Will's First Birthday Party

Will's love for monkeys dates back last summer sometime.  It all started with the monkey that used to hang on his floor gym.  As soon as he'd see it hanging, he would pull it down.

He loved to hold onto its tail, wave it around and throw it.  After that, he started noticing another monkey he had and loved chewing on it.  And then, of course, he was a monkey for Halloween.  So it was only fitting that his first birthday party have a monkey theme.

I started researching ideas for a monkey-themed birthday a few months before his birthday and found Kara's Party Ideas on Pinterest.  Her website has more themes and ideas than you can imagine!  I knew I wanted to do a color scheme of red and aqua, which isn't your typical monkey theme color scheme.  I was thrilled when I found this party featured on Kara's Party Ideas.  Thanks to Pinterest and the www, I found lots of tutorials and craft ideas.  I started making things in December because there was a lot to make!

We had Will's party on February 18, 2012, two days before his actual birthday because Wayne was leaving the day after his birthday to go out of town for work.  The weather had been unseasonably sunny and warm, but it was unfortunately rainy and overcast the day of his party.  That didn't dampen the spirit of the party, though! (but it did make the lighting not-ideal for pictures)

I ordered the invitations from Frog Prince Paperie on Etsy and loved how they turned out.

We transformed our dining room into the dessert/cake room.

I found this amazing Oreo cupcake recipe on Pinterest.

Wayne's grandmother is very talented in the cake-making/decorating arena. 
She made this awesome (and huge) monkey cake for Will!

She also made a little panda for Will's smash cake.

The rest of the table was covered in different red and aqua candies and yummy desserts.

Chocolate covered pretzels and bananas

I made these fun monkey cake pops with a cake pop maker my friend Megan let me borrow.  They were not easy to make, and obviously weren't perfect, but they were yummy! 
The tutorial on how to make these can be found here.

I got the idea for the party hat pictures from the party I saw on Kara's Party Ideas.  She even provided free printables to make them (which were also used for the cupcake wrappers).  I had so much fun getting pictures of some of the many faces Will makes on a daily basis.

My favorite is probably the middle picture in this bunch.  

It's his "what does a monkey say?" face.

As you know, we've taken monthly pictures of Will in the same chair to document his growth. 
We came up with a way to display them all together so you could see how he's grown.

I didn't get a picture of the food we served besides the dessert, but in the kitchen, we had chicken salad sandwiches, a fruit bowl, a veggie tray and pigs in a blanket.  (We were also supposed to have cheese dip with tortilla chips and cheese slices, but the craziness of the morning and getting all the last-minute details taken care of led me to forget to put those food items out!  There was also supposed to be a red velvet cheese ball on the dessert table.  I had all the ingredients... just flat-out forgot to make them.)

For drinks, we served red and aqua punch.

I found this frame at Hobby Lobby and spray painted it to match the party theme, just like I did the large frame of Will in his monkey costume on the mantle.  This is one of my favorite pictures ever taken of Will when we had pictures taken last October by my sorority sister Kandis Sebastian. 
The look on his face kills me.

We had a house full of people who came to help us celebrate Will's big day.   

We were blessed with the company of many friends and family.  So thankful for my best friends.

Did I mention our house was full?

We pulled out his toys and let the kids play in the family room together.

Will and our next door neighbors' son Jack (who is 2 months younger than Will) were apparently playing a game of swapping pacifiers. 

While the other kids were enjoying Will's toys...

 

 ...he was interested mostly in one thing, and one thing only.

It was soon time to open presents.

Will was only into it for a moment...

...before he disappeared again.

  

Where's Will?
Seriously...can you find him?

He did like playing with the tissue paper, though.

He made his way over to one of his favorites.  

Probably because Bryce was stepping (or sitting, rather) on his territory.

Opening presents can only entertain these boys for so long.  

They moved on to bigger and better things.

Will and his Papa.

Four generations of Bishops in this pic.

Will and Granddaddy.

Will loves his Uncle Russell.

He loved the Mickey Mouse firetruck Uncle Russell gave him.  It's still one of his favorite toys.

After we made it through opening the presents, 

it was time for what Will had been waiting for all day...

...cake time!

(The party hat and bib were inspired by these on Etsy, but I couldn't justify paying over $50 for the pair, especially when my friend Amanda's mom could make them for me.  They turned out so cute!  Thanks, Mrs. Moorman!)

The anticipation was killing him.

Happy Birthday to you...

He was very gentle with it at first...

...only swiping a little frosting at a time with his finger.

Once he got into it, though...

...there was no stopping him.

I think he liked it.

All that sugar called for a water break.

When this was all that was left, I decided he'd probably had enough. : )

Still thirsty.

I'm one.  No big deal.

In love with my one-year-old.

I am so thankful for these two girls and their support over the past year.  We connected through the breastfeeding support group I started attending when Will was just 5 weeks old.  Thank you Megan and Amanda for your unending encouragement through the ups and downs of the past year.  It is because of you that Will and I made it through a year of breastfeeding!

Thank you to everyone who came out to celebrate Will's first year.  It was a day we will always remember, and your presence made his big day very special!

Happy 1st Birthday, Will!  We love you so much!

*Special thanks to my mother-in-law, Betty Amodeo for taking most of these pictures.