Monster Birthday Prep Part 1- The Decor and GiftBags

Preparation for Max's 1st birthday party started when he was about 3 months old.  Scott and I came up with his theme and then started browsing various blogs looking for ideas.  We decided to go with MONSTERS!!  not scary monsters, but fun silly monsters.  About a month before party day I started working on the decor.  Now I am not a artsy person and not super crafty so I picked some pretty simple things to work on.  I will also point out I work 40hr a week and did these crafts when I was home watching my little one...so easy to do for anyone :)

First- Monster Wreath

I bought one large adjustable embroidery hoop at my local craft store(on sale for under a dollar), blue feathered boa, large googlie eyes, and some superglue.

 I took the boa and glued it as I wrapped it around the ring.  Then glued the eyes all over it...ta da!!

Second- Paper Streamer windsocks

This involved 4 adjustable embroidery hoop(once again on sale cheap!).  I used 1 large and 3 medium.  Our party colors were bright primary colors so I got yellow, green, red, blue, and orange streamers.  I painted the outer hoop black, cut about 2 1/2 foot strips of streamer, and then glued them around the inner ring.  Once everything was dry I put them back together and added my own touch of 2 big googlie eyes.

Third- Monster Bean Bag Toss

I was very excited about this one.  Not only did it add to the decor but it also gave the kids a game to play.  I really thought over what material I would use to make it.  Wood seemed like the best idea, but I had no way to cut the mouth out unless I had a family member do it(which was offered).  Me being the person who likes to do everything decided on thick foam poster board.  I figured it was sturdy enough, very portable, cheaper, and less hassle. I bought 2 pieces and painted one black.  I drew my monster on the other one and then painted.  After it was painted I cut the mouth out and connected the 2 boards.  To make sure it stayed upright when bags were thrown at it I used 2 pieces of foam board on the sides.  For the bean bags I called my mom(who is making fabric flags) and asked if she had enough fabric to make a few small bean bags....she did!  I had her make them small mainly because most of the kids would be 3 and under and I wanted to make sure they would easily go into the monsters mouth.

Fourth- Fabric Flags
We decided on fabric flags using our color scheme to help jazz the yard/house up(due to lots of rain the party ended up being indoors only).....Great idea BUT...I can NOT sew, nor do I own a sewing machine.  Luckily my mom loves to sew and unluckily had a broken bone and was stuck at home for several weeks.  She was more than happy to waste her days away sewing the many flags we requested.  We hung them up with just some ribbon.

Fifth- Tissue Paper Balls
Scott saw this idea in a magazine and thought it would add some color and a fun shape to the decor.  we looked online and found direction on how to make them and boom they were done!

Sixth-Banner, Food Tents, Door Sign, Thank You Cards....ect...
I love ETSY and did a lot of browsing trying to find the prefect things for Max's party.  I ran across Tea Party Designs and fell in love with her monster stuff!  It is even cute in person!!  Thanks so much!!

Seventh- Monster Cutout

I saw this monster hanging from the window of The Children's Place.  I called the store and spoke to the manager and asked if I could have 1 or 2 of the signs are their sale was over, unfortunately she said they reused the signs so she couldn't get rid of them.  A week or so later we got their sale paper in the mail and it had that cute monster on it.  My husband being a school teacher has access to a over head projector so he put the monster on it, blew the size up, and traced it onto a poster board.  I then painted it.  We were going to hang outside but due to the rain he ended up indoors.

Eigth- Bday Invite

Once again while scouring ETSY I found Max's bday card from Treasured Moments.  She quickly customized it and emailed me the JPEG file.  I took the file to Kinko's and got it printed.  Simple and easy!

Ninth- Bday Clothing

I had purchased a few things from Studio MCA Designs off of ETSY and became a fan of theirs on Facebook.  They did a contest for a personalized birthday shirt.  I entered and WON!!  So after a few email's I got Max's shirt in the mail!  It was perfect! Thanks!  I found Max's birthday hat also on ETSY from SAHM Doc Crafting.  After getting it in the mail I realized I could have made it, but heck this was easier! We used his hat for his 1 year pics but forgot to put it on him at the party.  Scott and I both wanted a monster shirt but buying one was going to be quite expensive so I found a iron on kit at Hobby Lobby and we made our own!

Tenth- Number 1
I got a plain number 1 at hobby lobby and painted it with our party colors, not only for decor but also to use in Max's 1 year pics.  I think it turned out cute :)

Eleventh- Googlie eye cups
This was super easy and I thought a fun touch.  I glued googlie eyes to each of the cups.

Twelfth- Picture's

I decided last minute to print a bunch of pictures of  Max throughout the year and hang them on ribbon.

For the kids coming to the party I got on oriental trading and found some super cute stuff.  I ordered the monster masks.  They were great but I decided to pre-make them because little ones and glue didn't sound like a good idea.  Good thing I did pre-make them b/c the glue took forever to dry....I even was able to get my co-workers to help :) 

 I also ordered monster treat bags.  Now the bags sucked! They were folded and creased and basically un-usable.  I ended up throwing them away and getting colored paper bags from target.  I did keep the monster faces and glued them on the bags(a special shout out to little miss Lizzy who helped make the monsters while on summer break). 

Some of the goodies that were in the bags included beach balls and rubber "duckies".  I also ordered monster suckers and stuffed monsters that I used as decoration but also had the kids take them home too.  There was also a candy setup, which will be in the next post.

Happy 1st Birthday Max

I can hardly believe our sweet little Max is already a year old!  You can read his birth story here.  It is truly amazing what a difference a year makes.

Max's birthday started with him still being sick.  He was whiny and clingy all morning and early afternoon.  After lunch he perked up a little.  We just hung out at the house with my mom and brother.  This was Scott's 1st day to meet his new students(he is now teaching 4th grade at Campus School) so he was at work.  We met some of our family(my mom and brother Daniel, my dad, Scott's dad, Aunt Jackie, and Jacob and Kayla) at Chili's for dinner.  Max was mostly smiles at dinner...he does love to eat.  After dinner we all went to Sweet Cece's for some frozen yogurt.  Scott and I go there often and thought that would be a good 1st sweet treat for Max.  He has not had anything with sugar(other than fruit that we are aware of) in it yet.  I got him the plain "tart" yogurt and put blueberries(his fav), and mochi(Japanese rice type thingy...that he also loves) on top.  He opened his mouht wide for his bite and then....REJECTION!! He would not eat it.  He wouldn't even eat a bite for Aunt Jackie...not even a blueberry.  He did eat the mochi once I sucked the frozen yogurt off of it.  Max opened a gift from mommy and daddy, Aunt Jackies presents, and a gift from Jacob and Kayla.  It was about this time he was starting to get fussy again.  You can tell from the pics it was time for motrin and time to go home.  He slept on the short drive home but got a second wind once we got there.  My mom decided to give him his present then.  She got him a vacuum cleaner.  He loved it!  As many of you may know Scott is a clean freak so Max knew what the vacuum was and started pushing it all over.  He finally started to act sleepy and went to sleep no problem...he even slept through the night!  Yea!

looks promising



shaking his head no no no

Even Scott looks thrilled

Max still acted a little sick on Thursday but was definitely doing much better!

Last week of being an infant.....

AHHHHHHHH where has the time gone!!!??!!!  Our sweet Max will be a year old(and considered a toddler) in only 1 week(and 1 day)!  I was reading over some of my blog posts from last year in July and realized that exactly a year ago I went on bed rest.  This time one year ago we were so nervous and excited to meet Max any day.  Now I am filled with joy as I watch him grown and learn new things!  Max's 5th tooth(top right side..his 3rd on the top) finally popped through the gums yesterday and number 6 is very close behind.  He is also doing better about walking behind a toy that he can also ride on....he usually gives up and sits down then pushes it as he scoots because he moves faster.  Max has also started rolling around on the floor.  Very random but he will lay down on his stomach, then roll to his back and vice versa.  It cracks him up!  Uh-Oh is officially his first word.  He will drop stuff(most of the time on purpose) and say uh-oh.  We were playing with his football the other day and when he went to throw it he dropped it behind him, he looked at me and said "uh-oh".  It is super cute!  He still won't say mama.  I say it to him everyday and he just looks at me.  Max is also completely off baby food.  He refuses to eat it, so we have been trying to come up with meal ideas for him.  I feel like he just eats the same few things so we are trying to branch out a little bit.

cheese quesadilla, peas, and blueberries

Cheese Ravioli and corn

The next several blog posts will all be birthday related so stay tuned(we are going a tad overboard....oh well, lol).

Shelton Family Reunion

Max and I packed up and headed off to Cumberland Furnace, TN(just outside of Clarksville) for my family reunion.  Yes I am a yankee, but my family is from TN and all(except for my mom's side) live in TN.  Scott spent the day in his classroom working on his never ending list of stuff to get done before school starts.  We had the reunion at the family cemetery(in an air conditioned building).  Most of my dad's side of the family is buried there including my grandparents.  It may seem odd but every time we are there we take a picture in front of the grave.  I could go through photo books and find some older pics to scan and put up here as well,....but I'm not doing that. 

Max had a good time.  He played under the table with a bucket and some plastic fish that I found there, and as always ate everything in sight.

Us and Uncle Donnie

4th of July

Wishing everyone a Happy 4th of July!!

11 months old!

Holy cow!  Our sweet little baby Max is now becoming a soon to be toddler!!  I got a little teary eyed the other day as I was watching him pull up on the couch.  I was just thinking about how much he has changed and all the new things he is doing.  He is so smart!  Max loves to make noises, I guess that is a boy thing.  He will growl, making a kissing noise, blow in your face.  If you make the noise he will mimic you.  He even makes noises that sound like words.  I told him the other day that that he is not allowed to play with the big glass candles and he made a noise that both Scott and I though was "yes I can". I can really tell he understands what we tell him.  If I say lets go change your diaper, he starts crawling towards his room.  He babbles all day long but still has not said mama. Also if the TV is on and there is clapping on the TV he will stop what he is doing and start clapping.  He has recently started to get a little risky when pulling up and is starting to walk along the furniture. 

Now that Max isn't nursing he has really become a fan of real food.  He will still eat his babyfood(I make it thick and chunky now) but wants what is on our plates.  So we are starting to let him eat more and more real food and less babyfood.  This is stressing me a little b/c I am not sure what to feed him.  We are the weird parents who want him to eat healthy, so no hotdogs, french fries, mashed potatos....  Breakfast and dinner are fine, but finding something for him for lunch is hard.  Expecially because he will be going back to daycare soon and we will ahve to send his lunch with him...... I am sure he will eat anything we give him because this boy LOVES to eat!!  He eats and eats and eats.  We thought he did eat a lot of food but when we are around others and they make the comment wow he eats a lot we know it is true.  For example for lunch eats equavalint to a jar of baby food, a thing of apple sauce, a little bowl of gold fish, and either a handfull of noodles or about a 1/4 a block of cheese.  Dinner is about the same amt of food but he also he eats off our plates.  Uncle Paul weighed Max at the produce stand the other day and said he weighed 19lbs 8oz.  I think he is definatly pushing 20lbs now.

Beach Bums

We spent the last week of June in HOT Panama City Beach, FL.  This was Max's 2nd trip to the beach(his first one was when he was 2mo old).  This time however Max actually knew what was going on. 

We had asked Aunt Jackie to come with us but due to someone at work having surgery she wasn't going to be able to come......until the night before we left she found out she would be able to come!  So we loaded up(packed to the gills) and left Friday evening.  We stopped halfway in Alabama and spent the night at a hotel(thanks Moo Moo for the hotel room).  Max is a good car rider but wanted to break up his trip a little.  Sat morning we were up and beach bound.  We stayed at Calypso, the same place we stayed in Oct.  We loved the location; right next to pier park. After grocery shopping and unpacking Scott's sister Ashley(she lives in Freeport, FL and works at Watercolor Resort in Rosemary beach) came over and we headed out to dinner. The first night we walked over to pier park and had dinner at the Back Poarch.  I had a yummy crab cake sandwich.

Sunday Morning was our first day on the actual beach.  We plopped Max down in the sand and after a minute...he LOVED it!  Then we went to the ocean and let him sit on the edge as waves came up and got him.  Once again he loved it!  Max wouldn't fall asleep on the beach(he wanted to play) so one of us would bring him up to the room for his naps.  Ashley is off on Sundays and Mondays so she also spent the day with us on the beach, she bought Max a little blow up pool; which of course he loved!  I think by now you get the point that Max loved the beach and everything about it! Oh and apparently licking salt water off of toys is the best!

The rest of the week we spent on the beach.  A couple mornings we went to the pool 1st so we wouldn't have to give Max a bath before his morning nap.  Max spent the days sitting in his pool and digging in the sand.  He also got his first taste of grapes(he likes the red ones).  Ice cold grapes are a perfect beach snack and Max couldn't agree more!  We cooked in a couple nights but did go out and enjoy some great seafood at Salty Sues, Hammerhead Freds, Dirty Dicks Crab house, and The Crab Trap in Destin.

Speaking of Destin Scott, Max, and I spent Monday there.  It is about a 40min drive from PCB.  Our friend Melissa's son Brant was having his 6th birthday party while they were also at the beach.  So not only did we get to celebrate with him, but we also got to go to the Janie and Jack outlet store!  I love Janie and Jack cloths for Max but they are expensive so we actually got a few great deals at the outlet store.  Plus I can Ebay these items after Max is done with them and make some of the money back.  Melissa outdid her self again with another fabulous birthday party!  I loved his cake.  She bought the cake at Publix and then dressed it up with "sand", cookies, and beach decor.  Happy Birthday Brant!

A HUGE milestone was reached while we were at the beach.  Max is officially no longer nursing.  He had been down to morning and night and I was no longer pumping during the day.  The week before the beach he had not been nursing well at all and the 2 days before we left he had only nursed once. He did nurse well the 1st 2 days at the beach but then he just stopped.  Every time I would offer it to him he would shake his head no and push me away.  So we are done.  I am torn.  This means he is a big boy now and  growing up.  It also mean I am free!!  So far as I type this it has been a week since he stopped nursing and I have had some discomfort and a little leaking, but no engorgement.  I know I still have milk in there but it should dry up soon.  On a related note we couldn't find a way to transport my frozen breast milk to the beach without it thawing, so Max got whole milk while we were there.  He did fine with the change.  Now that we are home we are back on breast milk until we run out of frozen milk.

The drive home went ok.  It really helped that Aunt Jackie was there and kept Max entertained.