First Birthday!

Foster's first birthday was a total hit! Originally I wasn't planning on doing anything other than a small family get together...after all, it's more for us than for him right? However, after some thought, I figured it would be a fun excuse to get friends together and planned a brunch in the morning for family and then a BBQ later in the day for friends.

Things worked out pretty perfectly. Foster took his first nap of the day a little early and so he was up shortly after the brunch started. It was a beautiful sunny day so we were able to spend most of the time outside in the yard which was very nice considering how messy Foster got with his birthday muffin.

Papa Carr was there and Oma too! It was so great to have FOUR generations all together to celebrate Foster's first year. There were bubbles blown, mimosas drank, and kitties tormented. People left around 2pm or so which gave us a few hours before the next party to set up and for Foster to take another nap.

It was really nice to have some downtime in the middle of the day instead of feeling like we were rushing from one party to another. It was extra nice that Foster slept most of that break so he wasn't running on fumes when people started to show up for round two. The good weather held and so we were able to have the party outside. Ryan Yoke stepped up to the plate and manned the BBQ which was a huge help in trying to coordinate things to get everybody fed. Foster got to play with all of his friends and show off his 'walking in grass' skills. It's pretty crazy how many more babies are at our parties now than were just 12 months ago.

Foster's BBQ birthday dessert was a zucchini and chocolate chip cupcake with blue cream-cheese frosting. He appeared to be more impressed with his morning muffin (blueberry) that Oma had made. He wasn't quite sure what to do with the frosting, so most of it ended up getting wiped onto his highchair or used to style Adair's hair. The cupcake itself was sampled, and appeared to be enjoyed, but a majority of it was left on his plate. I suppose I should be happy that he doesn't seem to have the sweet tooth that runs in our family yet.

The party continued into the evening and even after Foster went to bed. It was really fun to have everyone together and even nicer that Foster was in a pretty good mood for the entire day.

We decided against presents at both parties for a few reasons. The main one was that Foster really doesn't need anything. He's got plenty of toys and clothes and we really didn't want our house full of more stuff than it is already. The second reason was that we didn't want people to feel obligated to bring anything other than themselves. I wonder how many years we can get away with that being our plan for his birthday.

One year down, looking forward to many more.