Rookie Year First Birthday Party

Our boys' first birthday was last week and we had the most fun celebrating them! I'm not going to hide it-- I have been planning their party since January ;) I had the best time putting together the details for their Rookie Year themed party! One thing that made it even more special is that my grandpa (my mom's dad) played baseball in the MLB. He passed away right before the babies were born, but he was so excited for us to have them. Before he passed, my mom had him sign two baseballs for the boys and we keep them in clear cases for them to display in their bedrooms one day. We put those baseballs out on the display table and it was just really sweet! I am so thankful my friend Ashley came to celebrate & was able to take some adorable photos for us.

I'm sharing all of our sources at the bottom of this post, so scroll on if you're interested!

I had some fun crafting for the party and even got my husband to help, too. He made the arched backdrop, then my dad and I blew up the balloons the night before the party to create the balloon arch. It was so hot and humid the day of the party (it also rained), so they didn't stay blown up all that well. Every few minutes we'd hear another one pop- ha!

I made the little flags by printing out the flag designs that a sweet friend shared with me, then glued them to wooden dowels. I stuck them in jars filled with peanuts to give it even more of a ballpark feel. Signage is a fun way to elevate any celebration, so I printed some signs with baseball puns. We decorated with vintage glass coke bottles, baseballs, and I tried to pick out flowers that looked like they could have been picked from right field.

One of my favorite decor elements was printing out the twins' monthly milestone photos and stringing them up above the display table. It's so crazy to see how much they have grown over the last year, so our friends and family loved taking a look!

Look at those precious babies!! Time is a thief!

What's a baseball party without cracker jacks?! I found these on Amazon and the kids thought they were great. I put out raisins for the littler friends.

Too keep everything fresh, we did our food inside on our dining table. We had veggie trays, crackers and cheese and chips and dip for apps. Then we grilled up hot dogs, hamburgers, and had fruit salad and chips for dinner.

Did I mention it was also my husband's birthday on the day of the party?! Quite the busy week for us! In the invite I sent out, I secretly tucked in a small card that told everyone it was McCann's 35th birthday and invited them to bring him some beer if they wanted to :) He had fun with that! We also did a signature cocktail bar for him-- his favorite rum & coke. It was also his signature drink at our wedding.

Onto the cake smash! The boys were both a tiny bit apprehensive at first, but then absolutely dug in and enjoyed every second!! It was the best and made all my dreams come true. Their smash cakes were everything!! Just so cute!

Get it, Brooks!

Go, Sawyer!

I can just hear his little voice saying "ooohhhh!" in this picture.

This little guy nearly knocked the cake off his tray multiple times. Apparently birth order stereotypes are true even in twins (at least for us!) because Brooks' (first born) tray was clean and he only touched the cake a few times, instead mostly taking bites out of it. Sawyer (second born) dug in with his hands and had to be dunked in the kids pool to get him cleaned up ;)

My parents:

My mother in law:

All our friends!

The cousins (missing a few!):

The boys with their little girl baby friend, Margot :)

McCann did all the grilling for us on his own birthday...what a guy!

Here are the baseballs my grandma signed for the boys.

Dessert was amazing! We had the adorable cookies made, and the cupcakes were made by the same gal who did the boys smash cakes. My sister in law made scotcheroos and we had little ice cream cups for the kids, too.