The Party!

We had John's 1st b-day party on Sunday, August 3rd, as it worked best so that all of our immediate family could come. (My siblings were up in Dallas at a computer gamer conference until Sunday.) Of course as soon as I plan something definite, John went and changed his schedule (he always does, when I put an exact time frame on something). We planned the party for 4 that afternoon. Well, John decided to nap late for his morning nap, and then not want to go down for his afternoon nap. I was scared that he would be a bear for his party, but thankfully he only had one little time of fussiness.
We decided to have his b-day at a park, and we found the perfect one in Belton at Harris Park. Not only did it have a playground with swings and slides, but it also had a little splash area that had all sorts of toys and fun areas where you could shoot water at people. Plus the best part about it was it was free!
My mom and I spent most of Saturday "cooking," or baking rather. We made cupcakes, and John's cake, and the cake for everyone else, and "puppy chow", and Chex Mix, and Rice Krispy Bars, so all we had left to do on Sunday was frost the cakes, and make the drinks, and gather everything up that we needed (cups, plates, etc.) Chris headed out early to pick up the sandwiches & ice & stake out a spot, as it was first come first serve, and we followed within an hour.
When we got there, John was fascinated by all the food and presents that were on the table. He also enjoyed being past around between the grandma's and aunts and uncles and cousins.

Wow, check out those balloons

What is all this commotion for?

Man, it's hot out here! Thanks Uncle Stephen for the water!

We started off eating the sandwiches and snacks waiting for everyone to show up. Then it was cake time, aka John's first experience with sugar in large quantities. He went crazy, not in the wild crazy hyper, but he demolished his cake and got it all over him, perfect for pictures. Now, in general John LOVES to eat, and if you give him a whole slice of bread or pancake, he will try to shove entire slice in his mouth. He didn't fail us here. When he saw how much cake he got on his plate, his eyes got big, and he proceeded to try to shove the largest pieces he could possibly fit into his mouth.
Getting ready to dig in
Ok, seriously, what is this all about
This is all for me???

Pappy, don't steal.

One stuffing the face pic
This is the cake that we made for everyone else. Unfortunately in the transfer it got a crater in it. Booo!

This is how messy he got!
Daddy trying not to get dirty.
John showing off how he made it to the "Big One!"

By the time he was finished I was oh so thankful that we had done this at a water park, b/c instead of thoroughly cleaning him, Chris just took him into play in the water. He loved crawling around and splashing and trying to stop the water from spraying at him. He enjoyed watching all the people around him. All his cousins and his Uncle Dave joined him in playing in the water, and even his little friend from down the street, Mikaela and her dad, Kevin.
Getting used to the water

Splashing away!
Daddy figured out that if he sat on this pipe, it would look like he was peeing a huge stream of water! Wow, I'm so proud!

We finally had to drag everybody away, b/c it was getting late, or rather extremely hot, for those of us who didn't bring a swimsuit to open his presents. (Yeah, the only downfall about his b-day party was that it happened to be on the hottest day of the summer. I think the temps got up to 109 degrees.)
Opening presents was when he started to have his fussy time. He did fairly well, but it was hard to have him concentrate on pulling paper off or out of a bag. He was done with it after one pull, so daddy had to help him. Aunt Stacy and Uncle Stephen also pitched in. He wanted to look at what he got longer, but we had to keep him moving. I'm a little overwhelmed at all he received, but thankfully it was all stuff that he can use. I've kept some toys separate, so they will be new to him later on, and not overwhelm him with too much stuff all at once. We shall see how that works.
Getting started
Whoa, check this out
Hmm, what's this
Hmm, interesting
Ok, this is getting old!!

Please, someone, am I done yet!





Needless to say after his long exciting day, he went to bed early that night. Poor little guy was pooped, and so was mommy both physically and emotionally! My little boy is officially one! Wow!