Where Did the Year Go? Kai’s 1st Birthday!

This guy

 turned 1 on Saturday! (thanks for the birthday onesie, Grandma Cathy!)

We celebrated sweet Kai’s big day with a backyard BBQ and family friends.

I am so grateful for this bundle of energy, crawling enthusiastically after his siblings, getting into everything, grinning mischievously, and looking up at me with those big eyes. It’s crazy to think that we’ve already reached this one year milestone and that he’s finally sleeping through the night and taking those tenuous first steps. While being a mom of three definitely keeps me on my toes, my life is fuller and sweeter with this fella’ around!

While it might not look like it in the photos, I decided to go a bit more low-key this year. We had a few decorations with streamers and balloons, but most of my energy went into the cakes (like usual).Tim grilled up some hot dogs and we enjoyed sides of chips and summer fruit while the kids played in the pool and ran down the slip and slide.

Our church had a father/son camp out Friday night, so Ella and I enjoyed a girl’s night (plus Kai). We were going to make 3 barnyard cakes initially, but I convinced her to just pick two when I realized that even two cakes required three batches of batter. We decided to make bodies out buttermilk cake (I adore this delicious recipe from Family Fun), the faces out of chocolate, and the ears and feet out of banana.

Ella selected the sheep and pig, both relatively simple compared to some of the other complex cakes I’ve attempted. We loved putting all the marshmallows on the sheep to make fur and I decided to go with chocolate chips over piping chocolate frosting because that was something a 5 year-old could easily help with.

Here’s Ella beside her cakes at the party. I love this girl!

Kai enjoyed a mellow time hanging out with his twin girlfriends and sharing a meal.

He like playing in the pool with the big kids.

 He was very eager to try the cake – he knows good stuff when he sees it!

When it came time to open presents, he spent time with each one, even admiring the cards.

It worked out really well to let each “big” kid “help” Kai open the present they brought. He was perfectly content to let them do most of the ripping.

For our gifts, I planned ahead and unhinged them from the myriad of packaging, twisty ties, and tape. This cuts down on frustration and lets baby instantly enjoy the toy!

Luckily, we also remembered the “Pin the crown on the baby” Ella and her friend created for the big day.

Kai had a great time and was exhausted at the end of the day by sun and fun. I am so grateful to have fantastic friends to celebrate these milestones with!