cupcakes, playdough and tears

our friends and family joined us for rowie's #1 birthday party. it was adorable to see him so small and cute with everyone running around him...and even though i know he won't ever remember his first birthday, there is something special about celebrating the first year of a child's life. you only get one first. and you only get one last. better make them both count, right? well, this was a wonderful start to a lifetime of firsts. there were kids squirming, meatballs flying, goft clubs swinging, soup slirping, and cupcakes being devoured. it was wonderful. it was everything i hoped it would be.

mr. super happy birthday boy quickly turned into mr. frantic panic when it came time to sing and blow out the birthday candle.


we quickly found a solution to mr. frantic panic which turned him into mr. very happy cupcake eating machine


someone else enjoyed the cupcakes...or at least as shown in this shot, he seems to enjoy contemplating which strategic bite to devour next.

there is something extra adorable about boys and babies. i can't help it. it's way too precious. miss kylie seemed to be quite the favorite of my dad...i think a grand-daughter would suit him well. lauren? stephen? it's your turn :)

the playdough station was also quite adorable...

and as always, our favorite aunt and uncle kept the kiddos in giggles as they played the role of themselves and delighted all with the joy that comes naturally to them.

the most special part for me was an idea that happend upon my brain about a week before the party. we had purchased a bunch of animal inspired party decor, but it felt so impersonal to me. it donned on me that i should use rowan's party as a perfect excuse to indulge one of my favorite obsessions...large photographs. i subsiquently took back all of the party decor and ordered way too many beautifully blown up pictures and bought way too many new frames. as fate would have it, 2 days before the party, the photos had still not arrived. in a moment of panic, i ordered MORE pictures using the 1 hour photo at walmart so as to insure that my brilliant photo-decoration theme would not be destroyed. i busily framed my one hour photos, though not as huge or perfect as the ones i originally ordered, i was pleased with the outcome. lo and behold, at my doorstep the day before the party were my large and beautiful pictures. oh my. does anyone need 16x20 photographs of my son? i now have 15. yeikes.

i also framed some of the letters that i have written to rowan over the past year and asked our party guests to write letters also, in leu of gifts. to my delight, our party guests came through, big time. i wanted to give him something that he can cherish always, and they each brought a gift more precious than anything that be purchased...words of love and encouragement and life and the Lord. their prayers for him and the joy he has brought already in his young one year of life.

i'll admit, i cheated and read them the morning after. i cried all the way through. such powerful prayers for a Godly man to arise from within this sweet little baby boy. he is blessed, i am blessed, we are blessed as a family by the people who surround us. i look forward to the day when i can give rowan a box of letters...written to him from years gone by...a box that is more precious than an inheritance check, or a new mercedez benz...part of his heritage of hope and love that has been poured out on him since his very begining. how precious.

p.s. thanks to stephen and lauren for the awesome party pics!