Winter One-derland: a FIRST birthday party!

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Liam turned one last month and I am still in denial. Not only is he already one (ONE!), but this weekend he'll be 13 months old.   How is this possible?  Just last year at this time I was getting to know my new little man, trying to figure out breastfeeding (the hardest part of becoming a new mom for me), recovering from a c-section and watching a whole lot of Vampire Diaries on Netflix at all hours while feeding the little babe.  That was just one year ago.   Fast forward through a blurry, busy, amazing year as a first time mama and my husband and I knew we had to celebrate right. We decided on a Winter One-derland theme full of white (or light) foods (popcorn, tortilla roll-ups, cheese & crackers, empanadas and cookies to accompany the cake). I gathered sticks from our yard and Hobby Lobby to fill silver vases and wine/beer/other types of bottles that had been spray painted silver.  I filled our windows with snowflakes cut from coffee filters (can't wait for Liam to do this with me someday) and hung snowflake ornaments from sticks I threaded through our chandelier.  To make sure everyone knew Liam was turning one, I used coffee filters and poster board to make a big, fluffy "1" sign.   I can't thank the very talented Nicole of Nicole Clifford Photography enough for capturing all these precious moments of Liam's first party, so that I could enjoy it camera free (if you are in the KC area, you should contact her to do the same)!  I did squeeze in a few iPhone shots which I shared here a few weeks ago.  You can see from this earlier post and the photo below that Mr. Man did not dive into his cake as I had hoped. Nope, he kept it pretty tame, only picked the crumbs from the part I tried to entice him with and swiped a few licks of icing.   I made Liam his own "smash" cake that had very little sugar, wheat flour and eggs whites to keep it healthier (I made the vanilla one).  The rest of us ate some real good (and pretty) cake made by 3 Women and a Oven.  While the guests ate cake, we played a video of the best Liam pictures throughout his first year then opened presents! It was a fun day and we are so blessed to have so many loved ones to share our joy with.  

Happy birthday little man! You have brought so much light into this world with your infectious laugh, warm smile and bright eyes.  I love you so much.