It's a Party!

For Fletcher's family birthday party, I had seen a theme I liked and wanted to try and recreate it without spending all the money. I had a few ideas and with the colors (which was actually the theme), I was pretty sure it was going to turn out. Since the local party store is going out of business and everything is 60% off, I needed to stop in and see what they had. Turns out, all of my colors were available in all the items I needed. I made a banner that read "Happy Birthday Fletcher". The mother-in-law made the cupcake cake (thanks a ton Roxanne) and Adam covered the tables and played with the streamers to give the garage a nice party touch.

{the handmade banner}

{the cupcake cake}

Now, onto the party. All the grandparents attended, along with the greats. Great Uncle Mike, Aunt Jen, Cousin Camryn, Aunt Jenni and cousins Jesse, Jake and Eli were in attendance. As this was my first, 1st Birthday Bash I was in charge of, I wasn't sure how to go about things. So we got started with opening gifts. Fletcher kind of helped open the first few, but then he got a ball and once it was in his hands, the gifts pretty much didn't exist to him. I enjoyed opening everything and seeing the stuff my boy was going to be able to enjoy. Along with the balls, he got puzzles, legos/blocks, tons of books, a swing, a sports center, clothes, a rocking chair, trucks and some other miscellaneous things. His big item from Adam and I was a Little Tikes climber and slide. He doesn't have the steps down yet, but I'm sure he will figure it out in no time. Camryn kept climbing up and sliding down, which my little monkey had to copy...he needed help up the steps, but he enjoyed going down the slide.

{all those who gathered}

{a book from mommy and daddy}

{the ball that got most of the attention}

{playing on his new climber with cousin cam}

After all the gifts were opened, we moved on to the cake. I loved the cupcake cake that Roxanne made...it turned out just as I had hoped. She even made Fletcher his own cupcake that we were able to put a candle in. Not sure if he had help blowing out the candle or if the wind did it, but that boy didn't have a problem eating his cupcake. He was pretty slow diving into it, until he realized it tasted so yummy and that we weren't stopping him. The frosting was eventually all over his face and there were crumbs of chocolate cake that he kept stuffing in his mouth. He seemed to REALLY enjoy it.

{still not sure}

{studying it pretty hard}

{the remains}

Once the gifts were opened, the cake was eaten, everyone chatted and Fletcher played with his cousins, it was time to say goodbye. Everyone needed to get home and I had a little man who needed a bath and a long, overdue nap. I bathed Fletcher and put him down for a nap while Adam cleaned the garage. The party was a success and I survived my baby's first birthday. It was a bittersweet day, knowing my boy is growing up...but to me, he will always be my baby.