Confetti Balloons and Unicorns

Birthday Party, Mother’s Day, and a Surprise Sprinkle

Last fall, I finally started getting back into having fun with hosting parties again. It lasted a couple months before I got ridiculously sick from pregnancy and went back into my anti-social hole. I probably would’ve stayed in said hole the entire pregnancy, but there were a few celebrations this spring that couldn’t be missed.

“Blue” Birthday Party and Mother’s Day

When D turned three almost two years ago, we had just moved to Maryland. We were a mess, but we threw together a fun little party weekend with a Nautical theme party and a trip to the Baltimore Aquarium with the whole family. My parents always did a great job keeping things very equal between my sisters and I. It’s something I strive towards as well. Obviously when the kids are young, they really don’t know what’s happening. Somehow I still manage to feel bad… Like they’re going to look at their photo books in 20 years and call me out on dropping the ball or something.

This year, J’s bday fell on the day before Mother’s Day, so we combined the two celebrations into one family brunch. It definitely wasn’t my best in terms of decorating, but it was a really fun day! We kept the menu simple, but I added in my mom’s incredible zucchini soufflé for a little touch of fancy for the moms.

Obviously mimosas are another easy way to add a little fancy in there for the adults, and they make the party more enjoyable for all. I can’t wait to dip into those again soon…

Johnny’s obsessions these days (besides sports) are balloons, bubbles, and the color blue. When I came across these confetti balloons, I knew he’d flip. They are so cute! Note to self, they require a lot more work than regular balloons, at least the way we did it with buying a helium tank and filling them ourselves. There’s gotta be an easier way, I just haven’t discovered it yet.

Ice Cream Cake and Cake Pops

My boys don’t like birthday cake. I probably should take responsibility for this because I don’t like it either. I must have subconsciously influenced them because no matter how excited they get when they see or talk about cake, they just won’t eat it. For their birthdays, I now try to always have alternative desserts. I thought that ice cream would be a sure thing, but the boys didn’t even eat this ice cream cake roll! Still shaking my head…

I also ordered these adorable cake pops and cake balls from my favorite place, (link here) but I ordered them too late and got them the day after the party…. that pretty much sums up this year for me. I’m not on my game. We enjoyed eating them all week though!

I mean, does it get any cuter than these golf balls? D wouldn’t try them, and J couldn’t get past the outer layer, but the rest of the neighborhood enjoyed them:)

Our Not-so-fancy Version…

Johnny seems to give more credit to party decor than most kids (I think he just enjoys exclaiming “Wow!”), but we still wanted to do some more kid-friendly celebrating. Our neighbors try to do pizza nights every Friday, so we just did a huge pizza and ice cream cake spread for the May birthdays. The kids were exhausted, drenched, and had a blast!

Surprise Sprinkle!

Now to be fair, I didn’t technically come out of my hole for this. When I showed up for a casual morning at the pool, I looked very much like I belonged in a hole… I was COMPLETELY caught off guard. I have no idea how I was so surprised, considering the fact that my family did this for my second pregnancy as well, but there was definitely shock and tears.

Even with two boys, I’m very aware that the unicorn theme is a HUGE trend right now. It’s everywhere, and it’s awesome. My family took the unicorn theme and totally ran with it. The decorations were so much fun! I believe they got most things from Paper Source which is a current favorite. Every little detail was covered, and I only wish I were more “with it” to take more pictures of it all.

My mom turned into a diaper cake-making expert with grandchild number 1 and 2, and she dominated this one as well. Not only does a diaper cake look awesome and is a great focal point for party decor, but it’s also incredibly useful. She used bath towels and bibs and enough diapers to last me at least a couple months. If you’re creative, get on this bandwagon ASAP, and you’ll impress everyone at all baby showers you attend.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the food… They made little yogurt parfaits, veggie sticks with dip in drink glasses, mini quiches, and these fruit kabobs that look like unicorn horns. That was all topped off with the cutest unicorn cupcakes and cookies, all served on themed plates and napkins. It all looked incredible and tasted even better. I still can’t believe we’ll be adding a little lady to our family here soon, and we couldn’t be more excited!