M-i-c-k-e-y M-o-u-s-e!

Gabriel's first birthday is coming up so quick that it seems like everything is going to bite me in the butt if I don't get started on gettting birthday stuff ready. We are doing Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as our theme this year. Funny thing is, I love Disney but had never really seen Mickey's Clubhouse until I decided on using it as a theme for his birthday party. I chose the theme waaaaaaayyyy back in November when I found a Mickey Mouse costume on clearance for Gabriel to wear this Halloween.

So I have literally been planning his party for months and months. I bought some really cute cups from the disney store to put in the goody bags and one day while strolling through the dollar section at Target I found some Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse coloring books. I plan on throwing some crayons and other stuff in there too along with some candy. For the older kids we're just doing candy in the regular plastic goody bags but for the kids I bought some blue gift bags and personalized them using stamps and good 'ol ink! And some stickers of course! So far this is what I have:

It's not much just yet but it's a start! And I like how my goody bags have a special touch! I know I could've gone the easy route and just stuck to regular store bought goody bags but for some reason I always create more work for myself.

Now, on to the invitations. I have been working on them for quite some time now but I want to add some pictures of him and am planning on printing these out and putting them on some nice cardstock with some cute embelishments. Again, more work for me but it's something I like to do!

I found a bunch of cakes that maybe if I was any good at baking, and had a decent oven, I would be able to make myself but worrying about my oven burning a cake the night before the party would just add way more stress to my already hectic life. So, I'm turning to one of my favorite bakerys and am doing something similar to this cake...Except bigger...

And these are going on the cake too!

As I said, I'm so excited about his party and although people say, "it's a waste of money, he's not going to remember his first birthday," I feel like it is not only a time for gifts and cake, It's about celebrating that we made it to a year. A year of having our beautiful boy in our lives and a year of pure joy. And All this mayhem of making his party as perfect as I can is in my nature. I would do anything for my son, even if it means spending months and months planning, making invitations, getting papercuts and fighting with some other mom over the last Mickey's Clubhouse tumblers at the Disney store.