We Made It! Dean's 1st Birthday!

I think every parent should have a great first birthday bash for their baby. But, let's be clear... the party is NOT for the baby. Babies don't like getting dressed up and having their picture taken all day. Babies don't care about the fancy food or the balloons. The party is for the parents - to say "we made it!"

We made it through the hundreds of sleepless nights. We changed the diapers. We cleaned up the spit-up and the poop. We snuggled and sang. We clapped for his first crawl and first words. We smiled and laughed when he was cute. We worried when he was naughty. We watched his first moments of life and saw him grow from a tiny little bundle to a bouncing baby boy, full of energy and exuberance. We made it through 365 days with a baby and we survived!



So, we HAD to throw a fun bash to celebrate Dean's 1st Birthday with all our dearest friends. When I was thinking of a theme for the party, all I could think of was my little Dean... so curious... so mischievous... so cute! And of course, that is EXACTLY like Curious George.






A sweet bunting for our baby boy's first year!


Oh how he's grown, from his Northside Hospital t-shirt, to his size 18 romper!





We were so lucky to celebrate with our closest friends. It's such a gift to have friends that love your kids just like they are family.







Dean was a ladies man. He made the rounds that night and got kissed and squeezed by just about everyone. BUT, he definitely had a favorite...



He laid his head on Noune's chest and sighed the sigh of pure happiness. He stayed like that for about 10 minutes and didn't move a muscle. He didn't blink and didn't move his head. He was calm and sweet and knew he had it GOOD! Let's just say he is truly a ladies man!


Devon was so handsome that night!


And Debbie made sure Dean was looking handsome for his party with this adorable outfit!

We ate very well, with a fiesta inspired menu of tomato and avocado salad, Mexican rice, grilled flank steak with chimichurri, and sauteed corn with lime.





And of course, we had to have some lemon zest cupcakes from CamiCakes! Let me just say I have eaten a lot of cupcakes in Atlanta and these are the best, by far.



The highlight of any first birthday party is the cake! You can tell a lot about a baby by how he handles the cake at his first birthday party. Devon was very neat and very cautious and he cried when we put some frosting on his face. Dean on the other hand...



He dove right in!




Mmmmm.... cake is good!



We told Devon, go ahead... share Deanie's cake... and so he gingerly put one finger in the icing and licked it off, then ran to wash his hands. There ya go. That is exactly what makes these brothers the yin and yang!



Dean said... that's ok...



More for ME!!!



We were so blessed to have Aaron and Bethany come to visit us. And they brought the best present... baby Grayson!





We've been waiting to snuggle him and to kiss his chubby cheeks!







The most fun was when Curious George actually showed up to the party!!!








That cheeky monkey!


Aaron got a little too cozy with Curious George.

We had the best time celebrating our little monkey, Dean. He is the sweetest, most mischievous little boy and we just love him SO much!

The only thing left after the party was over was to clean up...



Who needs a Swiffer Sweeper?!!