Sutton's 1st Birthday {The Party}

Sutton's party was...

...not perfect.

He wasn't in a great mood. :(

I'm still glad we did it and I'm glad that everyone came. I wouldn't have done anything differently if I had to do it over. But he's a 1-year-old, and he's teething, and he's very attached to me. So pretty much the entire time, he wanted me to hold him. I was sad that other people weren't able to hold him and play with him, but I guess what can you expect with over 25 people all in close proximity.

When it came time for the cake smash, I had high hopes. I figured he'd love cake. Thanks to our friend Luis for taking these photos so I could enjoy the moment and Adam could video.

He's not a baby who puts everything in his mouth, so at first he just played with it but didn't taste any.

So I had to help him out a little.

Hmmm............

Try again?

He wasn't excited about the frosting, so we tried a little cake.

Commence shuddering...

"MOM! Why are you forcing me to eat this amazing tasting cake? I can't beLIEVE you'd ever want me to try sugar, what kid in their right mind likes SUGAR?!?!"

"Somebody please help me!!"

A little more?

"I'm mad. At you, you, and YOU."

So we brought out the puffs to make him happy because he loves those.

Puffs always make everything better.

We tried for a nice family photo. Not happening.

And the cleaning. He just couldn't handle that.

The WORLD WAS ENDING.

 

I think he was fine, but then remembered what had just transpired.

But we'll be fine.

We distracted him by opening gifts. That put him in a good mood for awhile.

So many cousins.

 

After the party was over, we put Sutton in jammies and he got some bouncing in with Uncle Matt before he went down for a nap. We all needed one. :)

So, we tried. I think next year will be better. :)

CUUUUUUUUUPPPPPPS!!!!

Since I'm posting these at virtually the same time, I wanted to let you know that there's also another new birthday post below. :)

Sutton was in his everything-is-hilarious delirious state tonight before bed and got real excited when I started banging some cups around. Val whipped out her iPhone to capture this video. Of course, the laughing was much more enthusiastic BEFORE we started videoing. Of course.

Sutton's 1st Birthday {Party Prep}

Friday night, Rachael and Matt arrived from KC to stay the weekend with us and help out with Sutton's party. We requested no gifts, but they wanted to spoil him, so Rachael okay'ed with me ahead of time this amazing slide that Sutton LOVES. Adam and Matt immediately went to assembling it so Sutton could try it out before bed time.

After all that hard work, the boys made a midnight run to the Donut Whole to stock us up for breakfast. Mmmm.

The next morning, which was the day of the party, all Sutton wanted to do was play with his new slide. He doesn't understand that he has to go around the other side to climb up, he just tries to climb right on up the slide.

Let me start the rest of this off by saying...I really didn't want to make this party into a huge thing that cost me a bunch of money and stressed me out. The only things I really wanted were friends, family, a cute 1-year-old shirt, cute invitations, and a cake for him. Well, it turned into a bit more.

See, I have this extremely crafty friend named Rachael who surprised us and brought all sorts of amazing decorations that matched Sutton's shirt! So we were all decked out. And my stress level? Well, that was pretty high too. I was having a hard time getting everything done and my house clean for 25 people. AH! Anyway, here are the cute decorations, courtesy of Rachael!

This was the view from the front door as people arrived:

Lisa of Buckingham Cakes did an amazing job making Sutton's smash cake. I told her what I wanted, and she did it way better than I even imagined!

Rach and I stayed up baking cupcakes until about midnight the night before the party. I really wanted Bonnie Butter Cake in cupcake form, which had never been done before in my family, but they turned out great! We had those and Devil's Food cupcakes with cream cheese frosting. Rachael did all the frosting so I could stop stressing and get myself ready for the party.

Sadie got real tired from all the work she put into the party.

The photo booth setup with all the props.

Sutton and his godparents, Matt and Rachael! I love that they love him so much!