May... Jack Turns O-N-E

Our little boy turned ONE this last May. I can't believe it. I was laid off at the right time because initially, I wasn't going to throw a party. No cake, no decorations, no friends. Maybe some family, but that was it. There just wasn't any time to think about it. So, when I lost my job, I kept busy with his birthday party. It was so much fun to plan it! I didn't know where to start and had my friend Pam help guide me. I borrowed SEVERAL of her ideas, so don't think I'm creative and came up with these on my own!

I decided early on that I wanted to make Jack a matching birthday bib and hat. I made the applique (the "1" and the "jack") and got the white fabric at JoAnn's. I wanted the bib and hat to last, so my awesome friend Lisa (who also makes cute handmade children's clothing and accessories - check out her BLOG) embroidered around the appliques and ended up making the hat, too! Isn't she awesome! For the bib, I traced one we already had as a pattern and went to town!

My friend Pam did a door hanging for her son's party that I LOVED, so I made one, too. It's supposed to match the appliques above, but the green is a different color. Oh well. Jack didn't care.I went a little banner crazy for the party. We had banners galore.

Banners in the entry... In the kitchen...On his high chair...At the mantle...There was another over our living room windows, but I didn't think they were blog worthy.

I painted these block letters that I got at Hobby Lobby on CLEARANCE. Yipee! And the daylilies were from the front yard.

I personalized the party favors for the kids. We had a range of ages, so I wanted to be sure each kid got something appropriate for their age. AND I made balloon animals for each of the kids to take home.

We copied Pam's son's cake and got the same design for Jack. I just LOVED how the cake turned out! Here's his smash cake.And the main birthday cake.

The menu consisted of Crock-Pot BBQ, Potato Salad, Pasta Salad, Rolls, and Chicken Nuggets for the kiddos. I'm weird and like to wrap all my plasticware with fun napkins and tie them with ribbon. Josh thinks I'm crazy for putting in the effort.

So, on to the party.... Here's Jack before cake. He hardly wore his birthday hat. I was so sad!Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you...Yummy...

After cleaning Jack up, we opened his gifts. He's trying to decide which gift to open first.Showing Bella his new truck.See and Say. Remember this when it had the pull string?Cason helping Jack get the train out of the box.This Alphabet Train is the best toy ever. He loved it instantly and was pushing it around the house during the party.This piece connects to the train and you can push your kid around while he's sitting on it. We did that for a while and got tired so disconnected the two pieces. He's wondering who's going to push him around in this picture.Our little family...Jack and the grandparents. Notice Jack is STILL on his train. This was after just about everyone had already left.

And here's a picture of a worn out momma and child. What a party! My sweet baby boy is all grown up...

April Playdates...

In April, Jack got to hang out with his buddy Cason, who is 2 months older than him. They play really well together! He's excited about seeing more of Cason now that we have more time to do that. Cason got this really cool water park for his backyard, so Jack is just WAITING for him to invite us over (hint, hint...).Jack also got to play with his friend Clay. Clay is about 2 months younger than Jack. Clay's mom and I grew up together in Amarillo and have been great friends for a long time! Unfortunately, Clay and his family are moving back to Amarillo in mid-July. Jack's really sad to see his friend go. :(

Speaking of moving... our good friends, the Nelly's abandoned us. Chris got a nice gig in Spring, Texas so the whole family packed up and left town. I hope they are enjoying Houston's AMAZING weather. I don't know why Chris just doesn't travel back and forth. He used to work in Rockwall. Isn't Spring just as far? (Just kidding Laura) We had one final get together a while back. In our younger years, we would hang out almost every weekend and stay out 'til wee hours of the night. All four of us have kids now, so that doesn't happen anymore. Maybe one of these days, we'll rent a 15 passenger van again and take a road trip to Colorado!! Anyway, we miss you guys, and I'm really sorry I haven't called you back, Laura! I'm still trying to get over you guys leaving. I'll call you when I've forgiven you. Haha!