Birthday boy!

It's so hard to believe my little boy is one already! We started the day with a little sleeping in, which was nice for everyone! I woke Hayden up singing "Happy Birthday" and he loved it! He had waffles and peaches for breakfast, played and had his birthday nap. I told him to rest up, because when he woke up it would be time to party!

I iced his cake and the cupcakes and packed up the car. We had gotten him a birthday balloon on Saturday since nothing is open on Sunday, and Oscar was not pleased with our helium friend. He was terrified of it, so it had to go in the car as soon as possible. Most of the birthday goodies were in two bags so it was quick work to get the car packed and get us ready. We got Hayden up, put on his special birthday outfit and headed to the bowling alley. About halfway there Jay realized he'd left his bowling ball, so we decided to drop me off to set up and he and Hayden would go back for the ball.

A month ago I called the bowling alley to reserve Hayden's party. So imagine my surprise when I got there to confirm it last Tuesday and they had no record of it. The big issue was the little birthday room, which was already booked. We decided instead of trying to move around our date or time (since the invitations were long sent) that we didn't really need the room, we just wanted lanes and space. We requested the last four lanes, since they were furthest from the door (for escaping kids!) and closest to the snack bar. So imagine my surprise AGAIN when I arrived yesterday and our lanes were not reserved. We took the other four lanes, and obviously our bowling was free. I refused to let anything ruin Hayden's day, and since he didn't really care where our lanes were, I started decorating.

It was quick work, since 1st birthday parties in my opinion should be all about the little ones. The pizza was ordered, the cakes were ready and now I just needed our guests and of course, the guest of honor! Everyone started arriving shortly before 2 and the bowling and pizza party began. Hayden had chicken nuggets and fries for his birthday lunch, and was so excited to see everyone! He loves his friends and Germany family, and was pretty excited about that balloon that had caused so much anguish for Oscar.

After a few rounds of bowling, we started opening the presents. Hayden was a little tired at that point, so I started out with daunting task of opening gifts while holding a squirmy one-year-old. Jay was a big help, switching opened presents for unopened presents, clearing trash and generally being awesome. Hayden was excited about everything once we got home and he was able to see it individually without the distractions of friends, food and falling pins. Then it was time for what everyone was waiting for...the cake!

I made Hayden a mini-cake, along with some cupcakes and picked up a sheet cake from the commissary. We set his chocolate-iced, dinosaur-sprinkled yellow cake in front of him with his lit candle and he was ready! We sang Happy Birthday, which he loved, blew out the candle and let him go to town. He had no problems digging right in. Jay helped him put a little on his face, which startled him but then everyone started to clap, so he followed suit clapping with his chocolate-covered hands. He ate about 3/4 of the cake and decided he was done, so Jen and I took him to the bathroom for clean up. Luckily I had brought a new outfit, towels and baby soap so the two of us made quick work of cleaning and changing him. He was glad to be clean again, and spent the rest of his party moving among the remaining guests for snuggles and testing his escape strategies.

We got all his gifts in the car, cleaned up the mess and strapped him in. He was asleep before we left the parking lot! Bless his heart, turning one is a lot of work. He napped a little when we came home, and then started testing out his presents. We only brought in a few so as not to overwhelm him, and he had a blast last night with his ball popper, cars and Vsmile toys. He also enjoyed his new "bathketball" tub toys during his bath and ate some big boy dinner with mom and dad before bedtime.

We're sad Hayden's family wasn't here to see his first birthday, but his Germany family provided tons of love and fun to help us celebrate! Today's tasks include all the cleaning and laundry that fell by the wayside in preparation for this weekend, more attempts to get Hayden to like milk and learning how to parent a one-year-old. Let the new challenges begin!

Another fun-filled weekend

Hayden is getting pretty good at his busy social life, and loves being around people. So our crazy busy days and weeks end up being tons of fun!

On Saturday afternoon we headed to post to celebrate Nathanael's first birthday. It was a nice get together and there were four babies (including Hayden)...Hayden was the youngest and the oldest was 14 months so it was a nice mix of developmental skills and personalities! We ate pizza (crunchies for Hayden!) and watched the babies play for a bit. When it was time for cake, both Hayden and Nathanael had a pretty good idea of what to do! Nathanael dug right into his blue cake, and I couldn't share mine with Hayden fast enough. We watched Marrissa open most of Nathanael's presents because he was too excited about all his friends being at his house! The babies played and did their best to share. It's hard to believe we're a little over two months away from celebrating a birthday for Hayden!

Afterwards we headed to Amber's house to continue our game night from Friday. We didn't even get to the snacks and cake on Friday, so we decided to take advantage of our no-plans and just bring the party to Amber's. Hayden was pretty worn out and took a few cat naps here and there, but perked right up for his SECOND piece of cake for the day. He's one lucky baby! We stayed way past Hayden's bed time, so he went right to sleep when we got home. He also decided to sleep in on Sunday morning...until 10 am! Unbelievable.

Sunday evening we had a few friends over for dinner. Sam and Carson were in need of some good home cooking after their brief stay at the hospital, and Kelly, Cadence and Gavin are always up for a play date! The big kids played in the sandbox while Hayden napped and after dinner we went to the playground down the street from our house. It's a huge playground, and has stuff for the babies and the big kids so it was definitely a hit! Oscar enjoyed a little freedom while Hayden spent most of his time in the swing. He loves it! He does not love his socks, as you can see!

We had such a busy first week of Jay being gone that we've decided to take it a little easy for a few days. Hayden has had some tummy and diaper issues so I'm trying to keep him to his regular schedule as much as possible to help him feel better. We ran tons of errands yesterday and ended up having to skip our FRG meeting, but he seems to be on the mend. We ran to the commissary today with good timing...I got the last of his baby yogurt! Sorry for the people that come after me, but that boy loves his yogurt! It's also really good for his belly issues so I snatched it up. We picked up some more fun baby finger foods, some stuff to try new recipes for mom and were back in time for a nap. We have no plans today, and my house could definitely use a little TLC. Hopefully we'll be able to have a little Oscar-time in the sunshine later in the day.

Our most exciting news is that yesterday Jay was promoted to Staff Sergeant! He went to the promotion board back in June so it was definitely exciting for us. Jay is in the field on communication black out, so we couldn't celebrate with him but we were very proud of him here at home! Now we just need a picture of him in his uniform so we can get working on Hayden's daddy doll for the deployment!

(Birthday) Party Animal!

Summertime is time for birthdays! Hayden will be a well-partied baby by the time his own comes around. His friends Cadence and Gavin turned 4 and 2, and had a Curious George-themed BBQ party last weekend. Then, his buddy Carson turned 1 while in the states, so his Scooby-Doo birthday party was this past weekend. On his calendar for August are Anessa (3) and Nathanael (1), and they just keep coming in September! We let him taste a little cake and icing, and he always ends up a mess. Most of the other events we've attended lately have also had cake so he's a lucky boy! Dad always gives him a little more than mom does, so he looks to dad when dessert comes around.

He likes to buy presents and pick out cards for his friends. That also means lots of ground-time, crawling around with his like-age buddies. Someone always ends up with a mouthful of grass despite our best efforts, but it's a ton of fun. He's too small for the playground and the pinatas, but next year he'll be ready!