What a day to remember! A few weeks ago Thomas turned one and we decided to celebrate over two of his favorite things – pizza and popsicles. We designed the party to be simple and intimate so we could keep all the focus on the birthday boy. After all, he’s had one hell of year and deserved a party all about him.
The evening before the party a horrible storm rolled through Charlotte knocking out power in thousands of homes. We were one of them. Our power goes out pretty easily because our old neighborhood is covered in trees (which we love! except when it storms). As our home began to heat up we tossed and turned and called our energy company over and over to check on the status of our power being restored. Usually we get power back fairly quickly so by the next morning I was a little nervous that we still hadn’t seen any power trucks cruising the neighborhood. Again, this normally would not have phased us because Matt and I were busy bees hanging decorations, poop scooping the yard, hosing down outdoor toys, running last minute errands (cake, ice, pizza, etc.), cleaning the house, hiding our belongings in closets and bedroom corners, etc. However, trying to get ready for a party without electricity also meant no air conditioning, no oven or microwave use, no fridge to keep the popsicles frozen and worst of all, no television or charged iPads to keep the kids entertained so we could do all of those aforementioned party chores. That may sound ridiculous (and it IS) but have you ever tried to hang 345354534 streamers with the slooooowest help of a toddler? Or fill coolers with popsicles with your sweaty shirt being tugged on for one every 3 minutes? Or slice a watermelon next to two kids screaming of boredom? Or try and put minis down for a nap in a sauna? Fun times.
Thankfully Matt’s parents arrived early for the party and took the kids to Chick-fil-A for lunch. Meanwhile I ran next door to my friend Abby’s house to borrow her electricity to cool down and straighten my sweaty hair so I could look halfway presentable for the party. As the party time got closer and closer our house became stickier and hotter. At one point Matt spotted an energy truck rolling through the neighborhood and I threw both babies and a handful of popsicle cookies at him and told him to chase them down and beg to move our street up the priority list (ha!). The nice power guys informed Matt (along with the crowd of hot neighbors that gathered in hopes of good news) that due to the storm damage we shouldn’t expect our power to be returned by the time of our party, by bedtime or even by the end of the weekend. And so we had a party in 98 degree heat outside and 86 degree heat inside. Oh, and we served melted popsicles. But we made the most of it and still had a hell of a time! So this party goes down in the books as one we’ll laugh at down the road, right?
Taylor arrived early to the party to take some family pictures before the kiddos were covered in popsicle juice, pizza sauce and icing. These are some of my favorite pictures from the day.
While the kiddos were cheesing it up for Taylor, Matt was off being daddy-of-the-year at Home Depot, renting a generator (as seen in the background below) for the bounce house…
For the decorations I was able to recycle almost everything we used from my controversial party bins (which Matt hates and swears are a waste of attic space)!
We (I mean Matt) hung lots of colorful fans from the bistro lights. A huge shout out to the hubby for being so patient with me as I changed my mind a million times over exact placement and annoyingly supervised him from under the ladder.
I also printed some of our favorite pictures of Tom Tom to hang outside.
Farmers market flowers!
For the kiddos we served all sorts of colorful snacks — cheese balls, watermelon slices, fruit loops and goldfish.
Caroline and I were super happy with how pretty our streamer backdrop turned out. She took her tape dispenser role very seriously.
Just before our power outtage Matt and I filled a bunch of water balloons up and stuck them in the freezer to use as ice cubes for the drink buckets. I am happy to report they were still halfway frozen for the party and were perfect for keeping the prosecco and wine chilled! By the end of the party they had completely thawed so we let the kiddos pop them!
For the adults we served wine, beer and my personal favorite – prosecco pops!
Prosecco pops: fill your glass up with prosecco and add a yummy popsicle. Or in our case, add a very melted popsicle. Still refreshing and delicious!
The minis also didn’t seem to mind that their popsicles were really just juice pops by party time.
Caroline had a juice pop in her hand the entire time. I am pretty sure I caught her with at least 6 flavors throughout the party.
We served pizza from one of our favorite local pizza places for an early dinner.
And of course we had CAKE!
I wanted the cake to be as fun and happy as possible so I opted for a confetti sprinkle cake! It was delicious and all the party guests agreed! Our grocery store, Harris Teeter, offers a free smashcake for first birthdays and I was thrilled that they agreed to match Thomas’s smashcake with the large cake.
Another one of Caroline’s favorite party prep activities was creating the popscile banners. She loved picking out a stack of colorful paint samples at Home Depot and helping me tape popsicle sticks to the cut outs.
Thomas CRUSHED his cake.
Like, TOTALLY crushed it. Just when guests thought he was all done he would slap another handful of cake into his mouth and laugh.
Caroline also ran her fingers all through the side of the cake to help out.
Still going!
Facetiming Grandma, Grandpa, Aunt Lindsey, Uncle Ryan and baby Jackson!
Demolished.
The kiddos had a blast bouncing around in the bounce house and splashing around in the water table.
My best gal pals! And some of our littlest friends…
I loved how cute the Popsicle cookie favors turned out!
After the guests left we packed our bags and continued the celebration over an airconditioned slumber party at our friend’s house. And that was a wrap on Thomas’ first birthday party!
Party Sources:
Photography: Taylor Stading Photography
Thomas & Caroline’s Outfits: Smocked Auctions // Sara Reed Designs
My pink dress: Old Navy (lots of prints)
Colorful paper fans and streamers: Amazon (recycled from Fiesta party)
Pizza pans: Amazon
Cakes: Harris Teeter
Popsicle banners: DIY from Home Depot paint samples
Bounce House from Mimi & Grandad: Amazon
Water Table: Amazon






Adorable party! I love the paint swatch popsicles!
You did a fantastic job!! Can't even imagine how stressed you must have been, but I don't think the kids noticed at all!
Taylor is worth every penny! Man, she always gets the best snaps of everyone! My favorites: you and Tom Tom holding hands (duh), Matt and Caroline (always gets a good one of those cuties!), you and Matt, and lastly the one of Hudson is SO cute! So cute. Worth the wait!
So fun and colorful!
Adorable! I love everything about this party 🙂 Happy Birthday! What camera are you using?! I love the photo quality!!
Such a CUTE party! Even though it was hot, it looks like everyone had a blast!
Seriously what an adorable party! Now I need to try those Prosecco pops! You would never know the party didn't go exactly as planned with the electricity problem!
You did an AMAZING job!! I love all of the little details you thought of — Prosecco pops, yes please!! Their rompers are adorable!!
That's one of the cutest parties I've seen! And I totally commend you on going through with the party without electricity. Way to go, Momma (And Daddy)! And now you've introduced me to prosecco pops which will be on our menu this weekend at the lake. Woohoo! So fun.
What a cute party. I love the simple but fun theme! Looks like everyone had a great time despite the heat. You are awesome for just going on with the show!!
What a gorgeous party friend – i love the pizza and popsicles! And you did it so well with no power – we had the same at our last party… No power or water for a slip and slide party!!! x
The pictures turned out so cute! Beautiful family
What an adorable and fun birthday party!! Kudos to y'all for dealing with the power outage so well! I started sweating thinking about not having AC in the middle of summer lol
Aww I love the theme! Despite the power outage seems like it turned out great!!
Super cute celebration for sweet Thomas! And major props to you for still killing it, sans power! (and still looking fab while doing it)
Such a great party idea! You are awesome for making the best of an uncomfortable situation! That heat would have probably gotten the best of me! Happy Birthday Thomas!
Love it! You are all so adorable and with no power – super impressive!
cutest party ever mama… you did it again and everyone looks like they had a ball!!!!
So fun! I love that last photo of you and Matt. Y'all are the sweetest little family. I love following this blog!! Happy birthday sweet Thomas!
Adorable outfits and super cute party! Love the paint swatch Popsicles!
Great theme! I didn't even realize those were paint color swatches, until you pointed it out. How creative!
I've been to events at other places, but this was my first time in here. Great place. Food at venues Chicago was good and seating was very comfortable. Also, very good view from where I sat. This is such a cool venue and the atmosphere was equally amazing.
You and your kiddos are precious! What a beautiful family. I love all the colors and the sprinkle cake! My daughter's 1st birthday is coming up this weekend. I'm excited!
I bought the same bounce house for my grandson's first birthday party back in July! It was a huge hit!
I would love to know where you got the signs! They go so well with the party! You did such a great job with everything!