It only happens once ...

The first birthday is something that only happens once, a special day that you can't ever get back.  We celebrated Levi's birthday last weekend even though our little guy doesn't actually turn one until Wednesday.  I had intentions to throw a small, sock monkey themed party ... it seemed fitting since Levi had become attached to his little sock monkey lovie.  

Then I did something dangerous.  I typed in sock monkey party in the search bar of Pinterest.  All kinds of ideas came up and my head started to spin with things to do.  A small party turned into a big party ... with lots of crafting and coordinating all things monkey.  

Sock monkey cupcakes, cookies, banana pudding, banana chips.  Red and white flowers.  Red, white, brown, and black polka dot balloons.  

There were sock monkey party hats (which we forgot to even use), polka dot banners, sock monkey stuffies, and a red Radio Flyer wagon.  The favor table consisted of banana runts, red and brown tootsie pops, tootsie rolls, monkey vines, and chocolate malt balls.  Yummy!

I put together a mini "photo booth" area for the kids to get pictures as monkeys and was quite upset when I realized I didn't even get the birthday boy in a pic!  At least Abby was photogenic for once. :) We had a bounce house, which all the kids enjoyed... for hours.  Seriously the best invention.  Ever.  

We sang happy birthday to our sweet boy, then let him dive into his smash cake.  At first he wasn't so sure about the sugary, sweet taste, but he quickly became curious as to what this cake thing was all about.  We made quite a mess and went straight to tubby time!

The party may have been bigger than planned and required more crafting than I thought, but birthdays ... first birthdays ... only happen once.  So why not celebrate big?  And as much as you can?  Maryland here we come ... let's party some more! :)