The First of Many...

As you all know, my wee little Eddie Bear turned the big ONE last week.  We did a little celebration at home: presents, cake, out for dinner, but the BIG party was this past Saturday.

Um, you guys?  I did NOT know how much work, money, or effort went into a first birthday party.  (Cue the laughter of all my friends who "told me so" for the past seven years of them having kids.)  Seriously, the morning of the party I felt like when I was in the role of "fixer" or "mistress of ceremony" or "personal attendant" at weddings.  Frantic.  I had a clipboard and lists.  I had to pick up a cake, balloons, and Jimmy Johns.  We had all our tables and chairs and the decor there already, we just had to set up.  Eddie had to be on schedule to get there.  Good grief!

Anyway...the party!  My parents were SO kind to let us have the party at their house.  They have a MUCH bigger outdoor area than we do, but more importantly, they had room INSIDE in case of rain.  Which didn't happen, THANK YOU WEATHER!  It was humid and hot, but at least rain wasn't thrown in the mix.

So...before the peeps got there, we set up:

All of my mom and dad's tables and chairs (and some of ours) set up in the driveway.

Rock star themed decor for my little rock star.

Swag for the 10 and under crowd

The swag:  up close.  Eddie's A-list friends got a sand bucket filled with noise makers, sunglasses, bubble necklaces in the shape of a guitar, and some temporary tattoos.

As Cort says, "balloons are the international sign for 'the party's here'."

We had a rock star cake and cup cakes.

And a place for people to write Eddie a birthday wish (totally thanks to my twitter friends for this idea!)

And of course the food.  We got Jimmy Johns sandwich platters and some salads and chips.  Easy peasy and oh so yummy!

After lunch it was time for present opening!  Twelve of Eddie's little friends were there with their parents along with all his aunties and uncles and grandparents.  They were all MORE than generous to our little guy.  His Granny and Gramps bought him a trike (which he has already tried out and loves) and his Grandma and Grandpa R bought him a wagon and bike helmet.  He likes the wagon better than the bike helmet so far.

After Eddie opened his gifts, he (ok, I) directed his friends to their gifts...you remember the buckets.

The swag was a clear party hit.

Everyone was excited to dig into their buckets!

Or spill them on the ground.

Even the littlest of Eddie's friends (Ethan, his BFF) sat and picked out which tat he would like on his arm.

Oh yeah.

Then it was time to sing to the birthday boy.  He LOVES being the center of attention.  I have NO idea where that came from.  ahem.

He blew out his candles and hopefully made a great wish.

And this happened.  What can I say?  The boy LOVES cake and frosting.  Can you blame him?

After a long day, we got home and Eddie went straight to bed and took a MONDO nap.  The boy was whipped.  But when he awoke...oh the new toys!  Birthday fun clearly vomited all over our house.  And he LOVES it! They are all so fun and exciting!

It has taken me a while to write this post 1) because there were so many pictures and 2) because I just didn't know how to express my thanks to all the people that put us on their priority list for the day.  I didn't do the party because Eddie needed toys, but I always want him to know people love him.  

And yes, I did realize that in 139 pictures of the day, there were none of Eddie with his dad-do.  Daddy was behind the camera all day because he says there aren't enough pictures of me with Eddie.  But don't you worry....

I snuck a picture of Cort enjoying a post-birthday party cupcake.  Yes, we all had a grand time celebrating this first year of Eddie's life.  We can't wait to do this many, many more times...well, maybe without the monster party every year, but definitely with the love!