Invitation

Skyler’s first birthday is fast approaching. We aren’t doing the big hooplah which a lot of people do for their kids’ first birthdays these days. I’m just not up to it, and frankly, I probably won’t ever make much of a big deal until she can remember it, in which case I might be inclined to throw the biggest and best birthday party ever, so she can brag about it to all her friends, and always be known as the kid with the best parties, with all the kids begging and pleading to be lucky enough to get an invitation to Skyler Oswald’s birthday parties. Oh wait, that sounds strangely like a ridiculous show on MTV, and no, I will not purposefully throw parties like that for Skyler. I like a good party, but in all actuality, we are a pretty laidback family, so we’re more likely to do some killer BBQing than throw the most coveted theme party around.

Anyhoo, we’ll just be grilling burgers and hotdogs with our families (the grandparents, aunts, and uncles, and maybe some great-grandparents if we’re lucky!). Maybe I can convince Ronnie to smoke a brisket or pork shoulder instead (like he did today that I got to smell all day but we can’t eat till TOMORROW. It’s been driving me nuts). I’ll pick up a sheet cake for everyone and of course we’ll take pictures of Skyler checking out her piece. I’m so excited that she’s finally taken a liking to feeding herself, so hopefully she’ll be into her cake. The pictures my mom has of my brothers and I at our first birthdays with chocolate icing and cake crumbs smeared all over our hands, chests, and faces are priceless, and I can only hope to get some fun ones like that of Skyler!

I even bought her a present today that I’ll wrap and wait to give to her on that day. It seems silly since she really won’t know the difference, but I guess the tradition has to start somewhere! I pickedup a cute bathtoy. All she’s had to date is one single rubber ducky. I feel like I’ve been a neglectful parent in offering her the same darn toy in the bathtub for over 11 months now, but hey, until she complains, no harm done, right? That’s the joy of an easy-going baby I guess. You don’t need as many toys to keep them happy!

The one thing I decided to do is send out invitations to the family for this party. Most know the date already, but I thought it would be a nice thing to do – people like those kinds of things for their fridges, you know? I started going to the online photo sites to find one I could upload a picture to and then get printed. But I couldn’t find anything I liked. If they weren’t cheesy, they were expensive. So why pay so much for something I could do myself? So I opened up Photoshop and got inspired. And here is the result (edited for security. Hopefully I’ll actually get these printed and mailed. That’s the hardest part!):