a ONEderful day

To celebrate Carson's ONEderful day, I started with this invitation.

Then, I made our little guy his very own birthday banner, to match sister's of course.

I made some salt dough ornaments too. Nothing like a centerpiece that costs nada. You can find my recipe here and more info here.

Balloons...oh my goodness does our little buddy love balloons!

And, the required plates and napkins. I bought the few things that I didn't make myself here. I'm not a fan of all the licensed party junk, so I just went with the basic cupcake. I love that it just appears at my front door, without having to lug the kiddos out and about.

I made his little hat and used wooden toys from around the house to decorate with. It was sort of a "classic toys" theme.

It was a day all about....

So, here's his very own smash cake...

For the real cake, I borrowed my sister's big cupcake pan. I am in love with that thing! I folded up leftover scrapbook paper, accordian style, to make my very own giant cupcake liner.

I hope you grabbed your cup of coffee of your bottle of water, because this post is far from short. One more photo of his very own baby cake...

At the buffet, our family signed Carson's birthday mat and as a thank you for coming, got to take home a framed photo of our little birthday boy.

They also got to take home one of these... I made it using these photos.

The cupcakes were yummy. I used this recipe for the cake and this recipe (without the cool whip and lemon juice) for the frosting.

The cupcake liners did a number on me when I was filling them with the batter. They all caved in and made that annoying little divot. Why does stuff like that always happen when you really don't need it to? So, in a pinch, I used the foil liners that I had in the pantry and added the colored paper liner to the outside. whew!

The frosting was supposed to be yellow, but turned out sorta orange. Considering all of my issues, I was super pleased.

The wagon was Carson's birthday gift from us and Mama and Papa C. I can't believe we've made it this far without owning a wagon.

Miss Emma was so excited about her little bro's party. She painted this little car all by herself. It was her very special gift from her to him.

Here's the whole table...

And, one more shot...

And, here's our little birthday boy, just after waking up from his afternoon nap.

The boys played some washers...

And, we did manage to sneak in a family photo.

Here's on of just the boys, before the party began...

And, o holy night, we managed to get a Chiles family photo. Thanks to Rob's parents for all of the many attempts!

For your party notes, Heart & Soul Moscato + frozen peaches + fresh mint = heaven in a glass. trust me.

And, a quick one of just the three of us...

We were so glad to have all of our family with us on Carson's special day! Both sets of grandparents, along with Lindy & Dill and Ash & Cam were able to make it.

We had dinner first...a taco bar with taco meat, lettuce, sour cream, cheese, homemade guacamole, homemade salsa, homemade beans, and chips & queso.

Then it was onto the cake.

Emma made his wish...

And Carson dug in!

He really dug in...

And we had the paparazzi capturing the whole thing.

This is all that was left...

He was done, but I wasn't! So, we sang "Happy Birthday" again for the big cupcake.

I love this one...

Do I get to eat this one too, Momma?

Then we sang one more time to Papa. Their birthdays are just four days apart!

No giant cupcake for the birthday boy, but he did end his meal with some ice cream with his Mama C.

Dear Buddy,

I can't believe you're one! It was a fun first year, but it went oh so fast. I've enjoyed every minute of being your Momma, and I just love you to pieces. Thanks for all of the sweet kisses and snuggles. You are so sweet and so special to us all. You have been a wonderful blessing and such an exciting addition to our family.

Happy 1st Birthday Carson!

We love you to the moon and stars and back.

Love,

Momma