Party Animal

We had Barrett's birthday party on Saturday, and it was wonderful!

Even though it poured down raining when we were planning for most of the party to be outside, it all went great! (Excluding the wasted money on the tent, balloons, table coverings and the wasted time Doug and his family spent working on the yard, flower beds, and repainting and repairing the club house in the backyard.)

Barrett definitely had a perfect day. He was happy from the moment the first guest arrived until he passed out 7 hours later.

Some of our friends had to come early due to other commitments, and when Emma and Barrett saw their daddies and Uncle Ray walk outside, they wanted out too. They were quickly distracted by the balloons.



At 4:00, when the party really began, Barrett was thrilled with the arrival of lots of little kids. Since the rain hit right at 4:00, Doug's parent's living room was full of kids playing. I thought Barrett would be overwhelmed by the chaos, but he was laughing and smiling from ear to ear.

Since he was in a good mood, we decided to give him his cake before we even served dinner.

When Doug put his bib on, he was not happy. I think he was really mad that we interrupted his playing. Nana, Doug's mom, bought him the cutest bib. I took a picture before hand because I was sure my little bulldozer would ruin it with icing. (Notice the "happy" expression. He wanted Mommy to save him.)


We put him in the high chair, and he was MAD!



BUT, I was confident that once he tasted the icing, he would realize he wanted to be there. He wouldn't touch it. He just looked at his audience and begged for someone to save him.

Daddy finally gave him a little icing, and his expression completely changed. He was happily waiting for Daddy to give him more.

Doug tried putting Barrett's finger in the cake, but he didn't want that. So, we gave him a spoon. Apparently, he didn't want dirty hands.



When he would clean off the spoon, he would hand it to me or Daddy to put back in the cake. Then, he would lick it clean again. Doug tried taking the spoon away and putting his hand in the cake, but Barrett whined and reached out for the spoon.

So, we gave it back, and he ate all the cake he wanted with his spoon. He had to of been the neatest baby I have ever seen on their first birthday, and the bib I was sure Nana wasted money buying was as clean when he finished as it was when he started.

Barrett received all kinds of wonderful gifts, but there is a definite favorite.

He LOVES the Mater tow truck that our friends Steve, Christi, and Mary gave him. (Go ahead Steve, be excited that you made the blog!) Barrett has played with Mater nonstop since Saturday. He even wanted it in the bathtub with him yesterday.

I don't know that Barrett has ever been happy for as long as he was on Saturday, and even though people told me that having a big 1st birthday party would be miserable for me, I had a blast too. Barrett almost made it to see the last guests leave, but he was just too exhausted. (And, some of the family stayed REALLY late.)

Thank you to everyone who helped make my little guy's day perfect!