There are few things cuter than planning a summer party for a toddler.  They are easily impressed, usually end up naked or in nothing but a diaper and nothing beats baby babble in my books.  But given that my son's 2nd birthday falls 4 days from my due date, I knew the chances of having a successful party that week were zero.  Even planning a couple of weeks before or after the birth would be really difficult due to my limited energy and a cesarean section. 

Not having a party for my little boy was not an option.  I decided to do something sweet and simple using as many modern conveniences as possible, a month in advance.  This turned out to be a great success.  Here are several ways I made my toddler's party work without having to do much work at all:

1. I made nothing.  I did not bake a cake, labour with DIY decor or even toss a salad.  We ordered pizzas from our neighbourhood joint and custom blue cookie cupcakes from Sweet Flour Bake Shop.  The blue icing was a huge hit as every child gobbled the icing off the top, running around with sticky blue smiles leaving the slightly soggy cookie underneath for a parent to enjoy.  Yum!

2.  I created video invites and thank you notes online using a new service I was recently asked to test called PercyVites.  Basically you upload a picture of your child, all of the party details and then these custom, cute little videos pop into invitees inboxes. I used PercyVites again the day after the party to create custom video thank you notes.  It is not a free service, but each invite is less than the cost of an invitation plus postage.  And of course my real motivation:  I didn't have to waddle to the card store, the post office or painstakingly write out each thank you note by hand.  Is it just me, or has typing made anyone else lose the art of handwriting?

3. Inflatable pool.  We bought an adorable pool from Wal-Mart with water squirting out of chunky little palm trees and a squishy baby slide.  This was accompanied by a large box of Huggies Little Swimmers to prevent the inevitable.  The pool was a huge hit.  As the afternoon wore on, each child took turns drinking pool water from a disintegrating Winnie the Pooh paper cup that one of them had thrown in.  Thankfully despite the pee, mulch, grass and whatever else ended up in there, none of the parents reported any post-party illness.

4.  Water pistols.  What's a great ice breaker for 6 toddlers and their parents?  Getting shot between the eyes by a diaper clad gangster with months of target practice.  (He's a really good shot thanks to practicing with Mommy in the back yard when I get home from work).  We bought a package of multi-sized water guns for about $10.

5.  Goodie buckets.  This was the most fun part for me.  I scooped up pails, shovels, play dough and bubble wands and topped each one off with a helium balloon.  Each one cost about $5-$6 including the balloon and the reaction was well worth it.

There was no getting around the work of tidying the house or the yard, but planning for the party was fun and minimal effort for all.  My little guy's reaction to the event made it even more worthwhile and I was glad I could still do this for him so late in my pregnancy.

Have any of you other Moms planned a party while pregnant and if so, what easy shortcuts did you take?