Not a Baby Anymore

       Last Monday marked Nolan's 1st Birthday.  I'm going to spare you all every little thing that we love about him (because there are a lot) but take my word for it, he continues to amaze us everyday. Lately he's made it very apparent that he's a boy. He gets dirty, he bites, he's sneaky and he's JUST NUTS.  He still keeps us up a lot at night (as in three times a night) but he has also developed a love for cuddling. Every week brings a new phase. We just feel very blessed to have him healthy and happy most of the time.
       A few months before his birthday I already had a few party thoughts in mind. It involved a big BBQ and ta-do. As the date got closer something smaller seemed a little less stress inducing. His birthday coincided with my families annual vacation in Tahoe so we decided to make it a low key family affair. Luckily for him my immediate family involves lots of cousins and aunt and uncles so it's not to say that it was a quiet party.
       About a month before the party I went to the craft store and spent about forty dollars on lots of supplies that I needed and some extras that caught my eye. I spent the next few weeks crafting a few invitations and decor. The theme... I couldn't decide on one, so I just went with ideas that caught my eye. I'm sure to some the time I spent on crafting may seem a bit nuts, but when you're husbands working late and your boy is in bed by 7:30, it's nice to have some projects to work on. I figured as long as I was still enjoying all of the projects I took on, then I would keep plugging away. I'm happy to report that I thoroughly enjoyed 93% of the projects and I had wrapped up most items by the July 4th holiday. Which was handy because once that holiday weekend hit, it felt like there was little free time before his birthday to get anything done.

My family rented an amazing vacation house for the week
(LOTS of photos to share soon)
which made for a great backdrop for the party.
Did I mention I did a lot of crafting for the party?

Take the centerpieces for example.

That grey container above

was one of my favorite projects 

because it started out looking like this.

My sister used them for her wedding and was

selling them at a recent garage sale. 

I grabbed them up (for free!) before she had a chance. 

So I sat and looked at them for a while.

What to do, what to do. 

I figured "wine" wasn't super appropriate for a 1st birthday bash,

so I added some paint that I already had on hand. 

And I got thinking about adding some rope. 

I COULD NOT believe my luck when my neighbor was 

giving away rope for free a week ago.

When they came out looking like this

(and for completely free!)

I was pleased.

Because our group was large, 

we had two tables to decorate.

The cakes I baked doubled as centerpieces.

After nearly having two caketastrophies on my hands

when I tried to frost these bad boys, 

I decided that these may be my last homemade

birthday cakes. 

I may be all about ice cream buffets & pies in the future.

They make frosting cakes look SO easy on TV!

There was one for the big kids.

And one for the birthday kid.

As the date got closer, 

I wouldn't let myself spend any more money

so instead of buying fabric for tablecloths,

I used wrapping paper that I already had on hand,

and I pulled out napkins that were in our cupboard.

Outside on the deck,

I set up an area for family to view Nolan's 

babybook and to leave a message.

I have a few last details and photos to add to 

his babybook and then I hope to share it here on the blog.

There was a spot to include his 1st Birthday Invitation.

Everyone got to flip through 

for a glimpse of Nolan's first year.

Nolan was surely spoiled by lots of gifts.

And this mama went a little bit crazy 

with gift wrapping.

I almost bought him more gifts,

just because I was having so much fun wrapping them.

Almost.

I wasn't the only one that went a little crazy with the gift wrapping.

So did his aunt Heather.

Nolan was lucky to have help opening his gifts from his cousin.

His very excited cousin.

It was a great celebration.

Nolan got his first taste of cake.

He was not disappointed.

He shared a bite with grandpa.

All that sugar made for a crazy

baby that night. 

We were happy with how it all came out. 

Who knows what the next twelve months will bring.

I've got lots of photos to edit from the past week, 

and lots to share very soon!