Dylan's {First} Birthday

June 11th was Dylan's FIRST birthday!! It was the most amazing day. We had almost every single one of our nearest and dearest here with us to celebrate his big day. Ryan and I wanted to make his very first party a memorable one, and we worked hard on decorating, cooking, and creating. I am a planner...I want everything mapped out both in my head, aloud & on paper, so we started working on this party months before his big day.  It all turned out just the way we wanted, but what made it memorable was the house brimming with loved ones. We barely had enough room for everyone, and everywhere you looked there were guests rubbing elbows, but I would have it no other way.

Dylan was happy, mad, giggling, crying, laughing, and dancing during the three hours we had guests over. He wasn't quite sure what to think! He fell asleep to a quiet house, and awoke to a much different scene. He hid under my legs for a bit...

but eventually he started warming up to everyone and had a lot of fun. There were kids just about every where you looked, and I know he really enjoyed that. We have about 8 kids within our family and friends - I lovingly call them "the critters." Kid parties used to make me just a bit uncomfortable, but now I love nothing more than the utter chaos of screaming, laughing, running kids & babies together. They have almost no inhibitions, and they can have fun doing just about anything.

It was a nice 80 degree day, but the rain from the night before made it SO muggy! We decorated and set up the back yard with a few bits of fun just in case. Our little niece, (alright she is more like our second cousin or something, but niece works better) Ellie, was the first to explore the outdoors, regardless of the heat, and the party trickled out with her. Grandma Smith got Dylan the coolest water/sand table for his birthday, and the critters had so much fun splashing & building under its sun umbrella.

 

At the Smith's Mother's Day party, Bob got all the kiddos bubble sticks and they were such a hit. I followed suit, and again they were a blast! Everyone quickly learned a little secret Ryan and I have known about Chloe for years...she LOVES bubbles. She is determined to bite each and every bubble blown, and will zoom across the yard "snap snap snapping" at each clear orb! Both the kids and adults got a big kick out of it.

Dylan and I went in and cooled off, and while he ran around, I made it my goal to pull & push everyone into our homemade photo-booth. A few months ago I came across a kid's party that had the most adorable and simple photo-booth. All it required was a camera with a remote (check) a backdrop (check) and some fun props (check)! I found several sites that had free printable props and we got to work. I'll post my favorite websites and props along with the adorable pictures taken at the party in a separate post. Needless to say, we had fun gathering together and taking silly shots. If I could re-wind and do it all again I would have made sure to step in there more often throughout the afternoon. AND Ryan, Dylan, & I would have taken a picture together - seriously?! How could we not get in there together? *smacks forehead* The photos are so fun - I can't wait to show them to everyone!

Next came presents and cake. Dylan has never been a big toy kind of kid. We have bought him a few fun toys, and Sherry has scored some really neat finds from garage sales throughout the year. He loves two or three of them, but prefers weird things like toothbrushes, toilet paper rolls, pickle Tupperware (how appropriate), and his absolute favorite - silicone spatulas. So when we thought about him opening presents, Ryan and I were pretty sure he was going to be uninterested. Boy were we wrong. He sat in front of us while we helped him, and he just tore in to each present, eager to get to the goods inside. A few of the other critters even jumped in to help!

Everyone was so very generous. I'm pretty sure we need a bigger house to hold all of his stuff now! At the very end of the presents we took him to the garage and put him in his new radio flyer from Grandpa then wheeled him through the livingroom like a little sultan! He loved it. After we opened his presents, we took him down to his cute denim diapey and got ready to do the cake.

The candle was lit and the crowd started to sing Happy Birthday, only to find that Dylan and Ryan were in the other room...oops! They joined us and we had a laugh and kept singing. Dylan immediately stuck his hands in the cake - YES! He was going to smash right in and get after it right?! Wrong. He hated having his hands dirty, and me smooshing some into his mouth didn't help. (What?! I thought he would taste how yummy it was and want more!) I pulled the poor crying kid out and Ryan and I gave him a warm bath to clean him off. He was much happier after that!

We mingled, ate, photo-booth(ed) and had fun for a bit longer, then said goodbye to everyone as our guests left. We made sure they picked up an animal cracker favor along with a pair of cool shades for the kiddos on their way out. It was such an awesome, memorable day for us.

I have always loved birthdays, but this was my favorite yet. I can not believe a year has gone by. On one hand, I think back to that tiny little baby laying on my chest in the hospital and it puts me in complete disbelief thinking about that baby being Dylan. Sometimes it feels like it was ages ago that  we welcomed him into our lives - starting our family of three. On the other, I look at our little man and his adorable grin and I am shocked that he has gotten so big so quickly. He went from crawling and babbling to running and laughing in the blink of an eye. His personality seems to change every few days - always keeping us on our toes...and rolling with laughter! I put him to bed that night then read a book that my Grandma (GreeGree) got for him. It is called Two to Cuddle, and it follows a mommy and her son throughout the day during all the fun activities they do together, and their special bond they share. I started thinking about the immense amount of love I feel for him now, and how much fun we have. Reading the book reminded me that this year is just a drop in the bucket of the experiences and fun we have yet to share together! I read it aloud to Ryan through sobs and tears. We hugged and talked about how blessed we truly are. If one year was this exciting, we can't wait for the years to come! (But not too soon.)

<3

{I'm sure you'll never believe this *insert sarcasm* but Ryan and I took about 8 million pictures. I can't wait to share tidbits from the wonderful day, but if I loaded them all at once I am pretty sure your computer would be crashing from overload right about now. I will post in sections as to not overwhelm!}