An event so big that I thought it warranted its very own blog. Even if I am several months behind in writing the blog.
On March 11, 2010 our sweet baby boy came in to the world. And it was on this day in 2011 that family and friends starting rolling in to town to help us celebrate the one year mark of this amazing event....Kaden's First Birthday! Some people celebrate their Birthday in one day. In our family we like to celebrate Birthdays over the course of several days.
The festivities kicked off on Friday, with Kaden wearing his official, custom made Birthday Boy t-shirt and packing 2 dozen (peanut free, sealed package) cupcakes for his birthday celebration with his daycare friends. After a fun day at "school" we picked him up early and brought him home to open birthday gifts from Mommy and Daddy. He was headed out the front door on his shiny new firetruck ride on toy, when the first set of enthusiastic family members arrived. Granny, Pa, Rhea and Aunt Shaunna were first on the scene to kick off Birthday Weekend 2011. Grandma Karen and Grandpa Tim arrived from Alabama not too far behind. We all enjoyed a delicious dinner of Kaden's favorite - Meatloaf, Mashed Potatoes and Green Beans. Dinner was rounded out with some home made chocolate chip cookies and of course a stream of birthday presents.
Much like Christmas, Kaden still hasn't found his love for opening presents. Though he's getting better it was still a good thing that his cousin Rhea was on hand to help him out. After accumulating a pile of trucks, books, clothes, a sit and spin and other assorted goodies Grandpa Tim brought in the "big guy". In the time it took for Kaden to get a bath, his brand new personal slide and sports station had been setup in the living room. The rest of the night was spent with Rhea and Kaden going up and down and up and down the new slide.
Saturday morning started with a flurry of activity. Daddy went to work on getting the smoker fired up for the chickens and ribs. Rhea got started on decorating Kaden's personal cake, Mommy went to work on making the tea and prepping the sides and Aunt Shaunna and Granny got cracking on the decorations while Pa chased Kaden around. Grandma Kar
en and Grandpa Tim got to the house just in time to relieve Pa and coax Kaden in to a pre-party nap. One giant cupcake cake, 2 green bean casseroles, a crazy amount of roasted potatoes, a cheese tray, open flames and a ridiculous number of balloons later...it was time to party!
Leading the charge of guests for the party were Pappaw John and Grandma Nee who drove in to Charlotte that morning just for this special occasion.
They party itself went off without a hitch. Kaden was so delighted to have so many of his family and friends gathered to celebrate his special day. Most of his time was spent outside enjoying the beautiful day, toddling from person to person enjoying the special attention and many assisted trips up and down his new slide. It really was a picture perfect afternoon, the sun was out the dogs were chasing each other, the kids were running around in the yard and the adults were enjoying watching the mayhem and sharing stories. But of course it wasn't all rainbows and sunshine...there was a bit of destruction involved in the day......queue the birthday song and cake.
In retrospect it may not have been the smartest choice to bring out the cake prior to eating. But when you've got first time, super excited parents and super excited guests reason sometimes takes a back seat. As Kaden was surrounded by all of his friends and family singing the timeless happy birthday song, and the cameras flashed and the video recorded he did what every hungry 1 year old would do. He proceeded to scoop up large amounts of icing and stuff his face. And as everyone cheered and smiled, he continued to stuff large handfuls of icing in to his tiny little mouth. "Smash the cake" sa
id Mommy, "smash the cake" said Daddy...but still the icing just kept making it in to that little body that had never had more than the smallest amount of sugar until this day. Time for reinforcements! With the all to0 willing support from Rhea, Austin, Terry and Tanner a proper cake smashing was initiated. Kaden delighted at the inside of the cake being split open for his viewing and eating pleasure and his friends were just as equally happy with their now frosting and cake covered hands.
After a tearful departure with the remains of his birthday cake, it was off to a quick bath for the Birthday Boy and time to chow down on some of Daddy's famous ribs for the party guests. A much cleaner and cake free Kaden rallied through his tiredness to give well wishes to parting guests after dinner was over. He even managed to stay awake for the present opening portion of the day. Though as with previous attempts at opening presents he relied mostly on his cousin Rhea and his friends to help with any pesky wrapping paper. He was much more interested in the contents of the gift!
As the guests left and the remaining food put away we were left with every Toddler's dream...a room full of toys, books and games. Some that lit up, some that played music, even a few that were a parents dream, quiet and educational......then of course we had one that "popped". A right of passage for any Grandparent, the giving of the toy that makes the most noise. The award for this year went to Pappaw John for his hand picking of the infamous popcorn popper push toy. He was even so kind as to show Kaden how to use it properly.
Popcorn poppers, sugared up kids and all it was a great weekend of fun and celebration with friends and family who are an important part of our life and Kaden's up bringing. We couldn't have asked for a better celebration of our little boys 1st birthday or a better group of people to share it with. Here's looking forward to number 2 and another succesful gathering with our friends and family!
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