The BIG O-N-E!

3 Birthday Cakes: $50
Decorations: $40
Gifts: $175
Trying to pry your son out of his birthday car so he can go to bed/eat/change a diaper: Priceless

Momma and daddy are T-I-R-E-D, but baby boy had the best first birthday in his whole life! Grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins, dogs (oh my!)... They were all there. Even friends.

Aunt Mindy and Uncle Ross neglected their unpacked Vegas suitcases just to partake in the first birthday festivities.
The toy chest is now full of things that beep, spin, bounce, race, rattle, sing, and shoot ping-pong size balls across the room. He is also the best dressed one-year-old on the block! He learned to ooh and ahh when opening a gift.

He also learned that Daddy will push him in his car as long as he continues to sit in it and look cute. We are trying to help him learn that the hammer for the Whack-a-Mole/Bedbug toy is only for the Whack-a-Mole/Bedbug toy, and not for furniture, dogs. big sisters, friends, or relatives.

I paid homage to every milestone leading up to his birth. Now, I can enjoy his one-year-oldness, and try to forget about the first 4 months of sleepless nights, unidentifiable cries, fatigue, sickness, ER visits, and pain. (All of the stuff they don't tell you about in books, pamphlets, or in the movies.) It got better as time went on, and I will always cherish the first smile, his giggles that led to belly laughs, and even the fountains that occur when I am too slow in the rediapering phase. I am glad that the boy is one.

Time does go fast, and sometimes it seems to pass faster than we want. But one is a great number, and two is pretty fine as well. The girl will be ten in December, and I am loving that number. The kids are at opposite ends of the spectrum in development. The boy is learning the wonders of flushing the toilet, while the girl deciding if she wants to wrestle boys or write "I 'heart' _______" on her shoes. But those are my kids... And I love them to pieces!