Sid's First Birthday Party!

Sid's first birthday couldn't have gone better! We kept it very simple and invited only family. I was nervous the week before wondering how the guest of honor would act at his party because he was not in a good mood for the days leading up to it. Thankfully...Sid was the happiest baby on the block! He had the best time and even got a nap in before everyone showed up at 1:00!

Sid still wakes up on most days between 5 and 5:30 every morning. I nurse him and then we both go back down. My plan was to just stay awake so that I could start prepping things for the party. Grammy was in town and she got up with me. I didn't care about anything that morning except that I knew I wanted to walk into Sid's room when he woke up again with a bouquet of balloons. He loves balloons and constantly points to the not real ones in his room. 

The look on his face when we walked in was just so cute. He was surprised and happy and I'm pretty he would like to wake up every single morning with a bouquet of balloons brought to him! It definitely started his day off right :)

We let him hold all the balloons while he patiently waited for Daddy to change his diaper.

We ventured into the living room where his gifts from us were waiting! We got him a push wagon, a stuffed lion (because he loves lions!), and Happy Birthday to You pop-up book by Dr. Seuss.

I think the first words out of his mouth were, "rooooooar"!

He likes to point to the wheels.

Checking it all out with his daddy

Uncle Adam showed up a few hours before the party and he was very helpful in helping keep Sid entertained while the rest of us party prepped.

This was the scene the night before the party! I was determined to bake the cake from scratch! I made cake and cupcakes for the party guests, and a special vegan cake for Sidney! It was such a mess - and a lot of trial and error - but I really had a great time doing it myself!

I decided to give Sid a little special taste of his cake icing on the eve of his birthday. The boy loved it. It had fresh blueberries in it, his favorite! He wouldn't stop sucking my finger! He wanted more of that sugary goodness!

My decorations were extremely simple. I bought a colorful table runner for the table, blew up some balloons, and made a banner! We had brisket sliders (thanks daddy for smokin' that brisket {and blowing up the patio - a story for another day!}), deviled eggs, cole slaw, chips, and fruit kabobs. Well, and obviously cake and ice cream :)

Sid had fresh blueberries on his, but I forgot to put them on before the picture!

The tastiest, most unleveled cake you ever did see! I had fun trying :)

Tea, Lemonade, Sangria, and Beer

Nana and Grandpa came over a little early to help with last minute things!

Choppin' that brisket!

Jack is a great supervisor ;)

Keeping the birthday boy happy!

This banner is by far my favorite thing about the entire day! I saw it on a blog moooooonths ago and just knew I had to make one for Sid! (we are almost a month past his party now and we still have it hanging up - he just loves looking at it and giggling!)

Here is the birthday boy with his Grandpa, Nana, & cousin's Asher (5) and Caylum (almost 2)

Sid got excited when he saw all the fun stuff on the fireplace! We had to keep him out of the presents until after we ate lunch!

...but after we ate, the boy got busy!

Smooches for Pooh!

Asher and Caylum helped Sid open his gifts and then they showed him how to play with his toys. So cute!

I think Sid might be showing Asher what's up in this picture! "Put the ball here, Asher."

Grammy made him this special quiet book - he really loves it!

He got so many great new toys! It looked like a bomb went off in our living room! (all those new toys and the boy wanted in his bouncer, haha!)

 The Beadles' crew sippin' on some juice ;)

Aunt Jennifer showing him the good stuff!

After presents, it was time for CAKE!! Woo Hoo! I decided to strip Sidney into his diaper because I didn't want to ruin his outfit!

(we FaceTimed with Aunty A and OliMax during the cake!)

We all started singing happy birthday to him, and before we could finish, he was already reaching for the blueberries off the top of the cake! I think the song took a brief pause while we all got a good laugh at that!

He has no idea what is so funny. The boy just wanted his blueberries!

Reaching for more fruit!

It didn't take him long to dive on in to the yummy cake! But, not before eating all the of blueberries off the top first, haha!

His belly was about to explode about halfway through eating it. As you can see from the bottom right picture in the collage above...the boy was d.o.n.e.!

The party was a huge success! Sid was all smiles the entire afternoon. He loved having all of his family there to celebrate his first birthday. He was comfortable with everyone and I just couldn't be more pleased with any of it.

The best family photo we were able to get. Who needs to see my smile anyway? Everyone knows it's there ;)

That evening, we were all whooped! Grammy got Sid laughing so hard at these silly pop up bugs! It was a perfect sound to end the day with.

Tired mama. Tired Louis!

Happy happy first birthday, sweet Sidney. You are so loved. Thank you for making this past year one your daddy and I will truly never forget.

{Side Note.} A Quick Funny Story!

Weeks before Sid's birthday, I purchased his gifts. I stuck the wagon in the box under the guest bed and the lion in the corner of the room on a tub of outgrown clothes waiting to go to the attic. One day, Sid was in there and before I even realized it - he had already spotted BOTH gifts. HAHA! Who would've thought I'd already need to hide his presents better than this! I quickly distracted him and he never saw them again until June 6. Silly boy!

he threw it down and said, "Roooooar!"