When little Bear was around 3 weeks old, I sat in the cozy gray glider in the corner of his nursery at some God-forsaken hour in the middle of the night.

As I rocked with my little guy, I began to think about–his first birthday party.

I started a secret board pinning dozens of images for the brown bear theme that I was dreaming about in my head.

It all seemed quite magical. And oh-so-far-away…and now, his birthday is upon me and I am absolutely unprepared. I suppose I should feel more emotional about this milestone–but the mountains of prep-work required for this Brown Bear themed party has become overwhelming. I even remember thinking to myself in the quiet of the night “I’m not going to go overboard with this.” I smiled peacefully and thought I’d just order this fabulous package, print it out and be done with it. and recalled that lovely sentiment as my sister and I were cutting out personalized “party circles” with little B’s face on them.

I’m not just overboard; I’m flailing in a deep sea of Brown Bear Brown Bear…it’s ALL I SEE.

Menus, and gifts, and favors, and cakes, and….all of these things that I want to be perfect that most red-blooded Americans don’t care about. Not even the birthday boy.

And yet, I’m likely going to continue “planning” myself into a tizzy for no particular reason at all.

So here are 5 easy steps to go overboard when birthday party planning.

1. Start looking for a birthday gift; and research said birthday gift for weeks.

My browsing history is laughable. I’ve read this article about a dozen times and added items to his kid’s birthday party wish list on Amazon according to said article. I’ve texted no less than 10 moms of little one’s asking what they got. And then I give up; he has just about everything he needs…and I don’t want to go overboard. But I’m already overboard.

2. Think about your outfit…and how to coordinate with the birthday theme.

I began to make a polyvore board two days ago to share as a post and abandoned ship. I’ve definitely lost all hope of ‘keeping it casual.’ And more likely than not, our party guests will be extremely close friends and family. From what I remember, we won’t have any paparazzi at the house. Also–I’m pretty sure little B wouldn’t want me to match him (his outfit is courtesy of Gigi Babies who is running a promotion for 15% off with promo code “LittleBearIs1.” SERIOUSLY! Get an Easter outfit from her. :)); although I’d be lying if I said this dress wasn’t in the running…

3. What will your guests eat? Consider the menu to coordinate with the birthday theme.

Is there some Brown Bear beer? How about some Green Frog Jello? Will we go sugar happy if I make some purple cat cupcakes? Yes? Oooook.

4. Birthday cakes are fun. But WHERE ARE YOU GOING TO TAKE THOSE SPECIAL SMASH CAKE PICTURES? WHAT WILL THE BACKDROP BE!?!

I have a feeling this particular project will be much more labor intensive than it should be. Most people give their kid a cupcake and a nice pat on the back…perhaps the birthday song and you may or may not catch a photo. Ohhhh well.

5. Order a fabulous party package . Don’t order recommended labels and attempt to save some $ by printing on full page labels.

The party pack from Abby Reece designs (also running a 15% off promo through the month of March using code ‘punsintended’) is so fun and whimsical. I am so excited that the design was done for me and it makes all of my visions realized…although–I would be lying if I said that these dreams didn’t require a little bit of work. My oldest sister helped yesterday once we received our materials from the printer and needed some wine about halfway through the process…C’est la vie.

And those are just 5 ways to go overboard. I’m definitely missing some steps, but I don’t want to overwhelm you too much with my crazy. How did you stay on track with planning your little one’s birthday party?