A few weeks ago, we had all of family and close friends join us to celebrate Landon’s second birthday with an adorable puppy party! Anyone who knows this kid knows he is utterly obsessed with dogs. When we visit our friend’s homes, he will chase their pups endlessly just to give them hugs and pets; it’s the sweetest thing. So a puppy party was fully in order and, as you probably expected if you saw last year’s Peter Rabbit birthday party, I didn’t hold back! I just love planning parties (for fun!) and usually dive in deep! Our friends joke that before one party ends, I already know what the next will be… and yes, I do have a board filled with lots and lots of ideas, but I try to base it on something he loves at the moment! =P

For the party, I knew I wanted to do an epic dessert bar again — baking is one of my other hobbies and mom is an incredible cake baker, so between the two of us, we could dream up something pretty unique. Plus, what kid doesn’t love dessert!? The showpiece was, hands down, the 3D German Shepherd cake my mom built completely by hand with vanilla and chocolate cake, rice crispy treats, and more pounds of icing than I care to know. The entire thing, even the eyes and collar, was totally edible. It was amazing and everyone thought it was professional done! She’s made so many cool cakes over the years, but building a cake to look like our dog Granger might just take the cake (pun intended =P). We filled in with other fun dog themed treats including puppy chow, rice crispy bones, chocolate pretzel fetch sticks, Scooby Snacks, and dog cake pops. My parents also built a dog house backdrop for the table which was absolutely incredible!

For dinner, we had to do a Hot Dog Bar, complete with lots of toppings and sides including mac and puppies, Duke’s Beans, pawtatoe chips, and even a 3D dog veggie tray. You can’t miss my favorite part of the Hot Dog Bar in the pictures below… a menu sign with all of our favorite pups on it!

Finally, for the kiddos, I put together an entire adoption station where they got to pick a pet and then name it, built it a house, and design a collar! The kids were obsessed and I loved seeing pictures the day after of them not wanting to put them down! My momma also organized lots of games for the kids and brought a parachute which they all loved — just wait until you see the look on Landon’s face while throwing this thing in the air, he is completely cheesing!

There was, of course, a part of me that was sad when the party was over. It’s such a joy to get to have everyone you love in one place; I feel lucky to have such great parents who helped me pull this entire thing off and such great friends who freed up their Saturday night to spend it with us. But mostly, that another year with Landon has already come to pass. I know I’ve said this before, but being a parent sometimes feels like a living in a perpetually bittersweet state; each moment of watching them grow and reach a new milestone is more beautiful than the last, but it’s also heartbreaking at the same time.  You know you’ll never get to see those “firsts” for a first time again and you can’t ever go back. Luckily we took lots and lots of photos, so I can always remember the pure happiness on his face the entire day!

And I can’t not share one of my favorite parts of this whole party! I’ve already bragged on our awesome friends and family endlessly, but I need to just one more time! In honor of this being a puppy themed birthday party, we wanted to give back to a local shelter. So in lieu of gifts, we asked all of our friends to bring donations for Landon to drop off… and just look at how much we got! Incredible!!!