Weston's 1st {Pirate} Birthday Party

We planned Weston's 1st birthday party in Utah because we were able to have both sides of our families there, plus some friends. Yay! It was so much fun to see everyone and we were so grateful to have everyone there.

The party went down in pirate style...

I kept the decor to a minimum since I was flying alone and I only have so many arms. My mom was awesome and helped me cook and get everything ready. I take no credit for the amazing BBQ beef sandwiches... those were all my mom.

We went a little over board on the desserts... but hey, it's a party. I grew up on home made cherry chocolate ice cream so that was a must. Mostly because my mom was there and I have no idea how to make homemade ice cream.

My cute mom who helped me pull everything together.

This is pretty much the only shot I got of our family and friends. Sometimes I'm too busy taking pictures I forget to just enjoy the moment. I didn't want to do that at his party so I put the camera away. In my next life I'll have a photographer travel everywhere with me :)

Weston's cake turned out darling but the fondant made it impossible for him to dig into. Oops, didn't think of that.

He's all into utensils now so he loved digging in with a spoon.

He's such a toddler now... I can't stand it!

The is the "Ellie and Weston pose." {See the first one here}. I love them together and hopefully they'll get to see each other more often now!

Utah

We took a little va-cay to Utah over the 4th. We had all sorts of fun visiting family, friends, having 1 year old birthday parties, and cramming in as many activities as we could. I tried to relive some of my childhood by jumping into a pool and apparently I'm too old for that now. {Whoever said 30 was the new 20??} That just resulted in a ruptured ear drum and not hearing for the rest of the trip. How I did that I'm not quite sure but now I have an ear infection. What is with our ears around here?

We arrived in Cali to find our computer hanging on by a thread. That is always so fun to buy a new computer unexpectedly {although I'm secretly excited to have an updated iphoto}. So until I pick up my computer here is my one and only photo from my phone.

Love this photo. My girlfriends and I got together at the pool and it was so fun to catch up. So fun that we slightly ignored the naked babies who were trying to escape. It's always nice to go "home. "

Pirate Shirt

Just finished Weston's shirt to sport around at his pirate party. Yeah... still a fan of applique.

Guest Bathroom: Before And After

Just like in the entry... nothing fancy happened in the guest bathroom. It just needed a bit of life in there since my walls are plain ol' boring and the budget was very small. I will not be sad to leave this yellow/cream paint behind. It is seriously the worst color ever.

Guest bathroom before:

Guest bathroom after:

First Cake

Weston is getting his first birthday party in Utah next week... so we didn't do anything major on his big day. We went to farmers market and did all the usual farmer's market things. I seriously have never been to a better farmers market than Livermore. I'm so going to miss those buckwheat chicken pesto crepes. Anyhow, Weston loved it and we ran into tons of people we knew so that was fun.

Weston had sugar waaaayyyyy before he turned one. I'm a bad mom. In my defense though, Cameron is always sneaking him chocolate chip cookies, not me!! BUT.... he has not had red velvet cake. I felt better about waiting to pump him full of red dye till he turned one. So without further ado... his first taste of cake.

He was very unclear about what to do with the sticky frosting he got on his hand while trying to grab the candle.

He looked at the cupcake for a good few minutes before he would even touch it and then it was only with a finger.

Then he thought it was pretty fun to dump it over, just like every other thing he touches.

Finally a mouthful. And then he was done. done. done. Not quite sure what his thoughts are on red velvet cake? All I know is that it took me a good 20 minutes to clean up, yet totally worth it.

My baby is now a toddler!! We love you more than ever... Happy 1st birthday!

Entry Way: Before And After

The entry used to have an amazing plan... like wallpaper, great lighting, and art. But then we found out we were moving so the entry way kind of got forgotten because cleaning has taken over my life. And let's be honest, how glad am I that I didn't fork over the cash to wallpaper and then find out we were moving?? So glad. The "after" is not anything great but at least it's better than the "before."

Entry Before:

Entry After:

Weston: 1 Year

This year has been the happiest and best year of our lives. Little people change everything for the better.

I'll never forget the day I held my baby for the first time. What a crazy range of emotions and thoughts I experienced as they placed him in my arms. I couldn't believe he was mine.

Cameron was so in love with his new little drummer.

Happy 1st Birthday Weston!! We love you and are so lucky to have you!

Jackpot!

First Steps

Weston is bound and determined to walk by his first birthday. For the past 2 days he's decided to stand for minutes at a time. It's so funny how one day they just do something new and then you say, "Did they really just do that?" Little babies are seriously amazing.

And today he took his first three steps! It was good timing on Weston's part since Cameron was home tonight. Weston must have known how sad his dad would have been to miss out.

Water Spout

They opened up a new park by our house and it is awesome. Don't go there unless you are prepared to have a wet and sandy child due to the water spout which drips into a sand pit. Weston is in heaven with this new discovery.

He was all about the sand till I pushed the button to make the water flow. I didn't know I was creating a monster.

Now he cries whenever the water stops so I just kept on pushing the button. That was a lllooonnnggg 30 minutes at the water spout but Weston was seriously in love.