It's My Party!

Shawn & I talked about what to do for Ryan's first birthday. For the older boys we had done big parties at our house with dinner, cake and kiddo games. The temperature had dipped on Joshua's birthday, though, and we all froze until all our guests squeezed inside our house; Caleb was so overwhelmed by his big party that he cried almost the entire time. The last couple parties we've had here, it has rained at the last minute and been miserable. Shawn suggested we skip the birthday party and just do something fun with him. But, I wanted to see him dive into a birthday cake of his very own and thought that some of our family and friends may want to see it as well. So, we agreed to have something small on the actual day of his birthday and sent out an email telling folks that this was our decision - they were welcome to come and see Ryan enjoy his first birthday cake and eat some of their own with ice cream if they wanted to.

With it being a small party, I simply ordered his cake and did a few decorations. Above is a 'dinoriffic' cake (since his big brothers like dinosaurs) and below was his own birthday cake from Giant. And while the cakes were tasty, I thought the decorations on his cake looked like they were done by a two-year-old? But I shouldn't complain since it was "free" with a purchase of a larger cake. And I enjoy the babies having their own to go crazy!

The only people who came to his party were Mamaw from her house, Nonie & Poppy, Aunt Jen & Uncle Mike and their kids, and our friend Liza with Isabella & baby Aiden. Grandpa Georgia stopped by earlier in the day to say hello, and Aunt Missy stopped over beforehand while we were getting ready for the party. I had bought Ryan some special raviolis for his birthday, thinking he might enjoy them. He dumped them out and refused to eat any, but then he chewed on his bowl. Typical Schnook-a-pants!

Unfortunately the sky turned black as the 6 o'clock hour approached and by 6:30 we took everything that we had set up outside and brought it inside. Once again rain spoiled our outdoor fun. :( :( :(

So, we had Ryan's birthday banner outside, but his balloons we attached to his high chair, which we brought back in. And the hat and bib went with him of course. He wouldn't keep the hat on, but he looked so cute in it! :) :) :)

We set up the cake & ice cream and snacks we had bought.

Then we lit the "1" candle we had and sang "Happy Birthday!"

He wasn't sure what to do with the cake at first. Normally he wants to explore everything that would be messy that he shouldn't get into. But, he let his cake sit there for a awhile. Then he dipped a finger into the blue icing and tried it.

He licked his fingers and did it again.

Then he noticed that his hands were blue. Eventually he just sucked his thumb. The cake hadn't had much of a hurting, just a little of the icing smooshed around. He didn't seem to like it too much. Each child is different! Joshua ate a lot of his and even wore it in his hair; Caleb didn't even look at his that I remember. Ryan timidly tried it.

Eventually we got Ryan down after I wiped his face. :) After our guests had their snacks, we moved to the living room so Ryan could open his gifts.

To get his interest in sitting there, we let him have his favorite green golf ball. I loved this picture of him because it will remind me how much he loved this specific ball in our house - rolling it back and forth. :) :) :)

He got a cute car and a shirt that said "I'm full of bright ideas" Aunt Missy. He  got a monogrammed beach towel from Aunt Jen with his name on it for the pool. He received a cute toy remote from Nonie & Poppy and the "Barnyard Dance" book that we've read almost every night since then (it's cute!).

Grandpa Georgia gave him money toward his college fund. Lisa & Chris gave him a book called "Hippos Go Beserk!" that we've read almost every day since then as well. Along with that, they gave him some Toy Story bath toys that he and his brothers have enjoyed at every bath time. They were a big hit, as you can see in teh pictures.

Mamaw from her house gave him two books, including the one on building his vocabulary that I loved for the other boys. :) She also gave him a cute music toy and an outfit.

The party had been very low key and our guests left right around bed time when I fed the baby and put him to bed. We cleaned up afterward and I tried a little cake since I hadn't while the party was going on. :)

My dear little Ryan, I hope you enjoyed your special day. Just because your party wasn't as "big" as your brothers, it doesn't mean we love you any less. It means that we wanted what's best for you and what would make you most comfortable. I hope you enjoyed it even though I doubt you'll remember it. I love watching you grow, and I'm glad you're part of our family! Happy first birthday, my little love!