It's a Party!

I know it has taken me a while to post this and I'm sorry. I will spare you the excuses for my tardiness and move on to the fun stuff...Bennett's first birthday party!

Beginning months ago I had visions of celebrating our little darling's first year with a cheerful gathering of all of the people who love Bennett, a beautifully crafted professional-looking cake, thoughtful decorations and cute party favors all with a subtle but creative theme running throughout. But, alas, it was not to be. I had to keep reminding myself that it was OK not to achieve the "perfect" party and that the birthday boy wouldn't know or care or remember how much thought, effort and money I poured into the two hour shin-dig. The only remnant would be the pictures.

But oh, how I longed for those lovely pictures!

In the end the festivities were held at our condo in Dallas because we had relocated from Allen for a week due to repair work taking place at the new house. Because of the craziness going on with living in limbo with two mortgages we kept it a low-key affair with a few guests.

And we all had a blast!

I submit a few pictures as proof.

Decor was simple - butcher paper covered the tables and crayons were provided for the small ones (or whoever) to doodle, plenty of colorful balloons, because Bennett loves them so much and a homemade cake that vaguely resembled a stack of blocks. Bennett wasn't feeling great and had been cranky-spanky much of the day leading up to his party, but after a good afternoon nap his mood was quite improved and he was ready to greet his guests.

(I must include a HUGE thanks to my sweet friend Lisa without whom this cake wouldn't have even begun to resemble blocks. Thank you for all your help! I had fun being creative with you!)

Guests included my family, Jeff's family and our friends/neighbors/coworkers the Thomas family. We dined on pizza from Papa John's (only the best for our baby's party!), sang "Happy Birthday" and then tore into the cake.



At first, Bennett wasn't sure what to make of it. After one taste he decided he wanted more, but wasn't sure how to expedite getting the sugary deliciousness into his mouth. In the end he devoured his piece almost completely and without too much of a mess. He seemed much more concerned with getting all the food in his belly than smearing it around. That's my boy!







(Note to future first birthday planners: White icing makes for little cake-smashing mess. If you want great, colorful pictures of a cake-plastered baby go for icing with color...if you dare!)

Next, the gifts! I opened lots of wonderful, fun toys and cute clothes from our sweet friends and family, but B hardly noticed because he was so enamored with the first gift we ripped into. It contained a toy cell phone complete with ring tone, buttons that make noise and a recorded birthday message from Gran and Papa J. I'm hoping that it will continue to hold more allure than MY phone. Then we can both be happy and maybe I can finish a call without a baby climbing all over me trying to commandeer the phone. Here's to hoping!



It didn't matter that he wasn't terribly interested in helping me reveal the other treasures because cousin Haley and our little friend Charly were more than willing to assist in the unwrapping! It was quite the group effort.

All in all I am quite pleased with the first birthday party. It was bright and fun just like our big one year old. I figure I still have a few years to work on improving my kid's-party-throwing skills. In the meantime, I think Bennett likes me just the same.