On the 8th day of Christmas "G" brought to Me...

These super cute Christmas jammies! Thanks "G"!

Ho-Ho-Ho!

It would not be Christmas around casa de Granny without the annual "kid" picture with Santa! Every year since we have had santa, we have a picture of all the kiddos in front of it. Though, we all missed last year and this year we are missing Uncle Bubba. But, it was really fun to have Connor there for the first time, for his second Christmas!

I think Scout was afraid of Santa, he would have no part of posing! I have to say that this might be my favorite year with Santa, I love the balloons!!

They look like they are waiting for Santa!

I just thought this was the sweetest picture. Connor LOVES to look out the window and he LOVES to be outside! I think he would live outside if we let him, and I think that is one of my many, many favorite things about him. We can't wait for all of our camping trips this summer! I also wanted you all to see that his party outfit was not too short, thought it looks like it in all the pictures! :)

Who is that One Year Old?!

I love old pictures, I think it is so fun to look back and see what everyone looked like and reminisce. I was so excited to pull out my pictures from my first birthday and Debbie was sweet enough to pull out a few of Brian's. It was so fun to look at Bj's pictures to see the similarities between he and Connor, I just love it! Bj's first birthday fell on Easter, doesn't he look cute in his little sailor outfit? I couldn't believe how much Connor looked like him! I still stand firm that he is a combination - but I don't dispute all that call him "little Bj"!

I think I look like a little devil in these pictures, look at that facial expression! I think I was just excited about the CAKE! It was fun to pull out the pictures and to see my dad - I sure wish he could have watched his grandson at his first birthday party. I think the mom's did a great job with out little parties - they sure looked like fun first parties! I also love that Bj and I celebrate our birthday's exactly one month apart. I secretly wanted Connor to come late and arrive on February 12th - ha! Now I just wish he would have come on time :)
The sweet man at his party! I can't believe I have a picture to post of my son's first birthday party. The time is just flying. I cheated and put the 17th, even though his party was on the 13th! It will be so fun to look back at these pictures years from now when we are putting together his rehearsal dinner slideshow - I am sure I will REALLY be boo-hooing then about my baby getting married!!

This was the little board I used to display our first birthday photos. I think everyone had fun looking at them - it's always fun to see who someone looks like. Oh and just in case you were wondering - this entire week is dedicated to the birthday. I am a HUGE birthday fan and I think it is only fitting that we celebrate for at least a week!

The Details...

I am a detail person, I love the little details that go into anything, but especially party planning! I thought and thought and thought about the theme for this HUGE day in Connor's life. I knew that I didn't want anything about the holidays and I really didn't want a winter theme, just because he was born in the winter. So, I thought that "cupcakes, stripes, and polka dots" would be the perfect theme! I love blue, brown and green and there was the color scheme! Once I figured out the theme, the rest just kind of fell into place. If you know me, you also know I like to re purpose things if at all possible and I was able to do that with a few things for the party!The little banner, it matched the paper from the invitations! It looked a little cuter in the room, but I did the best I could to photograph it! I figure I can use it for as many birthdays as I can get away with and after that, it's going in the scrapbook!

The polka dot and stripe cake was lovingly created by the one and only Auntie Girl! She is a cake baker/decorator extraordinaire and I knew she would make the perfect cake for the little man! Didn't it turn out cute? I love the "1" on top! The enormous cupcake was Connor's smash cake and I loved it! Does it get much better than an enormous cupcake? I am not the best decorator, so Bj had to ice it - he did a great job, huh? I just thought the table looked cute with the cakes and little cupcakes on it! So fun!
I think this was my favorite little piece. The dining room looked so fun with the balloons, centerpieces on the tables and Connor pictures hanging from the chandeliers! In fact, I still haven't taken them down because I love them! I had pictures of Connor and his first year all over the house, it was so fun to look at how much he has grown and changed over this first year!
We had centerpieces on the tables and cookie favors in a basket! I wanted to put something in the vases that we could reuse, I didn't want to fill them up and throw something away. So, my thought was coffee beans with blue and green ribbons around the outside, but my mom suggested ornaments and I loved it! She found these super cute polka dot ornaments at Wal-Mart and I think they looked darling! We had some with blue and some with green AND we can reuse the ornaments next year on Connor's tree, love it! We gave away cookies in the shape of a cupcake as our little favors, they were pretty cute! Last but not least...I had all of the guests sign a copy of "Oh the Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss so Connor could look back and see all the people who came to celebrate his first year! I think it will be fun for him to have and look back at. I am a sentimental sap though so at the very least I will enjoy looking at it :)
I thought these turned out sweet - we had pictures frames on the tables at our wedding, they had a picture, description of the picture and table name. My mom had originally bought these picture frames (20 of them at the dollar store!) but I liked the other set better. SO, I spray painted them brown and used the coordinating paper to mat the pictures with! It was just another fun way for me to get as many Connor pictures out as possible.

I wanted to do something a little different for the food and I knew that everyone would be eating fancy around the holidays - so a little Mexican feast emerged! We had southwest rolls, queso, salsa and taco dip for appetizers - and fiesta chicken, spanish rice and southwest salad as the the main course. It was YUMMY and we had no leftovers, so it must not have been too bad! I just keep looking at the pictures and smiling because it was such a fun day - and it wasn't even his actual birthday! I have a feeling I am going to be a crying momma on Thursday - I have found myself so emotional this week - I think all of the feelings are just flooding back from this time last year. I can't believe we didn't even know if he was a boy or a girl - he was still our little nugget as this time last year. Now, he is a beautiful, darling almost one year old! Okay - sorry for the boring details post, I promised I would take lots of pictures though and I thought the pictures needed some explanations!

CFJ's First Birthday Party!

The day arrived, the day of our sweet baby boy's first birthday party! It was a good two months of preparation - the theme, invitations, decor and cake all had to be perfect. You only turn one once, after all. We had the birthday party on Sunday December 13th, four days before the actual day. We thought the Sunday after would be too close to Christmas and wanted everyone to be able to come. It was a total blast and I think the best part, is that we get to celebrate all over again the 17th!! I was initially so sad that his birthday would be so close to Christmas, I thought he would be cheated out of his special day (so I made sure the theme didn't have anything to do with the holidays or winter) but I have to say it is such a special time for a birthday. Everyone is so excited for the holidays and the house looked so pretty with the tree decorated and Santa outside, I loved it and I now think December 17th, one week before Christmas, is the perfect time for a birthday! It was such a wonderful day, surrounded by friends and family, celebrating Connor's incredible first year of life and all the milestones that come with it. It is hard to believe that Bj and I have been parents for almost one year, it is the most incredible gift we have ever been given. Connor had a great day - I could just tell he knew that this day was a special one for him, he was on the floor playing with the big kids and he had fun eating his cake.

Okay...enough of momma talk, I will let the pictures tell the rest of the story...

"G", Connor's wonderful auntie made this cake - we had to have another photo shoot with it, sing happy birthday, and blow out the candle again! A cake this beautiful deserved a celebration of it's own! Connor was fascinated with the flame, and he wanted to so badly to smash into this one, we let him a little! Up next...the details of the day!

this sweet, sweet sleeping angel is going to be ONE a week from today. i can't believe it.

I Like to Eat...

By MYSELF!

The little one has decided that using the spoon himself is WAY more exciting than sitting back and waiting for us to feed him! It's so fun, I love it! He does a great job and we spoon in bites in between. He loves to pick up finger foods and eat them all by himself. I was kind of wondering when he would start, he has been so excited about all the new things, I was surprised he wasn't going to town on the finger foods. It looks like momma just needed a lesson in patience, when he was ready he took off with the spoon AND the finger foods :) Last night he was using one of his big puffs as a spoon in the yogurt, it was pretty funny! I secretly just wanted him used to the finger foods so he could devour is first birthday cake on Sunday...