Call me a Pinterest Mom if you want, but I love a good party. Deciding on a party theme and working out all the details is something I really enjoy. We had considered not throwing a party at all and just doing a small little thing at home this year with family, but I couldn’t do it. And honestly, but the time you invite our family over, you might as well just invite the whole neighborhood as there is no small family get together. Also, I’ve come to understand and accept that the party is just as much for us as it is for Harvey, maybe more so. With that in mind, we went for a dinosaur theme. It was that or Pixar’s Cars, but I’m not much for character parties as I like creating within a more general theme. Also, there might come a day when he has an opinion about the kind of party he wants, so I’m going to fully take advantage of the years where whatever I want to do is what we do. I’m sure there will be plenty of Marvel themed parties in my future, so for now we’re going with dinosaurs which I think is a fair choice.

I think that the details are my favorite part of party planning. I get to explore and create all kinds of fun things from cake decorating to paper crafts. Cake decorating is something that I have come to love over the last few years. Like most things, practice pays off. This might have been my cleanest cake to date and although it’s a simple design, I’m pretty proud of how it turned out.

I also love creating a little something for our guests to take home. This year, I decided to make dino-topped mason jars filled with Skittles! They were a hit.

These were our dino bones! They’re pretzels with marshmallows on the ends dipped in white chocolate.

This year, we opted for a renting a bounce house. BEST IDEA EVER! Seriously, I was so happy that we had something to entertain all the kids while they came to celebrate and hang out. Also, Harvey got it to himself for a good 40 minutes and he loved it.

Of course the best part is just being surrounded by our friends and family celebrating this sweet baby boy. Man, my heart swells when I think about him. It’s so special when we gather to sing happy birthday to him. I try so hard to burn those moments in my mind so I can remember them forever. They just come and go so quickly that they’re easy to miss and since I’m kinda sentimental, I like thinking about preserving memories as best I can.

I think Harvey really had a good time and at the end of the day, that’s what really matters. He partied hard and then crashed hard.