Considering his party was at the end of August, this post is WAY overdue. And my Nikon broke after taking some of these pictures, so some of them are blue (literally), and of course we didn’t get pictures of a lot of the details. I handed off my camera to someone else for most of the party and completely forgot about it in the whirlwind of things.
As previously announced, Clark had a Yo Gabba Gabba! themed party. We picked this because it’s one of the few clear favorites he has displayed. He recognized the characters and names completely out of context and it was the only thing that would sooth him during the middle of the night teething pains. We also threw in some space elements because we redid his room in space gear (this wasn’t the final configuration of the room and there are other things like his bedding that will go with his new toddler bed).
Thus, these custom invitations were born:
We also included these inserts. People commented on how much they really appreciated having the sizes that he was going into so that they didn’t have to call and ask. I got this idea from the Gabba Friends website and made the template myself based on Yo Gabba Gabba’s signature title drawing.
We had the party at my parent’s house on the back deck and side patio. The back deck is octagonal with a gazebo so a lot of people hung out in the shade with the lounge couches. We had three long tables set up on the patio with chairs so people could sit or eat or watch the game. We stuck with generic red checkered plastic tablecloths (because they are used in Yo Gabba Gabba and we had a roll already). It was really low-key and we loved it!
Here are some of the guys on the patio watching the game. You can see the amazing pergola my dad built with a tarp over half to block the sunlight (and it’s collapsable on concrete footers, so it’s super strong, but can be taken down in case of a windstorm).
Check out two of the awesome banners I made! We’ll reuse these each year. Oh, and don’t mind the construction project in the background – it’s the stone pizza oven that my dad is building! Can you see a theme here??? He’s super amazing with his projects.
At the last minute (because I was up literally until 3 am for the three or four days preceeding the party and waited way too long to get them done) I painted some cool graphics. I freehanded the drawings on the back of wrapping paper and finished painting them in the middle of the kitchen while people were arriving (another reason why I didn’t take pictures). Then, my amazing friends helped me tape them up on the walls. We kept them for a couple of weeks taped to the outside of Clark’s bedroom door and the hallway outside his room. He thought they were super cool!
There were more cutouts that I don’t have pictures of. Anyway, other than that, we just had some random streamers hung around the patio/porch and on his birthday seat as well as decorated cupcakes. Like I said, pretty low-key. The only other “big” thing we did was make a DVD to loop on the indoor tv and to give to the grandparents. Jason edited all of Clark’s first year footage down to an hour over several weeks to get the timing just right. It was a big hit as well!
Here are some pictures of Clark opening presents and enjoying cake and ice cream!
Look at this adorable little patootie in his tool belt (surrounded by gifts that made him waaaaaayyy too spoiled)!
Waiting for birthday cake…
The next one isn’t focused correctly but it’s one of my favorites! It’s the moment Clark realized that he was ALLOWED to make a mess and dig in for once (and it’s so cute!).
And of course, my favorite:
Overall, it was a great and exhausting day for all of us and I’m so thankful for all the help of our friends and family! Thanks for making it a special day!
Two Blue Pillars 
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