Mason's First Birthday

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The years are short and the days are long. Such a cliché yet it could not be more true. It’s really hard to believe a whole year has gone by. The thought of our baby boy, our miracle, turning one is almost surreal. There are moments that you dream of in your life, moments you wonder if you’ll ever be lucky enough to experience. Despite our difficult journey to get pregnant, we were blessed to have had success with IVF. I dreamt of being pregnant, giving birth, holding my baby in my arms for the first time, feeling his heartbeat, and looking into his eyes and knowing that my little miracle was finally here. Fast forward to October 13, 2019, my baby boy turned one. I honestly don’t believe the right words exist to describe how incredibly proud I am to be Mason’s mom.

I absolutely wanted to do a cute and fun birthday theme for Mase. I figure I have a lifetime of superheroes, trucks and sports themes ahead of me, so I chose a Cookie Monster theme! So many people told me “it’s not like he’s going to remember his first birthday anyway, don’t stress out about anything!” And while I know Mase absolutely won’t remember this day, I know I will absolutely never forget it.

I’ve said it before, but I am not a crafty person. I suck at all things DIY. BUT, I was determined to make this theme a success and try my hardest to make it Pinterest worthy!

With a cookie monster theme, I knew I needed a lot of googly eyes! I wanted to add them to any of my blue decorations to give them life! I ordered these popcorn boxes on Amazon (paid link) and bought the Googly Eyes (paid link) there too. How on earth did we survive before Amazon Prime? We filled the boxes with veggie straws for a fun snack. We also put the Googly Eyes on the kids goodie bags!

I ordered a downloadable file from Etsy that contained mostly everything we needed to sprinkle pops of Cookie Monster all over the hall. We spent an evening cutting out cookies, cupcake toppers, and a banner. All the little details just helped pull the theme together. I also had the Cookie Monster highchair banner made and it was such a cute touch.

And what’s a cookie monster theme without cookies? I knew we had to have cookie jars on the dessert table, so I picked up a couple of jars from Dollarama and filled them with mini Oreos and mini Chips Ahoy.

We had a smash cake ordered from Cocoa Beans, a local vegan and gluten-free café since I needed to have something dairy free. I could have attempted to make one, but by the time I did a couple of trial runs, the time and effort just wasn’t worth it. I figured I would leave this one to the professionals. I made the cupcakes and Rice Krispy Squares and iced them with a blue buttercream frosting. I bought the Cake Decorating Kit (paid link) on Amazon as well since I did not have one! Mason dived right into it and started eating the little cookies on the cake. He grabbed one of the eyeballs and wasn’t too sure what to think! It was so cute watching him try to figure out what the heck was in front of him. 

Floral Fixx provided us with this beautiful floral arrangement that absolutely helped make the room feel less like a hall and more like home. The white and blue flowers were a perfect addition to the dessert table!

My amazing neighbour with Sheryl Lyn - Prairie Handmade made Mason his adorable Cookie Monster t-shirt! I knew I wanted him to wear something Cookie Monster related, so this was so perfect especially with the bow and suspenders! I mean come on!

Ok let’s talk about the balloon arch. I had nightmares about this thing! All I knew was how badly I wanted to have a beautiful balloon display. I honestly don’t know why I had my mind so head set on it, but I did. So I purchased a kit off Amazon (paid link) and hubby and I spent a lovely evening blowing up balloons and making the arch. Truth be told, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be!

Amongst the chaos, I forgot to take a picture of the food tables! I didn’t want my husband or I to worry about cooking the day of the party. I really wanted us to be able to visit with our guests and enjoy the day with Mason. So we ordered pizza and salads for the main dishes. For sides, we served chips, taco dip, spinach dip, fruit and veggie trays and a tray of cheese, crackers, pickles and garlic sausage. A big thank you to our parents for all their help with the food!

A big hit at the party was the cookie decorating station! We bought a box of cookies at Costco, as well as icing and various toppings (chocolate chips, sprinkles, smarties, min skor bars) for the kids to use. They had so much fun being able to put together their own little creations and it went with the theme so well.

Mason’s birthday party was such a special day. Once the hall was decorated and the party started, my planning OCD subsided and I was able to enjoy the day with Mase and Travis. It was such a special day; one we will never forget.  I’m incredibly happy with how everything turned out, and all the little details helped the theme come together.

My baby is officially one year old. Although I have mixed emotions about him growing up, I am so thankful to have had the most incredible year with him. I love my little man more than I can begin to tell you.

I hope you enjoyed Mason’s First Birthday Blog! If you did a theme for your kid’s first birthday, I would love to know what it was!