JW's First Birthday Party

JW's birthday party was so much fun.  We were lucky to have all grandparents in attendance, along with many of our friends.  The planning and week leading up to the event were fairly, I mean pretty, stressful.  But, we made it and it was a great day!

The day started with JW's last swim lesson.  He did an amazing job and I can't wait for our trip to the Bahamas and the summer.  He is going to have a blast!!

After the lesson, he did his usual: bath and crashed for a nap.  I had planned the party to start at 1:00 hoping he would take a long nap and be rested and happy.  He did take a long nap and was awake when the guests arrived.  However, at about 1:30, he was exhausted, so we put him back down to sleep.  James woke him around 2:15 so we could do the cake.  That might explain why it took a bit for him to get into it, he's a slow riser, just like his mommy!!

Decorations were fairly simple (and I don't have pictures).  I used a balloon and primary color theme.  I made a balloon wreath that I found on Pinterest (fairly easy to make, but I used way more balloons than was recommended.)  I am hoping to use it every year for the birthday week! (or month, since it is still hanging in my dining room.)  I used streamers to decorate the chandelier over the dining room table (which held the gifts and cakes) and to decorate his high chair (which you can kind of see in the pictures below).  We hung 3 large pictures from JW's newborn session and had several of his 8 month pictures in frames.  We had a bunch of balloons for the kids (these were the hit!).

For food I also tried to keep it simple.  I made two chili recipes - a beef chili and a chicken chili.  We did these in the crockpot and started them before swim lesson.  We also had a cheese tray with crackers, veggies and dip, and fruit skewers (also found on Pinterest).  We also made grilled cheeses  for the kiddos. I ordered a cake from Publix (with a free smash cake.  If you have a Publix near by, if you order the 1 year birthday cake, they will give you a smash cake for FREE!!).  However, the 1/4 sheet cake would only serve about 20-25 and I expected roughly 30 for the party.  So, I made an adult cake as well - Chocolate Vodka Khalua cake.  It's yummy!  I'll have to post a recipe soon.

JW wore a shirt I got on Etsy with the number 1 on it. It was very cute and soft.  I also ordered the invitation from an Etsy seller.  Great customer service from both sellers!

JW is blessed with generous family and friends.  He received a ton of great gifts.  (and only 1 duplicate)  With his Christmas and Birthday combined, I think we're set for quite awhile.  In fact, I may take a couple toys back, just because he got too many.  We've opened about 2/3 of the gifts and left the others in boxes.  I figure we'll break a new one every once in awhile to keep him interested!  Now it's time to start looking at the organizing and decorating the playroom!

JW's birthday was an overall success.  I can't believe he's 1 already.  It's amazing how quickly the year has gone and how fast he is growing.  It seems he learns something new everyday.  My heart feels full.

We got a little side tracked before the party started.  I started getting the balloons ready before JW had lunch.  That was the end of trying to eat anything.  He absolutely loved the balloons.  Good thing there is some helium left!!  I think we have a rainy day toy!

JW and all the grandparents.  I think this was the best one.  You can see my streamers in the background.

Daddy and JW.....He finally decided to eat something.  I think we got 1/4 of a grilled cheese sandwich down.

Mommy and JW - you can see the fruit skewers in the background.

My best friend from when we were the little ones' ages......She came to visit with her family for the weekend!  What a sweet treat!

Starting with the cake.  It was a little slow going at first, but then he got the hang of it.  Yes - We went without clothes for the cake eating part!!

Getting a little more into it.

Really into it - The icing was everywhere - including that ear!!  I don't think he actually ate much of it.  He just kind of played with it.  It was straight to a bath after.  I had to clean my bathtub the next day as I had greasy icing residue all over it!

Opening gifts.  He had lots of help!!

Inspecting his gift from Mommy and Daddy.

Pretty sure we could have just given him a roll of wrapping paper!!

Staring out our front window.  He loves to do this!  

The kiddos playing with JW's gift from Grandma and Grandpa.  I think his look kind of says, this is my toy, what are you doing with it!

He finally got a go pushing A around!!