Will's 1st Birthday Party

We celebrated the big day on 4/14 so that we could have the party on a Saturday. JT and I were completely overwhelmed at all of the people that came to celebrate with us - family, friends, and neighbors! It was a great party and a wonderful day!

Planning:
It took me a while to decide what kind of party to have. Everything seems to be theme-based now, but Will doesn't have anything that is really a "favorite", except for Maggie and other dogs of course. I kept going back to a safari theme since he has tons of monkey and giraffe toys, but that is because that is what we buy him, not necessarily because he likes it! So just in case he wants to do safari at a another party, I decided on no safari party this year. Then a friend of mine suggested a red wagon themed party since Will has 2 red wagons. Super cute idea, but again I may want to save it for next year. I knew there wouldn't be many kids attending this party, so I decided a them wasn't necessary and I planned everything around some light blue and chocolate brown patterns and "1". I don't know why I decided to take a creative path with this, but it all worked out. I made the invitations, a birthday banner, monthly picture banner, and even some cupcake toppers. Gram made a wreath for the front door (an idea from Pinterest).

Banner of Will's monthly photos. Can't believe how much he has changed when looking at all of them together!

The Big Day:
Will's birthday outfit was an early birthday present from our sweet neighbors - The Ellers. Scott and Kate have a 3 year old daughter named Maddy (you will see more of her later on, she and "Baby Will" are crazy about each other) and twin 6 months old girls. Here is Will and his best buddies Max and Grant hanging out in the back yard.

 Will played with Gram, Gramps, and MAO.

 

JT and I worried a lot about how Will was going to handle all of these people. He isn't comfortable with just anybody, and most of these people he doesn't see too often. Hope came in and you could see a huge wave of relief sweep over him. He loves sweet Hope! She has been Will's nanny since he was 3 months old. He is crazy about her! Oh, and she's pretty crazy about him too!

A couple of pics of us with our lil' man.

Cake time! We had cupcakes for all of the guests and Will had his own smash cake. Publix decorated it but didn't put a "1" on it, so Lauren fixed that for us.

He wasn't too sure about getting his hands in there. He would just get a little icing and then smear it on his face. Fine by me, I prefer this to having cake thrown all over my walls!

We pulled up a chair for Maddy to see if she could show him how it was done.

Maddy to the rescue. Does it get any cuter than having you girlfriend feed you some of your 1st birthday cake?!?!

After cake time we were ready to open presents, but we were told to come outside for a minute. NeeNee and Aunt Julia were leaving, so I assumed that we were going to take a picture. Boy was I wrong. We walked outside and everyone followed.

I am expecting a Little Tikes car or truck...

WHOA! A Cadillac Escalade from Rob, Andi, Bubba, and Jill! I was absolutely shocked! Hope they plan on coming back and supplying the gift for the 16th birthday party!

Will says, "Check it out Maddy. I can ride down to your house and pick you up. Oh wait, no I can't reach the pedals. Maybe you can come over and drive me around then!"

Replaced the girl with Max and Grant, and Will lost it.

 Back inside for some presents.

All this stuff and you can see he is still playing with the remote control.

Hat and matching dinosaur stuffed animal made by Brandon's girlfriend Monica.

A few of the many presents - "Willie Bug" growth chart handmade by Gram's friend. Blue chair from me and JT. See the GIANT teddy bear from Max and Grant!

Cracker Barrell rocking chair from MAO - just Will's size!

 Favors:

Cake pops made by Gram. I made a tag that said "Thanks for poppin' by" that sweet Aunt Julia took the time to put on them all for me.

After everyone left, Will continued to sit in his truck. It moved to our dining room and he drank his bottles in there. Did I mention that it has a working radio? Will can turn it on and he dances away!

THANK YOU to everyone that came to celebrate this wonderful day! And a million thank-yous to NeeNee, Aunt Julia, Gram, and Lauren for helping me get this all set up.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY WILL!!!!!!!!!