We took our first family vacation together. She ate cake on a beach blanket surrounded by seashells & sunshine.

We had a first birthday party with friends for my first son, and then celebrated only with immediate family for my other children. I love party planning, but it's hard to find the time!

We have a large family, and an even larger church group who feels like family, so a large party was kind of a no-brainer for us. That doesn’t have to mean extravagant, though! We bought hot dogs and buns, I made cupcakes and cookies, and family members contributed sides. The kids played lawn games, and it was generally laid-back and stress free!

My first I threw parties every year and invited family and friends, but with my second, he cried at Happy Birthday and since then, we've toned down celebrations!

We had larger family parties until my kids entered elementary school and then we only invited classmates with exception of our parents. They still come to our kids' parties.

We celebrated the first birthdays of our boys just with family. Once they were in preschool we started inviting a few friends and the number increased as they got older. Now that they are older, we are toning it down again and just inviting a few close friends to celebrate.

Had a large party for my firstborn with family, friends, neighbors. The second and third kids just got a family celebration. I think I realized I’d save myself the work of planning a big party since they were still so little.