Happy Birthday Liam!

One year ago today I was about to go to the hospital in labor and we didn't know anything about Liam. Today, we're on the eve of his first birthday and I cannot imagine life without him. He is a joy to our home and a great blessing from the Lord. He is outgoing, funny, a cheeser, stubborn, energetic, curious, smart, busy, busy, busy and our sweet little boy. It's funny to say, but he really is an amazing blend of me and Rob while still being his own person with a big personality.

To celebrate Liam's first birthday I wanted to have a small, but special party for him. He really didn't understand what was going on, so you could probably say the party was more for us, but I couldn't imagine not having a party for him. I decided to make the theme of the party circles, since he loves balls and these round refrigerator magnets we have. The circle theme was really easy and fun considering how many foods are circles. We had round chicken salad sandwiches, grapes, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, carrots (yes, they are tubular rounds), round tortilla chips and dip, blueberry mini muffins and of course cupcakes. I made all the food including an extra smaller cake for Rob's sister Kayla, whose birthday is today.

A cupcake caterpillar. I was too lazy to figure out how to make a head, so a ball stuck in a cupcake worked great!

All the round foods and my bowl of balls centerpiece. Notice the little hands that would like to have some...

Kayla asked for a smash cake for herself. She didn't get to smash this whole cake, but she did eat a piece with no hands or silverware.

The party setup. You'll remember the triangle happy birthday banner from my birthday, but I made the half circle banner at my mom's group a few weeks ago. It worked out perfectly for my circle party.

The balloon has been a big hit at our house this week. Liam likes to walk around the living room and point to it. It welcomed people to the party.

We invited our immediate families, understanding that my parents and brothers probably couldn't make the drive, but hoping Rob's family could come. We ended up having a great party with Rob's parents, grandma, sisters and their boyfriends coming over for most of the day.

Hanging out with Mimi

And with Boppy

And with Aunt Kayla

Aunt Lauren, Lauren's boyfriend Ryan, and great-grandma Nan were here too.

And how could we forget that Chris, Kayla's boyfriend was here too? These two are the life of the party for sure.

We had fun hanging out together eating, playing a Liam trivia game I made up and another game where I printed off one picture from each month of Liam's life and in teams, the partygoers had to arrange the photos in chronological order. It was fun to look back at his first year of life in photos. (Thanks Chrissie for the idea from Elijah's first birthday party!)

After games we had presents, which there was quite a stack. I think my in-laws did a great job of not going overboard with gifts and getting Liam some good, quality toys he will enjoy. His favorite was a mini soccer ball. He also received a wooden puzzle, a small wagon with wooden blocks, two shape sorter toys, a musical toy and some books. He was actually more interested in the wrapping paper because it was printed with sports balls and he kept saying "ball, ball!" when he was unwrapping. But eventually he understood and was interested in the toys.

Starting the present opening

"Hmm, what should I open next?"

Working on his new puzzle with papa

Later we took the ball outside and tried to work on kicking vs. throwing. His Pops would be proud to know he seems like a natural at soccer. :)

After presents we had high hopes for some good cake smashing considering how much Liam loves to eat. However, it was a bit underwhelming as I think he was confused what he was supposed to do and it was right before naptime so he was getting tired. He eventually stuck his fingers in the icing and thought that was tasty, but he didn't get in to the cake too much. We still had fun helping him explore and understand cake. I think cake at his two-year-old birthday will be a bigger hit.

Exploring the icing

Icing = yum

"I think cake is pretty good."

Happy birthday Aunt Kayla! We love you.

Family shots!

Overall, it was a fun day and we really enjoyed celebrating with family around us. Liam is a very well loved little guy! Tomorrow, on his actual birthday, I think we will have a low-key day and probably not do much in terms of celebration. One party was exhausting enough!

Happy 1st birthday Liam! We love you so much and cannot wait to enjoy another year with you.