Morrison’s First BEE-Day

Sweet Morrison was born at the beginning of December, just after Thanksgiving. His birthday will likely get mixed in with the rest of The Holidays, but this family knows how to handle that (my mom’s birthday is a couple of days before Mo’s, John’s is Christmas Day, and mine is the day after New Year’s). I’m a birthday person in general, but I feel like rounding out that first year of life really deserves a celebration, which is often more for the adults than the baby who won’t remember his smash cake. We threw a huge fiesta for Oden’s numero UNO, complete with tacos, margaritas, and a sombrero and mustache for the birthday boy. A good time was had by all! For Morrison, I decided we would celebrate his BEE-day. Get it? We live in the Beehive State, and Mo really is as sweet as honey!

I love throwing parties, and a good theme makes it easy. I knew there would be quite a few kids at the party, so I made little goodie bags for each child to take home. Such a fun thing to do and share! I found little candy bar stickers with bees on them, some wildflower seed packets that said “Bee Happy”, little honeybee erasers, and cute bee-themed mini coloring books with crayons. I tucked the items into a cellophane bag and added a custom tag that said, “So glad you could BEE here! Love, Morrison.” I set them out in a basket where kids could grab one before they went home.

We were so thankful that my parents were able to be in town for the party, and they were a huge help with preparation. So fun! I already have some bee-themed decor for our guest room (Beehive State and all) so we brought them out. We hung a sign on the front porch so everyone knew they were in the right place. I found adorable banners on Etsy and cute cupcake toppers on Amazon. Amazon also had string lights with honeybees, which got hung by the bar and used on the food table for some twinkle. I picked up lots of sunflowers to add to the yellow and black color scheme, which made it feel bright and cheery for early December. My favorite detail was the high chair decoration with a big “1” on it!

Guys, I used to make all of the food for my parties, no matter the size. I still like to do that, but for this one, I gave myself the gift of having my friend Alisha of Mountain Meals cater the shindig. Such a good call- she makes healthy, amazing food and it freed me up to bake/decorate cupcakes, decorate the house, and spend time with friends/family. She made a tasty spread of appetizers that included a buffalo chicken dip with root veggie chips and crudité, sweet potato/avocado shrimp bites, almond flour popcorn chicken, and a killer salad. Oh! And little donut hole protein bites we put by the cupcakes! YUM.

Once people started arriving, it went from zero to 100 pretty quickly. The pile of coats and winter shoes by the door was huge. The LOUD meter went up by a lot. The basket of warm hats and gloves I put by the back door for kids to play outside was ignored, as was the “Pin the Carrot on the Snowman” game. Instead, music got turned up, parents chatted and munched, and shrieking, joyful kids sprinted from room to room and played Superman on the big couch cushions. My dad said that at one point, he came downstairs and saw Morrison alone in the middle of the party, completely unphased by the chaos and smiling. I think my folks were a little surprised at what this little birthday gathering turned into! We all sang Happy Birthday to Mo Byrd and watched him slowly get into a cupcake, squealing as he smeared frosting in his hair. Precious moments. In a moment of brilliance, I put The Grinch on TV and the kiddos settled in with a movie while the adults poured another drink.

And just like that, families started to pick their boots from the pile and say their goodbyes. A few friends lingered a little longer, but before long, all that was left was the party aftermath, my folks, and a couple of tired kiddos. It feels like most momentous occasions are over so quickly and then they are just a memory. But what a fun memory this is! We left the honeybee decorations and birthday banner up for at least a week before moving into full-on Christmas. We don’t do big parties for every birthday, but I’m so glad we chose to celebrate this first birthday with a bang!