Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Captain Cooper Celebrates Turning ONE!


It's Captain Cooper's first birthday party on the blog today! Yep, just a little over one year late… I had so much fun putting Coop's little celebration together. We picked a nautical theme because, at the time, we had just moved to the lake and Cooper had a new found love of riding in the boat! 

I think the best way to go about sharing all these pictures is probably by category so we'll start with the good stuff: FOOD! Let's face it, at a one year old birthday party the kid doesn't care one bit about decorations or food or really even the presents (how many times have you seen a child be mesmerized by the tissue paper but never look at the actual gift?), so we decided to throw a party that celebrated Cooper but kept all the adults from going hungry!





We had our favorite catfish and hushpuppies catered from Soda Steve's Market and Cooper's talented daddy mastered the adorable fruit ship! 


Thanks to this pinterest post I whipped out these super easy and pretty darn cute little jello boats and sweet Gigi provided her famous coleslaw! Oh and Daddy, yet again, came through with his delicious baked beans! (Did I mention that I hit a home run when it came to picking a husband?!)



And of course there were cake and cookies! The sweet little sailor cake (Courtesy of Sweet Boutique) tasted even better than it looked and the adorable cookies were a hit! Let me just take a brief pause to tell you how crazy delicious these cookies are… I could eat a dozen all by myself! I chose almond flavored and not only were they adorably decorated but they were thin and moist and heavenly! I ordered them from Cupcake Kisses and I HIGHLY recommend her! She was local at the time, but has since moved to Colorado but she ships - so if you need yummy cookies this is the lady for you!

Next up, all of Cooper's favorite PEOPLE!! We invited only family and really enjoyed having a relaxing evening out on the patio getting to slow down and catch up! We are so very fortunate to raise Cooper in a place where he is surrounded by a giant entourage of personal cheerleaders and then to top it off his Grammy and Pop-Pop never hesitate to make the trip to join us. What a blessed boy! 

Coach and Gigi
Grammy and Daddy
Brooks and Jake 
Mommy and Aunt Sissy
Casey and Henry 
Aunt Tyra, Maggie & Haley 
Uncle Awesome, Uncle Neal, Casey & Aunt Jana 
Ashley and Ryan 
Big cousin Blake
Pop-Pop
Pop-Pop and Pops
MamaShawna

And last but certainly not least, Rylee!
Of course, we can't forget all the little DETAILS! The little things always turn out to be my favorite part of the party… 


This was somewhat of a last minute idea, but turned out to be a tradition I plan to continue each year! I searched high and low until I found an adorable little book about a boy and a boat that had a sweet message and then asked that everyone leave the birthday boy a little note. There were no expectations as far as what people should write and that might have been the best part - everyone left something totally different! Some were just adorable little kid handwritten names, others long heartfelt messages, more than one offer to adopt if Cooper ever thought a spanking was headed his way and needed a hideout and a course my brother left a perfectly executed jab about how I probably will lose the book before Cooper could read it. Each message perfectly different and special just like each of the writers! Plus, I was able to take the book back to OKC and have some of Brandon's family who weren't able to attend the party leave their mark as well! New favorite birthday tradition!!



I used mason jars with beta fish as decorations and then each little cousin got to pick one and take it home as a thank you for coming (their parents were all thrilled as you can imagine!). The cute little bags were filled with goldfish crackers, fish food and little toy boats. **NOTE: The adults may or may not have taken bets on whose fish would last the longest. Henry won by a landslide - his fish is STILL kicking more than a year later!**





The "Thirst Aid Station" is pretty self-explanatory… 


Outside we hung some nautical flags and used Cooper's new kiddie pool ship for a fun photo op! Yet again Daddy came through by figuring out how to rig and cover the pirate's flag with a cute birthday flag… Solid work Daddy.

 Next up, the big cake smash! 




We switched the birthday boy into something a little more cake smashing appropriate… Look at that cute little body! Ha!



After successfully touching the candle frame that morning at breakfast, Cooper was more than a little cautious when it came to blowing out the candle… He was all business!





After quite some time he eventually came around and started crushing cake, but honestly never got too messy… 




And finally, just a bunch of candid pictures that help me remember what an enjoyable night it was! We were so appreciative of everyone spending one of their last summer weekend nights celebrating Cooper. He is an overwhelmingly loved little boy.















Year one of Cooper's little life was so much more fun than we could have ever imagined. We are so thankful to get to be his mommy and daddy! Our hope is that Cooper someday understands that birthdays are a special day set aside to party with friends and family, but that his mommy and daddy celebrate him every day! Happy birthday sweet boy! We love you like crazy! 






3 comments:

  1. Theresa Thomas WilliamsSeptember 2, 2015 at 10:45 AM

    Precious Memories!

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  2. He has the prettiest brown eyes! So cute!! Where did you find the old wooden highchair? I've been on the hunt

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    1. Thanks Jen! The red highchair stays at Cooper's Gigi's house and, lucky for me, was already painted red. I think she found it at a garage sale for super cheap. I'll keep my eye out for one and let you know if I see anything!

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