Seth's 1st Birthday 06.14.2011

Clint and I survived the last 12 months...or maybe we should say Seth survived living with us for the last 12 months! I have literally been working on Seth's 1st birthday party for the last several weeks. It was quite stressful. I compiled a lot of video clips from Seth's 1st year and had a friend burn them onto a DVD and we had that playing in the background during the party. I also spent a lot of time getting his baby book and a 1st year photo album ready for display. And I put some cute FotoFly pictures out on tables for people to see as well. I probably went a little over the top...but that is just me! Here are some pictures from the event:

Thank goodness for sisters!

Kaylyn came over early to decorate the house while I prepped the food and decorated his cake. He loves Aunt Kaylyn!

Seth hanging out with Grandpa C

Kaylyn had added crepe paper to the ceiling fan above them and so the streamers were whirling around and Seth was quite entertained!

Seth = Ladies Man
He enjoyed all the attention from his grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends.


The BBQ feast!

Clint manned the grill while I kept things stocked inside. I was so distracted with this that I almost forgot to feed Seth. Almost. He finally got a nice tray full of hot dog, watermelon, pickles, and baked beans.

The dreaded birthday cake.

I don't know why I feel this way but for some reason I thought it would be extremely "un-motherly" of me to NOT make his first birthday cake. Maybe it is because my mom always made mine. I don't know. I stressed over the cake for weeks. I ordered these glove and sphere cake molds online and made about four practice cakes until I knew exactly how I should decorate it. Disclaimer: I am not a master cake maker. All I had to do was pour the cake batter into the glove and it shaped itself. I just had to decorate it. My only complaint with the decorating on this final attempt was that I didn't lighten up the chocolate frosting enough. I wish those chocolate licorice lacings were more visible.
But we gave Seth the baseball on top as his first birthday cake. I also got a little chocolate "smash cake" from Macey's for him to dive into as well...so he would be extra messy. He loved his cake!

Singing Happy Birthday to Seth!

Baseball cake demolished and in baby mouth....CHECK!

Smash cake destroyed and all over baby, high chair, floor, walls....CHECK!

Seth smiling due to the affects of a sugar high....CHECK!

He loved his cake! Thanks Briana for filming while I passed out cake!

Clint hosed Seth down after his sugar-fest (the remnants of chocolate cake still reside in the bathtub. I haven't had time to clean it yet! Don't judge me.) After he was cleaned up we opened presents. You can see he preferred the bow more than the actual gift.

He got so many great presents:

• A toy race car (above) from my parents. He played with it for hours the following day!



• A gift card from his cousin Thayne to pick out his own toy from Toys R Us.



• An inchworm from Jon and Briana and baby Matthew that glides across the floor...seriously the coolest thing ever!



• Some race cars from his cousins Colette, Kylie, Camille, and Heidi.



• A caterpillar bug with the alphabet letters on each leg. I mainly got this present for myself because I think it is hiliarious that if you try to spell out a swear word on the legs, the caterpillar giggles! I know, I'm mature.



• And a little bike trailer/buggy that will attach to Clint's bike from Clint's parents. We are especially excited for this gift so we can go on some family bike rides.
  
  So HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY! to our amazing little Seth-monster!

This first year was quite the adventure and we are looking forward to some great new adventures!