it was way popular!  So here I go again - six last minute (ahem, Amazon Prime) gift ideas for under $30!

(affiliate links)

1 Plaid Blanket Scarf // 2 Wooden Ring Toss Game // 3 Bring Me Some Wine Socks // 4 What Do You Meme Party Game // 5 Amazon Echo Dot // 6 Knit Cardigan

It's a blanket.  It's a scarf ($17.69).  And who couldn't use yet another of either?!  (Lots of color options available!)

I credit my husband for finding this cute wooden ring toss game ($29.99).  It could work in a basement, in a garage, or on a patio and would be a good gift for a guy or girl!

I know a few people who would love these socks ($12.95)!!

 This appears to be a super fun party game ($29.99).  I'm definitely adding it to my wishlist!

The possibilities are endless with an Amazon Dot ($29.99).  You can play music, add to your shopping list, heck, ours even turns on and off our living room lamp (with a wifi-enabled smart plug anyway).  As silly as I once thought these were, I'm sort of loving ours!  But hurry--it's only this price for a limited time!

And finally, this long, open-front knit cardigan ($31.99).  And I lied.  It's technically over $30...but only by $2.  Looks so cozy and appears to get good reviews!

Happy last-minute shopping!

(For last year's post, click here.)

Our Family Photos

We had these family photos taken at the very end of September.  Surprisingly, they went better than I imaged them going, aside from Holden's weird smile.   They are not perfect, but as perfect as we're going to get at this stage of life with a 5, a 3, and a (then) 10-month old.

Photos by Maylyn Photograhy.