S's First Birthday Party

And just like that my baby is one.  I can’t believe it.  I can’t believe how quickly this year passed.  I think about maternity leave and it seems so long ago and like it was just yesterday.  It’s such a strange feeling.

A and I debated several themes for S’s first birthday party and nothing seemed right.  Some of our ideas were outer space (like his room), Valentine’s Day, ABCs, and we even joked about Wheel of Fortune because S is enamored with the game show.  Then I suggested teddy bears.  A liked it and it was a perfect fit for our cuddly boy.  I didn’t get too carried away, but we had teddy invites and décor.  I chose red and light blue as the colors.  Nearly all of the photos are on the camera and have not been uploaded yet, but I do have a phone photo of our dining room.

 I spent all day Friday decorating and cleaning.  Nani and grandma helped so much.  Nani watched the boys for me and Grandma helped clean.  At the start of the day, I didn’t think I had much to do.  Boy, was I wrong.  Somehow, each little task and decoration took way longer than anticipated.

Saturday, we had 25 people over to celebrate our littlest man.  I underestimated the amount of food and drink needed.  Luckily, I think we just barely had enough.  We served salad, fettuccini alfredo, and mostaccioli from one of our favorite restaurants for the main course.  There were a few different appetizers including bruschetta and tomato and mozzarella skewers prepared by Nani.  Everything was delicious.

Now let me tell you about my experience with cake.  I have the absolute worst luck.  For W’s first birthday, I ordered special cupcakes.  The vendor cancelled on me 2 days before the party.  Then, for W’s third birthday, I ordered a fancy school bus cake.  A friend of a friend prepared it and I had tried her cake before - and liked it.  Well, this particular cake tasted horrible.  And I didn't request anything special - yellow cake with chocolate buttercream filling.  It was really dry and tasted awful.  This time around, A and I agreed we didn’t want to spend a ton of money on cake based on our previous experiences.  We ordered one from the local grocery store and explained that we wanted a bear or bear head drawn on if possible and a red boarder.  So what did I get?  A blue border with roses and a bizarre, sad looking bear printed on.  I nearly cried when I picked it up and had to tell myself it wasn’t worth it to get upset.  On the bright side, it did taste good.

The party was wonderful with one exception.  A worked hard on preparing a video with photos from S’s first year and we completely forgot to show it.  Still sad about that.  S also refused to nap and ended up crashing around 5.  A and I debated waking him, but we knew he was exhausted.  So he woke sometime around 9 and was awake until 11:30pm.  I don’t think A and I have ever been so tired.  We had gotten between 5-6 hours of sleep 3 nights in a row due to the boys waking and preparations for S's party.

Oh!  (Sorry this post is all over the place)  We got S a play kitchen and both boys really love it so far. :)