The Phelan Family Adventures: First Birthday Party

I want to start off saying I really enjoy crafts, party planning and small details of parties. I always underestimate the amount of time things are going to take and the amount of time I have to work with. I am pretty sure I've been excited about planning Charlotte's first birthday party since I survived the first 3 months of motherhood. I realize this party was totally for us ( the parents) to celebrate the fact that we survived (and thrived some of the time) our first year of parenting! I have to give props to Pinterest and Jess's blog (http://themcclenahans.blogspot.com/) for my party inspiration. I also have to give a big shout out to my mom for helping me construct the decorations, my in-laws for helping the day of the party, my brothers for general help the day of as well and most of all Kevin for dealing with my craziness that always gets ramped up at these times!!! The party was a huge success. We had a huge turn out and got to see and visit with tons of friends and family. Charlotte had a great time playing with her friends and the balloons that were floating around the house. She sat with us and opened all her presents without any fussing or tears. For a final thank you, my friend Sarah saved the day by taking control of the camera. Lesson learned that before the party designate an invitee as "the photographer" or it won't get done. I wish we had more photos of all the attendees because it was so fun seeing everyone.

The theme: Highlighting photos of Charlotte's first year of life and "time capsule". In the invitation, I included a notecard for people to share their thoughts, love and prayers for Charlotte to be opened on her 18th birthday. I loved the idea and think we are going to do it for any future kids we bring into this world!

A few photos of the party layout