Happy First Birthday, Avery!

Whew, what a crazy last few weeks it has been.  So much catching up to do!!  Because of recent schedule issues, we haven't been able to complete our 12 month photo shoot. On a totally unrelated note, I may still be in denial about having a 12 month old.

However, we did have a pretty awesome party to celebrate Averycakes turning ONE, so I thought I'd share it for those of you that weren't able to be with us! 

Everyone asked me what the theme was going to be, and well, we decided to just go with "birthday" and "fun, bright colors", because with my luck, we'd pick something and then next year Avery would become totally obsessed with it, and I'd have to do the same party twice, and then Avery would look back and think I was a terrible lazy mother.  (Not that I tend to overanalyze things.) (And not that there is anything actually wrong with repeat birthday parties!)  (Also, Avery, please do not become obsessed with "birthday" and "fun, bright colors" this year just to spite me.) 

Ehrm... moving on.

Sam's parents were gracious enough to let us have the party at their house.  You know, since if we have more than 4 people over at a time someone has to sit in the baby jail play pen, so thanks Yaya & Papa Tom!

We kept the decorations and food simple:
 

Sam was super impressed with my tissue balls.  Which made me feel like the most awesome Pinterest Mom ever.

It was pretty cool to see all of these together and in order!

Also, the cake was a-mazing, both in look and taste (Oreo filling, what??).  Thanks, Mom, for locating the baker, picking the design and (most impressive of all) somehow transporting all 40lbs of it in one piece!! 

This also shows the part of Avery's party that I was most excited about... the Time Capsule! 

The instructions asked people to write down their favorite thing about Avery now and what they thought she would be up to in 20 years.  The smaller cards had prompts for people to note popular items today like news events, sports stars, technology, etc.  Our plan is to present Avery with the cards on her 21st birthday so she can learn a little about her world and herself at one year old and see how things have changed, or whether any of your predictions came true!  (And there are some good ones... you guys were really thoughtful!) 

Also, I thought I'd mention, the capsule is still not "sealed", so if you'd like to send something in, just give me a shout!


My mom picked up a bib / bloomer set for Avery to wear, so we kept the rest of her outfit simple, because you know, there would be cake!

Avery loved the balloons... Uncle Steve said his prediction for her future was that she would be terrified of balloons after she popped one with her teeth on her first birthday...  luckily this did not come true, but I was a total nervous nancy about it the entire time.

 

 But even balloons could not keep Avery from getting impatient for her guests to arrive.

I'm not going to post too many pictures here, because maybe people are weird about having their photos all up on the internet?   We had a great group, though! Anyway, once everyone had mingled and snacked it was time for cake!  Which Avery was not so sure about... although she did really enjoy poking her finger into every.single.polkadot.  That, and there was clapping, which is kind of her favorite.

Even though she didn't love the cake (proving once again that she is much much much more her father's child than mine) she still managed to get decently messy and required a quick hose-down.

After cake things wound down pretty quickly and most of our guests headed home while we did a few presents with the fam.  Avery decided that what she really wanted for her birthday was to help out her friends at Project Transformation, so she asked her guests to bring books if they wanted to get her something for her birthday.  Her awesome friends and family brought over 30 books that the kids in PT will most certainly love!  

Thanks again to everyone that came out and helped celebrate Avery's first birthday or who couldn't be there but sent well wishes.  It was another one of those days where we were just overwhelmed by how truly amazing our support group is.  Quite simply we would not have made it through our first year of parenthood without you, and while obviously we love Avery with our whole hearts it is always a humbling and touching thing to see and realize how much you all have come to love her this year, too.  And for that we cannot thank you enough.  Happy Birthday, Avery!  We look forward to celebrating many many more!