boys rule

On Saturday we celebrated L's 1st birthday with some friends. The weather would have been *perfect* had the wind not been there ... but that's a lot to expect for Ohio. We had a great time in spite of the blustery day and our friends were awesome to stick it out with us! I thought of a fun idea to pattern at least the early birthdays after a children's book ... and for L's 1st birthday I choose:

When I was little (younger than 5), my family lived in Virginia at the end of a cul-de-sac. My memory might be wrong here (give me a break though, I was really young!), but I remember an older lady who lived in a white house who would read books to us young kids. Now I am not sure if she did this, or if it was my mom, or some other friend, but I somehow came to own a copy of this book along with a plush caterpillar that looked just like the very hungry caterpillar. You could even turn this caterpillar inside out to resemble a cocoon, and then you could pull out a butterfly from the inside of the caterpillar's head while inside the cocoon. It was basically amazing. I found it upon visiting my family over Christmas break, and I couldn't wait to give it to L! I figured this would be the best time! So that was my inspiration, and this is what I did with it:

{This is me right after a shower still getting ready. Cynthia - I stuck this one in for you since you wanted a picture of the red wall with frames up. :) Hope you enjoy.}

Very Hungry Caterpillar cake, and individual dirt cakes with gummy worms. We also had other gummy worms & ants (aka: raisins) to eat, along with Bug juice (aka: green koolaid - that actually tasted gross ... I am sorry to whoever drank it. One of those things that I should've tasted myself before offering it to other people!). I had so much fun doing all of this!! 

Here's me and the birthday boy. Yes, he is wearing pajamas and it is noon on a Saturday. We figured his sleeper would be the easiest thing to wear for the cake-eating-occasion so we could unzip him in one easy motion and get rid of the mess. However, due to the chilling wind, we decided to not have him eat the cake. So we played in our pajamas a little longer. :)

I had fun trying to take pictures of all the little kids playing on the playground ... here's a random collection: 

And last, but not least, the birthday boy himself. Still in pajamas. This might have been the only smile I got from him the entire time. Have I mentioned that new situations make him a little timid and nonsocial? Oh well ... I still love him!! 

Thanks to all of you for helping it be such a fun birthday for L!! Especially Ryan - he helped out a TON as I was working on the cake. Thanks love!!