Kisses Come in Twos: Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

I see a birthday boy looking at me. For Joseph's first birthday party, I decided to pick one of his favorite books and use it for our theme. Since I had been taking his monthly pictures on an Eric Carle fabric, Brown Bear, Brown Bear was a logical choice. I tried not to go too over the top since it was, after all, just a birthday party for a baby, but I still had fun with the theme. Since his birthday is in mid-May and it normally isn't too terribly hot by then, we decided to have a cookout at the house and invite family and friends over. It ended up being hotter than anticipated, but that's ok, we still enjoyed everyone's company even if we were all in the house instead of spread out in the back yard.

My friend, Jen, did an awesome job on a cake that included some of the animals from the book.

The rest of the desert/kid refreshment table. We had to incorporate balloons somewhere since Joseph loves them so much. Did you know you can buy balloons like this at Dollar Tree for $1 each (and they will replace them for free if they happen to come untied from the weight and float away in the parking lot)?

For snacks, I found little kid friendly treats to go along with a few characters from the book then labeled containers using vinyl I cut with my silhouette. It's hard to see, but the light brown objects are smiley faces.

The main course table. We served brisket, seasoned mashed potatoes, baked beans, rolls, chips and queso, and a fruit platter. Man, was it tasty! My mother-in-law makes a mean brisket!

Joseph's monthly photos were proudly displayed on the mantle. I love how they turned out!

A canvas I painted, multi-colored pom-pom balls, and other Brown Bear type books also adorned the mantle.

Since our little guy always chooses ice cream over cake, we thought it was fitting to get an ice cream cake for his smash cake. Too bad I didn't think to let it set out a little bit so it would be soft for him. He wasn't too sure about it at first,

so we helped him out a little.

He quickly decided he liked what we were offering and tried to tear into it.

We didn't mind him getting his 1st birthday shirt that I made him all dirty because we knew he would be changing after his cake smash. Since so many family and close friends were present at his party, we decided it was the perfect time to make a little announcement. So, we took him to his room, cleaned him up, and he appeared with a second shirt that I made him. This picture makes me laugh, but I assure you he isn't upset about getting a little sister (because he still doesn't realize what's going on), he was just wanting me to put him down and people to stop taking his picture.

We then opened way too many gifts (that boy is ~~spoiled~~ loved!) with the help of friends. You can tell it was May in Oklahoma because the weather is on in the background and Mike Morgan has a severe weather tie on :).