Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Red, ONE and Blue first birthday party

This past weekend we celebrated our little man who is about to turn a whole ONE year old.  I decided to go with a red, white and blue theme and have a 4th of July cookout to celebrate. 

We rented tables and chairs and I made centerpieces with little red and blue metal buckets filled with sand, a citronella flag candle and a couple of little American flags with balloons attached to each bucket.  Paxton's chair is at the head of the table with his Birthday Boy party hat and I Am One bib.

The party invitation - via etsy


Brad grilling up the steak and chicken kabobs and the food table behind him.
 Menu:
Veggie cups
Cucumber sandwiches
Grilled teriyaki steak and chicken kabobs with onions, bell peppers and pineapple
Potato salad
Pasta salad with spinach and tomatoes
BBQ chips

Drinks:
Carona
Bud lite lime
Red and blue Jones sodas
Bottled water
White Sangria -  The recipe is just an estimate: 1/2 gallon white wine (I got a big gallon jug and made 2 pitchers), about 1 cup vodka, about 1/2 cup (I added a little more) peach schnapps, sugar (add a little at a time), canned peaches and mandarin oranges (my sister also uses canned pears but I didn't use them this time), some juice from the cans, and I added fresh strawberries and blueberries to match the theme. Mix together in a big pitcher (or 2!) to taste and chill!  Thank you to my sister for the recipe! It turned out really yummy.

Me and the birthday boy! I was going to put all the drinks on that cart behind the table, but it was so hot that most of them except the sangria stayed inside. 
Blurry, dang it, but you get the idea. Drink buckets, Paxton month by month frame, and awesome chalkboard sign via my friend Jessica's etsy shop.

Front door decorations.  Of course there were balloons on the mailbox and a wreath on the door too.

Dessert table treats -
Funfetti cupcakes with vanilla icing and star toppers
Red and blue iced star shaped sugar cookies
Star shaped watermellon
Cake balls - I made these from a recipe I found on Pinterest and they were a big hit!
And of course a smash cake for Pax
I also had strawberry, vanilla, and blueberry ice cream pre scooped in adorable ice cream cups with adorable little spoons that I totally forgot to serve.

 
Snack table with popcorn boxes, white fudge pretzels, Twizzlers and Dove chocolates.
Party favors table - A treat box for each kid with sunglasses, tattoos, stickers. Also on the table were bracelets, necklaces, chalk and of course sparklers!
I wish I had gotten a picture with ALL the kids together.  Missing here is 2 year old Reed and 8 week old Shelton.

Pax and his best buddy Zach.

Wish it wasn't blurry, but this boy is always on the move!  This Mudpie diaper cover is from a local shop called Tee Tie Babies Boutique. He also had a matching tie that he wore for his 12 month photo shoot.  I can't wait to share those with you when I get them from the photographer!
 
 Cake time!

 Pax hated his birthday hat, of course. This is the best we could do at getting a picture of the 3 of us!







 Paxton is really not a big fan of cake ... yet.
 Pax clearly does not think it's very funny.

 Pax is so in love with his first girlfriend, Evelyn.
Me and Ashley with our boys that are exactly 2 months apart.

 Pool time!

 We finished off the party with water balloons just in time to get everything cleaned up before a thunderstorm rolled in.  After our guests left Brad and I lit sparklers on the porch in the rain and enjoyed one last glass of sangria.

It was so wonderful getting to celebrate with our Florida friends and neighbors.  I was so happy with the turn out for the party.  Does anyone else have a huge fear that no one will show up to the party?! I think it went great and it felt awesome getting to celebrate our little man with everyone.

If you happen to be throwing a red, white and blue party check out my Pinterest Board for lots of ideas!

Now tomorrow we are off to Maine to celebrate Paxton's ACTUAL birthday, my birthday and the 4th of July.  I am so excited I can hardly stand it.  I wish I could tellaport or time travel and skip the torturous travel day tomorrow, but of course it will be worth it.  Fingers crossed my little monster is good on the flights tomorrow!

Friday, June 13, 2014

11 months

Ok this post is way overdue.  But, it's only because I'm in complete denial that I will have a ONE year old in just 2 weeks.  We are in full birthday mode over here and I'm making a huge, gigantic deal out of Paxton's first birthday.  Our house may already be fully decked out in multiple Happy Birthday signs and decorations.  

But, of course I can't let Paxton's 11 month birthday go by the wayside.  So, here he is all his huge, chunky glory. 



This kid is in full exploration mode.  It took Pax longer to crawl than most babies due to his massive bulk, but he's on the move now.  He is so big and strong and anything and everything doesn't stand a chance in his wake.  He has pretty much destroyed his playroom, ripping down shelves, his magnetic chalkboard and pretty much anything else that he can get his mitts on.  He's in that awesome "puppy stage" as my sister calls it. It's his world and I'm just living in it.  All my things are his, especially my phone, remote, electrical cords, food (including the cats food), the trash cans, plastic bags and trash inside the trash cans ... oh the list could go on and on.  I am overjoyed and beyond grateful for the playroom that I can just put him in there, close the gates and let him go to town on trying to cover every square inch of the floor in toys.


 Last month I joined a gym.  They of course have a Kids Zone otherwise I would never be able to go work out.  After a somewhat up and down rough start it seems like we are on the upswing again at the Kids Zone.  He seems to just LOVE it and really has a good time crawling all over the floor, exploring all the different toys and "playing" with the other kids. 



In the last month Paxton had his first cold (which he caught from me) and then a few weeks later he had his first fever that ended in a rash (which I then caught from him). Sick babies are the saddest things ever and taking care of a sick baby when you are sick yourself is a whole new kind of miserable. I took him to the pediatrician for his strange fever illness and he weighed in at 28.1 lbs and 31.3" long!!



I've moved him to one nap a day.  This is a huge deal and I feel like it gives me SO much more flexibility and time to go out and do stuff during the day. 



 He's eating big people food like a champ. He loves yogurt, bananas, broccoli, egg yolk, spaghetti, and pretty much any fruity squeeze pouches. He of course loves puffs and mum mums and creamies.  He's pretty easy to please at this point.  He's down to getting 2 bottles a day, one right before his nap and one before bed.  I'm still pumping, but am down to only 2ce a day!  I feel ready to be done, soon.

 Seriously, this boy is such a joy.  He's so much fun and his personality comes out more and more every day. 


In addition to getting ready for Paxton's first birthday party next weekend, we are getting excited to head up to Maine to visit my parents at their lake cabin for 2 weeks.  We are going to spend Paxton's birthday, my 30th birthday and the 4th of July there and I can't think of a better way to celebrate.