Collin turns 1!

I know everybody says it, but I really don't know where the time has gone. We have loved every second with this little guy and can't imagine what our lives would be without him! He adds so much fun to our family dynamic. It's crazy to think that exactly one year ago I had just given birth to a tiny 6 lb baby. Now look at him! This kid is BUILT! :)

Anyway, we celebrated his birthday today with Randy's parents and niece, Libby. Bonnie and Larry stopped in Bountiful to visit Randy's sister and decided to take Libs along for the party. We're glad they did! We sure love her!

The day started off entirely too early. I woke up to the sound of a door opening and a "It's your BIRTHDAY, BUBBAS!!" over the baby monitor.... followed by some crying. HAHA. I think Macey learned her lesson about waking up her brother. Luckily he went back to sleep for about a half hour, but then was awakened yet again by something stinky in his diaper. He hates that. After he had a nice clean bum again he was happy. :) He played for a little bit and then took a 3 hour nap. It was just what we needed to get everything ready! Randy and I made the cake/cupcakes, frosting, fondant and ice cream from scratch. No little task I assure you. You should have seen my kitchen, it was a disaster. Not really a reason for making everything, other than we like doing it. Randy LOVES making his awesome strawberry ice cream (the perfection is the lemon juice) and I love cake. :) I found this cute cake awhile ago and I knew I just HAD to make it for Collin's first birthday. And it was surprisingly not that hard. It was my first time with fondant, too. Then when I saw the uber cute Paul Frank Monkey plates at Target, it was a done deal.

While Randy was busy making his ice cream and Collin was sleeping, Macey and I took off to the local store to get some balloons for the party. Of course, Macey requested that she wear a pretty dress for the occasion and chose the other dress that Grandma Bunny made for her (she had laid it out on her chair in her room last night so she would not forget). Also, ringlets in her hair. Actually she was REALLY mad at me this morning when she woke up and remembered that I told her we would put her hair in curlers last night so she could sleep on them and when she would wake up, her hair would be all curly! Woops. Note to self: NEVER FORGET CURLERS WHEN PROMISED, EVER, EVER, EVER. Anyway, so we go and are choosing the balloon colors and Macey was seriously glowing, she was so giddy with excitement. The clerk was loving her so much that she got on the phone to call a couple of other workers over. Macey had a little crowd around her by the time she left. I'll have to dress her up like that everyday, it gets me free stuff! :) She ended up giving us 2 balloons for free! One for Macey and one for the birthday boy that was napping.

It was a fun day. The party was short and sweet, just the way I like 'em. Collin was spoiled with presents! I shopped the after-Christmas sales for his birthday. I only spent $25 on gifts when full price would have been over $55. Woop woop!

Alright. Enough of me blabbering (can you tell I *love* birthday parties for my kids?)... on to the pictures.

The decor. Simple, but fun.

The cupcakes. The top cupcake was Collin's "smash cake".

"Don't take a picture of me" = Really, do take a picture of me. Now.

  The monkey cake and the yummy strawberry ice cream! Mmmmm.

A good view of Macey's dress she wore and of Collin opening his presents.

Of course, wrapping paper was all that really mattered.

I love this picture. This is what he did while we sang Happy Birthday.  When he gets nervous/shy/scared, he puts his head down on things.  He was so nervous!

Mom? What should I do?

Testing the waters.

Just some crossed-eye cuteness.

Winner: Cutest. Boy. Ever.

Happy Birthday, bubbas! We sure do love you!