“Party Animal” First Birthday for Shep

living

I am completely in denial that our Sheppy is one!

This time last year, we were snuggling our teeny tiny bean, figuring out how to be a parent, and loving every moment of our brand new dark haired boy. Now he looks like a toddler with his chunky legs and toothy grin, he’s gone completely blonde, and everyday we cannot get over that the Lord gave this sweetheart to us.

We have officially crossed the threshold of being in New York now for over half his life, which is just insane and hilarious. At his birth, or even the months that followed, if you would’ve told me we’d be moving to New York City for any part of his life – let alone in his first year – I actually would’ve fallen over.

But here we are, and I wouldn’t trade these memories for a thing!

Now that we live in an apartment, hosting looks a *smidge* different. But that was not stopping me from having a sweet 1st birthday!

We had Shep’s “Party Animal” themed birthday at the beautiful Carl Schurz Park, which is like a small version of Central Park but on the east river / UES. Some of our best friends and family flew in for it and it was just a blessing to have so much love surrounding Shep. Gosh, this little boy! <3

Special thanks to Kate McReynolds Photography who photographed everything and just added so much joy to the party. It feels so good to trust that our most special moments are documented so beautifully, and I don’t have to have my phone out or worry about anything else but being in the moment. Always will be on team ‘book a photographer’ for your family events! 🙂

Meri Meri has the best party decor for kids. The party hats and cupcake tins + toppers were such a fun detail that added such an elevated but still whimsical touch. Take a peak at the rest of their themes!

The 4ft stuffed giraffe that was randomly the first thing I bought for nursery decor (it gave me Father of the Bride vibes), and it came in handy for our party! It’s truly so sweet, a great price, and his bedroom being a similar theme to the party made it extra easy to decorate.

Please note the hand hold <3 He is as sweet as it looks.

For inquiring minds, we have the Stokke high chair from Amazon and I have really liked its sleek design. I added the Catchy at home to help with messes, but we took that off for his party in the park. I have found that it’s not the easiest to clean, but I am hearing that no high chair exists on God’s green earth that doesn’t have excessive nooks + crannies, so user beware. Lol.

Time for Cake!

His little cake was a direct copy from one I saw on Pinterest, I just added a few of these precious animal toppers form Etsy!

We have ordered custom cookies from RedHeaded Confections off of Etsy for — gosh — four or five events now! She does an exceptional job, ships anywhere in the US, and the cookies taste amazing. I sent her the “vibe” of the party and some random things I thought would be cute, and she over-delivered. I couldn’t recommend her more!

This set of balloons were perfect for the nostalgic, colorful vibe I wanted for his first birthday. They’re on amazon!

Shop the entire party

Shop all the pretty things below that I used for this sweet Party Animal Party! Everything is either from Amazon or Etsy. Here’s the full list on ShopMy!