Oliver's 1st birthday party

Oliver’s first birthday was a success. I planned a family birthday party for him with a few family friends but they didn't show up. I forgive them though.

Let’s see if I can remember everything. I started planning for his birthday a month before. I wanted to do it on a Tuesday so his Aunt Lara could come because that is one of her days off. We had the party on Tuesday, October 29, 2013. I made the invitations and hand delivered them to those invited.

The theme for Oliver’s party was, Where the Wild Things Are, based off the book. I ordered a Max costume for him to wear to the party (and for Halloween). I also ordered the book from Amazon. The people that were there signed it and wrote little messages about him. I think mine was longer than anyone else’s but that is because I am his mother. B (Quentin’s mom) read the book out loud to start the party off.

We then made monsters or wild things. I supplied brown paper bags, feathers, googly eyes, cut up construction paper, scissors, glue, glitter, and pompoms. It was a blast. I had fun. I think Oliver fell asleep during this part. After we were done making our wild things we had to wait for him to wake up so we could have cake and ice-cream and open presents.

His cousin, Maya, kept coming up to me asking when is Oliver going to wake up. I told her that he will wake up when he is ready. She then told me and other people that we should wake up Oliver because she wanted ice-cream. She is a character. Maya made loud noises and eventually woke up Oliver. So he got a half hour nap and for you moms out there you know the rest of your day is ruined because of that short nap. He didn't take another nap that day and was up and down the walls.

Anyway, he woke up and we sang happy birthday and his cousins, Chase and Maya, helped him blow out the candles. I made a gluten free cake. On Pinterest I saw people layering different shades of a color of cake on top of each other. I thought to myself, yeah I can do that. And guess what?! I did it perfectly and the people at the party were amazed with my skills. So the gluten free cake was different shades of green. B made a regular cake for the non-Celiac people. Oliver sat in his booster chair and was presented cake. I was expecting him to dive into like every other baby I've seen. Nope, not him, he sucked on his cake for a long while. He eventually realized that he could bite it and chew this new food. He only had one piece but that was enough to give him a sugar high.

After cake and ice-cream we opened presents. He needed some help opening them. On the last present he got the hang of it. He wanted to unwrap more presents but there were no more. He received a lot of presents. I must say that he is a spoiled one but I think I am okay with that because he is my first.

After the party I started to clean up the decorations that Quentin and I put so much hard work and energy into. His mom came up to me and said that I could leave them there and she will take care of it. I was glad because I really didn't want to clean up.

We came home and played with all his new toys. He enjoyed them much and is still enjoying them. I can’t believe that I survived a year of parenthood. I am glad that I did and I am looking forward to many more. Oliver is such a good kid. He is quite, loves to play with people. He is sweet, loving, sometimes gentle (he can be gently when he wants to be), and he is such a joy to be around. Whenever he gets in trouble I have to put my upset face on. It doesn't last long because his innocent face just melts my soul and I can’t help but smile at how adorable he is. He really is a gift from my Heavenly Father and I try to take care of him. I feel there are days where I am not doing so well and I beat myself up that I can do better. I then look at Oliver who is looking back at me and he gives me this big cheesy smile. He melts all my problems away with that face. I am reminded of how things are put into perspective when I look at him. Things don’t matter, moments do. I have realized that I am not really living life; I am just recording it so I can remember it later. I have learned to put the camera down and spend time with my little man because that is building a memory and I enjoy that much more. Kids teach us life lessons that we didn't know we needed to learn. I am grateful that I have Oliver in my life. He truly is a blessing.

Here are some pictures from his awesome day:

Here is my little wild thing.

This is his Aunt Lara rockin' out her wild side.

Quentin and I made all of the decorations.

This is B starting the party off by reading us, Where the Wild Things Are.

Oliver got distracted by the coloring pages.

And then her voice got animated and loud and that got O's attention.

Making monsters.

It is something else holding a sleeping baby in your arms.

O is sucking on his cake.

Opening presents.

He liked the wrapping paper more.