My baby boy is ONE! I have watched many of my friends have babies turn one and they all say how fast the time went—and it could not be more true! The days can seem SO long, especially in quarantine right now, but then once you look back at old photos you realize really time is flying.
My induction date last year was on Cinco de Mayo and my son was born the following day on May 6th. Fun fact: he shares a birthday with the “Royal Baby”, Archie (Prince Harry & Meghan Markle’s son). I LOVE following the Royal Family and joked about having my son the same day they had theirs but didn’t originally think it was possible as Meghan was due at the end of April and I was due at the end of May… but she went late and I went early so it ended up happening! My very own royal baby!
The Theme
Even more than I love following the Royal Family, I LOVE Mexican food! I was excited when I found out I was going to have my son near Cinco de Mayo and knew right then that I wanted to have a “First Fiesta” themed first birthday. I began planning his party in March RIGHT before the stay at home orders were put in place during the pandemic. Our intentions were to have all of our family and friends for a big celebration for his first birthday, Cinco de Mayo and our first party in our new home (we moved in last fall). Once those plans were crushed, most of my decorations already arrived or were ordered. Therefore, we decided to still fully decorate and have a much smaller version of a big celebration for our special guy!
decor
- 1st birthday stats sign- Pink Glitter Designs Co. on Etsy.
- “Uno”, “Mom” & “Dad” shirts, “Taco Bout One” banner and NB-12 months taco photo banner- Tark about Design on Etsy. You can also find her on Instagram @tarkaboutdesign.
- Cake topper, “1” piñata, lime green plastic tablecloths & mini sombrero- all Amazon (linked below).
- “UNO” high chair banner- Prickly Paper Shop on Esty.
- “One” balloons, “Fiesta” banner, cake plates, taco piñata & cactus paper straws- Target, my favorite place!
- Succulents- a local nursery for only $5/plant!
- Cookies- if you are in the Metro Detroit area you HAVE to check out my friend at “Best Cookies by Farr”.
the food
Can you guess what I had for dinner?! OF COURSE a taco bar!
We had: shredded salsa chicken, seasoned ground beef, hard/soft taco shells, queso, guacamole, shredded cheese, sour cream, lettuce, taco sauce, seasoned sautéed bell peppers and black olives. I also had tortilla chips, Mexican rice and refried beans on the side.
I made homemade Mexican rice— literally 1c of rice, 1c mild salsa and 2c of chicken broth (can easily be doubled). Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes!
I also made homemade guacamole and homemade queso. I kept the queso warm in a small crockpot. My sister has perfected the queso recipe and was nice enough to share it with me (and now I will share it with you! Recipe below.).
Of course, we also had margaritas with fun cactus straws!
I made a very simple cake from a box (#quarantinelife) for us and another for a smash cake. I did use fun food coloring colors for the cake and sprinkles to decorate. Normally we would have ordered from our favorite bakery, but they are closed right now. Thankfully my son doesn’t know what he is missing out on there, so he thinks mom’s cake from a box is THE GREATEST. We also had the awesome themed sugar cookies to give to our family.
gifts
First birthday + First grandchild = absolutely spoiled! Even with the quarantine, he received so many gifts either as drop offs on our porch or in the mail. Our friends and family are the best! Here are just a few of the many gifts he received that would make great first birthday gifts if you have little ones in your life with a birthday coming up. I know we are excited to spend a lot of time outside so we are grateful for all of the outdoor toys he received! He will play with these for years to come and we are so thankful!
Our sweet friend also made him a personalized ABC book on Wonderbly.
My in-laws gave him a fancy remote controlled ride on car and he absolutely loves it and thinks he is the coolest (which he actually does look the part).
We gave him a wagon similar to the one linked below, but we ordered it directly from the Radio Flyer website so that we could customize it to include our last name and change the color. We also got him a personalized chair from Pottery Barn Kids.
Although we are missing all of our family and friends during this challenging time, we are grateful for technology and social media bringing us together. We still had the perfect day celebrating our sweet boy! Watching his eyes light up over everything new and exciting brought us so much joy. Here’s to the next year of life and watching him grow!
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