29 Days and Counting....

The 1st Birthday Countdown had begun--- as of today, we have 29 days to go!  There's been lots of buzz around our house about this party.  I have been talking to Owen (and everyone else who will listen to me) about birthday cakes, balloons, decorations, favors and the zoo a lot lately, so maybe Owen's excited too.

Yes, I did say ZOO.  For our little one's first birthday, we couldn't think of a more meaningful theme than the zoo.  You see, a year ago this week, we went with our wonderful friends, Jessica and David, on a Babymoon to Dallas.  While we were there the 4+ of us went to the Dallas Zoo.  It was so much fun to waddle around the zoo, daydreaming about taking our little guy there one day and seeing signs like this, knowing that one day we too would be taking the Stroller Route!  

Looking back at the pictures makes me smile. 

This one makes me laugh---- it wasn't easy to get a pregnant woman to sit on that turtle. 

It was even harder to get her off! 

Brendon had such a great time, he had to jump for joy! 

Jessica and I picked out a little zoo keeper onesie for baby Owen.  We decided on the 12 month size.  The exact size he'll be at his first birthday! He'll be wearing that outfit to the zoo on May 4th. 

He will also have lots of people there that love him.  Grammy and Poppa (my parents) are coming to visit us for the entire week!  Owen's been working on saying "Poppa" and he loves talking to Grammy on the phone. He's going to love spending time with them.  Plus, Jessica and David are coming into town to celebrate with us. They were Owen's first visitors! He was only about an hour old when they first met.  We are just so excited! 

And, as if that weren't enough... we're having a party for Owen and his friends at our house later in the week.  We wanted to celebrate with our friends in Shreveport, too.  But, we knew that it wasn't reasonable to ask them to take their kids out of school, drive 3 hours to Dallas in the middle of the week,  and spend two days there with us.  So, what began as a simple, low-key pizza party at our clubhouse--- turned into a dinner at Pie Works with balloons and cake, then transformed itself into a MaGnIfiCeNtLy SpEcTaCuLaR pizza party at our house.  I tried to keep it simple, but spectacular took over after I looked at a few (100) blogs. 

Here are some of my inspirations....

Eighteen 25's Birthday Subway Art for the entertainment cabinet. 

Sew 4 Home's Pom Pom Garland to hang in his doorway. 

How Does She's Birthday Balloon Wreath 

Hostess of the Mostess also helped me to capture my vision for the birthday banner.

I've ordered lots of animal print balloons and party supplies, too. 

I'm still working out the details on the cake. But, I do know that I'll be decorating it for Owen.  A friend of mine is even teaching me a new technique to use for the cake decorations. 

I can't wait to share pictures of his party with you... in 29 days!