I took tons of pictures at E’s first birthday party, and finally finished uploading them! 🙂

I wanted to keep the party simple and stress-free. We had enough stress and work just getting the garden ready, so I didn’t bother with lots of Pinterest type party details (doesn’t anyone else miss when kids birthday parties were simple and fun?!?). The night before the party, we were frantically trying to plant the remaining flowers, and then it started raining for the first time in months. We kept on planting until it started pouring, like a flash flood in Texas. We were so discouraged since we had worked so hard. Our patio is not level, and does not drain well, so every time it rains, the patio gets flooded. Around 11 pm, we gave up and sent everyone a message that we were going to have to reschedule because the patio was too flooded.

The next morning, we got up early and realized that the strong winds had thankfully blown most of the water downhill, out of the patio! My husband got out the shopvac and sucked out the remaining water in the patio. The party was back on, and it was thankfully a beautiful day! I didn’t get any pictures of the food but my husband grabbed simple stuff at the grocery store: hot dogs to grill, chili in the crock pot, veggies and fruit, E’s favorite veggie stick chips from Trader Joe’s, etc.

The house was a disaster from our garden project taking over our lives, and I didn’t want to be stressed out about our one cat trying to run away, our other cat having anxiety over strangers, or one of our dogs trying to bite anyone (she hates all men except my husband). So, I set up arrows directing everyone to the backyard. The guest bath in my office is accessible from E’s garden, so that worked out well. 🙂

I set up the favor buckets in an old wheelbarrow, with each family’s last name listed.

I ordered cute garden themed favors from Oriental Trading, and kept trying to think of a cute container to put everything in. Then I realized I had something perfect already on hand and plenty available…nursery plant containers. 🙂

E picked out his favorite type of succulent for each guest.

These wooden signs were originally from our wedding and came in handy again.

E’s “push zone” in the patio….He loves to push around his cars and wagons.

His train table, also in the patio. That ugly red door is part of the paint job from the elderly patients that lived here previously. We haven’t bothered to paint over it since it is going to be removed soon. 😉

The setup before everyone arrived.

E’s garden, ready for visitors.

Ever since he was born, we started calling him our little honey bee. Partially because he really loved the smell of his Burt’s Bees lotions and soaps (and always tries to eat them). Also, our garden was completely dead while I was on pregnancy bed rest. As soon as E and I came home from the hospital, things started coming back to life on their own…it was like he was our little pollinating honey bee. 🙂

Since it will be a while before the climbing roses and baby trees actually create any shade, I tried to make some additional impromptu shaded areas.

Sharing a snack with Lily. 🙂

He was just starting to get good at walking and was quite proud of himself. 🙂

The bounce house/ball pit was tons of fun. E loves having friends over to play in it with him! So much better than playing in there with Mommy. 😉

Overall twins!

The straws were a cute Target find. The (caffeine free) soda was a rare treat for E. 🙂

E and I are crazy about edible flowers, especially nasturtiums. 🙂 I found these adorable silicone cupcake holders on sale at Target that look just like a flower pot!

Last but not least, how cute is this adorable package from our little friend Yuki?! 🙂

Thanks again too all of our friends and family who came and celebrated with us, despite the crazy flood drama, and all of the rescheduling (we originally had to push the date back because of the garden project)! We had so much fun with you all. 🙂

For anyone interested in their own bounce house/ball pit, you can find the one we have here!