Charlie's first birthday party

Charlie has his first birthday party last Saturday at Swift-Cantrell Park. It was touch and go with the rain that morning so I was quite frazzled that day trying to get decorations for the garage in case we had to have it at the house. Luckily, the rain stopped and it was decent enough to have it at the park. The theme was "1st birthday" with blue and green balloons. No special decorations other than the plates, cups, cake, etc. Just God's beautiful handiwork in nature. We were under the large pavilion there which is, unfortunately, not beside the playgrounds but we managed. Charlie had lots of friends and family attend. I think we had around 30 or so. The kids ranged from itty bitty (4-5 months) to Charlie's cousin, Branson, who is 6. There were about 10 kids. I was excited to see the turnout. The kids seemed to have a great time playing on the playground. There was also a little play area for the littlest ones. We ate the cake made by Aunt Laura. It was dee-licious! Charlie really seemed to enjoy it. He didn't dive in like alot of kids but just kinda picked at the icing and ate it. But his face and hands were covered in blue icing when he was done...

We opened the gifts everyone brought for Charlie. He got lots of books, which he loves, and other toys like blocks, puzzles, a shape sorter, etc.

Charlie also visited the playground. He got to swing for the first time and got to go on the slide for the first time. He enjoyed both.

Charlie was a trooper for the whole party. Not one cry except when I took his juice cup away to refill it. He did, however, crash when we got home.

That night, we had dinner with all our family and a couple of friends (that might as well be family) at the house. We had waited to open all their presents that night. Man, did Charlie rack up! These included a rocking horse from Grandma and Grandpa; a water wheel play table from Aunt Stacey, Uncle Mike, and Branson; a lawn mower and Auburn clothes from Aunt Laura and Uncle Jimmy; some clothes and money from Big; and an inflatable pool from Terry and Kathy Moore. Gram and Papa gave Charlie a beautiful toybox!

So, Daniel and I have got to find room for all these gifts along with the slide we bought him. It's not like Charlie didn't have enough already! And, unfortunately, everything won't fit in the new toybox. Luckily, the slide, water wheel play table, and pool are all outside toys.

Now for the special thanks that I need to extend. A special thanks to Daniel for putting up with my perfectionist mentality and for my spazzed out attitude while trying to decide whether to have the party at home or at the park that day. You are my pillar of strength and sanity in times like those. A special thanks to Grandma, Grandpa, Gram, Papa, Aunt Laura, and Aunt Stacey for all you did to help that day. I really couldn't have pulled all that together without you. You were the best workers a mom could ask for! And a special thanks to Chris Haywood and Jonathan Collins. Chris took all the pictures that day and Jonathan was able to capture the event on video. And, last, but not least, thanks be to God for getting me through the day! :)

Here are some pictures from the day...