hmmm...

the birthday boy and his hat. you can't see it in the picture but the hat does say birthday boy on it. it was my fifteen minute attempt at creativity.

i just realized i haven't blogged about elijah's birthday party. oops. the holidays just kept me busy i suppose...so, here's the story. sorry about the tardiness of it all...

the night before elijah's party (the 14th), i got a call from my good friend. she was going to make elijah's cake; i'd sent her drawings of what i wanted and it was going to be stinkin' cute. that is, until i got this phone call. she was calling me to let me know that she was in the emergency room (!) and would be unable to complete elijah's cake (obviously). so. i told her not to worry, i'd take care of it. her health was (and is) so much more important than a silly cake. however, this put me in a bit of a scramble. it was too late to call costco to order one and although i could have just driven over there and picked up a couple generic sheet cakes, this was elijah's first birthday party! i just couldn't bring myself to do that. so, saturday morning dawned, bright and chilly. as soon as we'd finished up with the breakfast dishes, i scooted my bum over to the store and picked up a couple boxed cake mixes (i was not about to take the time to do homemade), sprinkles and a candle. i then proceeded to make a slew of cupcakes and a two layer cake, frost them and somehow, cover my entire kitchen with sprinkles (note: it helps to add the sprinkles to the cupcakes BEFORE the frosting dries. good to know).

the cake and cupcakes turned out ok...not bad for my first time officially decorating baked goods. thankfully, i somehow finished all the last minute details that needed to be done in addition to the cake before the party was scheduled to start at 4pm. we headed over to john's parents house (the site of the festivities) and actually got to eat before most of the guests arrived.

we hired a caterer that specializes in ridiculously amazing tacos. they grill up three kinds of meat right in front of you (chicken, pork and beef) along with the tortillas and then you can pile them high with whatever toppings you like. for example: they had two kinds of chili (or salsa), radishes, limes, onions and cilantro. trust me, tacos don't get much better than this.

once everyone arrived, we turned on the heat lamps, lights and music and everyone dug into the grub. it was cold...probably too cold to really be having a party outside...but we couldn't do anything about that since the food was out there. plus, john's parents have an amazing back yard; they worked hard to make it a beautiful, inviting place.

tons of food was consumed, hot chocolate was passed around and there was a festive glow surrounding the party. it was so great to see everyone, especially so close to christmas. elijah was an unstoppable force as usual. he just cruised around, pushed people out of his way (literally) and generally made a nuisance of himself (i'm only kind of joking). around six o'clock though, he was done. cranky and tired, it was bedtime for the birthday boy. however, we hadn't had cake yet...and since that is the funnest part of a first birthday party, we decided he could last a little bit longer, long enough to have his own little cake that i'd made him.

he was exhausted so he wasn't as animated as usual (as you can see in the picture above). plus, i think he was a little intimidated by all the people around him.

but once he dug in, i think he enjoyed himself, until john smashed the cake in his face, that is.

not the wisest decision of john's life. poor elijah was not thrilled about that in the least...but according to john, it's tradition. we'll see how much he likes it when i really smash his cake into his face on his birthday.

after that fiasco, elijah finally got to go to bed. i stayed over at our house with him since he didn't want to sleep in his pack 'n' play that stays at grandma's house. which, honestly, i didn't mind since i was pretty tuckered out myself.

the next morning, we trooped back to john's parents house for breakfast (more tacos! yum!) and presents. e opened most of his presents by himself and he was certainly spoiled.

wrapping paper strewn everywhere...it was grand. the rest of the day was pretty low-key since we'd had such a crazy day the day before. elijah played with his toys for a while, then had a long nap, still recovering from the festivities.

(like my "wrapping" job? ha!)

(i so wish you could hear the noises that go along with this face!)

elijah opened one more present from his alaskan grandparents: a tractor and trailer set that he loves. the whole experience was a bit surreal, as the entire time i had to keep reminding myself that it was my child's first birthday; i was the mother of a one-year old. the craziness of it all was and still is a bit too much to completely comprehend. after all the wrapping paper was cleaned up and we had rested a bit, john and i looked at each other and said, "that was a fun day". and it was...it really was.