A Birthday Recap... finally!

This could be a ridiculously long post... but I've got some serious catch up to do!!!

A week ago now we held Elijah's 1st birthday party.  We had planned to hold it in the park here in town, but the weather didn't cooperate, so two hours before the party we had to call everyone and change it to our house.  I'm glad no one in our family is claustrophobic because we were packed in my house like sardines!

Elijah's actual birthday fell on the Tuesday prior to his party however, and I wanted him to have something for his actual big day (Okay, so maybe I just really wanted to test him and make sure he'd like his birthday cake, unlike his older brother who refused to touch his on his 1st birthday).

So Tuesday, May 24th I made a jello poke cake,
a.) Because it's SUPER EASY
b.) it's amazingly delicious

And we let Elijah dig in... and confirmed within seconds of that piece of cake landing on his high chair tray that he is indeed a cake lover!

To say that he loved his cake seems like a gross understatement - he devoured it, and did all but lean down and lick the tray clean at the end... which I'm still not convinced he wouldn't have done but by that point I really needed to get my little cake covered child in the bathtub!

Lessons learned during this:
a.  Bibs are our friends... when you use them!  The white onesie has not recovered...and I'm not sure it will.
b.  Strawberry jello makes a delicious cake, but perhaps pink was not the best color for his first cake.  So sorry son - I'll do better for your actual party!
c.  My family of four can devour a 9x13 jello poke cake in ONE evening.  Oh dear.

FAST FORWARD AGAIN TO SUNDAY:

After watching his enthusiasm towards his first cake I was excited to see how his chocolate cupcake cake went down!

I ordered this cute little thing from Safeway because cupcakes seemed so sensible for the park when you don't have to worry about cutting up cake.  Turns out they're entirely convenient at home too!  And that bright green frosting... oh yes, I was looking forward to the pictures of THAT all over Elijah's face!  It was advertised as an alligator but it looked a lot like a dragon to me.

We had a great turnout for his party... between Dave's family and mine we make up quite an army, but it was sure wonderful having everyone here.  We are so blessed to have so much family all living close and I love that my boys will grow up with their cousins, uncles, aunts and grandparents as a regular part of their lives.

Even with a few family members who couldn't be there... we still had 32 people there!

Elijah got totally spoiled... lots of fun new toys and gifts.  He's one blessed little 1 year old!

He got many wonderful things, but one of the gifts that totally stood out to me was from his cousin Moriah who took $1 from her own piggy bank to give him with a card she made herself.  It was very sweet of her!  We also loved the books from Grandpa & Grandma Sharon, the awesome toys from Uncle Jesse and also from Uncle Scott & Aunt Amy, the soccer ball from Uncle Dom & Aunt Syb and he's getting a lot of use from his new shoes and shorts from Aunt Jodi and Grandma & Papa.

Dave and I got him a fun walking toy with the hopes that one day, this child will indeed be mobile!!

And of course, after all those presents - it was cake time.

The cupcakes were a big hit and so easy to serve and the green frosting...sure we found remnants of it ALL OVER OUR HOUSE, but it made for some great pictures.

So happy birthday Elijah!  This is the year you can have your cake and eat it too!