Luke's first birthday party

Finally, I am getting around to the very long overdue report (and requisite photos) of Luke's first birthday party.

I am very happy to say that things went *extremely* well! Just one or two teeny tiny things that glitched, but I can't expect everything to go perfectly, now can I?

Let's start with Friday (pre-party day). Dad called around dinner time. Glitch #1: His flight was supposed to leave at 6:30. They waited until the not-full 5:15 flight had left to announce that they were canceling the 6:30 due to the weather (tropical storm something or other; can't even remember now). Needless to say, he was not happy. We debated what to do, and finally decided that he would book a ticket for the first morning flight out, which leaves at 6:30 AM. If that one was cancelled, then he would still have time to drive and be here for the party (about a 5.5 hour drive). Great, no pressure! LOL Oh yeah, and we were up until 4 AM getting the food made and the cake decorated. (My mother makes and decorates cakes; she took the Wilton class almost 20 years ago. This is her own design with a little input on color and style from my brother and me.)

Here is the top:


And here is the side:


Saturday, we got up 7:30 AM (yes, three hours later, after Dad called to say that his flight was in and he was on his way to the MARTA station) to finish up the cooking and to start decorating the house. I was just finishing up taping things to the door when the guests arrived. There were six of us (me, DH, Luke, Mom, Dad, Jacob), and five of them (Mom's mom, Mom's brother, his girlfriend, and girlfriend's daughters age 7 and 4). Not bad, I don't think. I didn't want a ton of people, so that was just about right.

Glitch #2: None of the food was ready. It was all made, but nothing was cut or put into bowls or anything else. This actually turned out to be a good thing, because the girls wanted to know if they could help, so I had them open the paper products and put them on the table. This gave me enough time to cut the Rice Krispy Treats and the Salted Peanut Chews. All that was left was putting the Sausage Balls, Sweet Crispix Mix, and Goldfish crackers and pretzels in bowls, put chips and salsa in the tray, and add spoons. Everyone got their food, I got the hot fudge on the stove (Glitch #3: left it sitting for about 20 minutes, instead of stirring every 3-5. I think it boiled, so it wasn't its usual smooth consistency. Tasted fine, just looked grainy.), then started opening presents, since Luke had gotten up 30 minutes earlier from his morning nap than I thought he would, and he was already getting tired. He never really got the hang of ripping off the paper himself, but if you started it and handed him the edge, you could twirl the box and he'd hold on, so it worked fine. I'll spare you the details of everything he received, but here were some of his favorites:

Little People Kingdom Castle (entire set):


A luxurious Finding Nemo microfleece throw (soooo soft!):


And an adorable Finding Nemo hat:


Then it was time for cake. We changed Luke's outfit (so as not to mess up his cute new Nemo t-shirt), and got him all set up. Lit the candle, sang, clapped (softly, since loud clapping scares him), then gave him a piece of cake. In this case, a picture is worth 1000 words, or more:


::sigh:: So, Glitch #4: He wouldn't eat it, and he hated the way it felt on his fingers. What isn't shown in the pictures is that he actually picked it up and threw it off his tray at one point. We gave him Cheerios instead (that's what you actually see him eating in the rest of the pictures), then packed him off for his nap. Packed up food plates for everyone, saw them off, and all was peaceful again.

So, could have been a smidge better, but could have also been *so* much worse. Can't really ask for more. And one final picture:

The Gastons, one year later:


Currently feeling: *quite* pleased with herself