Happy 1st Birthday, Ryland!

Our sweet angel boy Ryland turns one year old today! I cannot believe a whole year has passed. I can honestly say that this has been the hardest year of my life - but also the best. Ryland brings so much joy to our lives, and every day gets better as we watch our two children grow up together. Time is already flying, and I know in about 5 seconds, they'll be teenagers. I can hardly stand it.

We intended for the party to be up on Monte Sano Mountain, at the state park playground; but we'd had heavy rain, and even though no rain fell on Saturday, it was so wet and muggy outside that we ended up just moving the party to our house. We didn't clean much, really, and went easy on the food; ordered Ted's Barbecue and made a box cake with premade sugar decorations. It all worked out great, though - everyone loved the bbq, and I got tons of compliments on my cake. Thanks, Betty Crocker & Duncan Hines! This was no Pinterest-worthy party, but I couldn't care less; it was a great day with family, and Ryland had a blast.

It was supposed to be a cars-themed party, we just pulled out every single car and truck toy we could find in the house. Anything with wheels was set out in the living room, and Ryland and the rest of the kids had a blast. Ryland especially had fun stealing toys from his cousin Isaac - they're about 5 months apart, and we know they're going to be best buds! Poor Isaac - Ryland mostly just wants to "pat" (slap) his head.

My favorite part was singing "Happy Birthday" letting Ry dig into his smash cake. Georgia didn't want to touch hers last year, but RyRy will eat anything and is our little china shop bull, so he loved it. He was so adorable & kept that hat on for the longest time!

He spent a good 30 minutes shoveling icing and cake bits into his mouth before we wiped him down and set him loose again to play. He loved having so many kids around. (Cannot wait to send him to daycare in a few weeks for the first time because we know how much he's going to LOVE having other little kids to play with all day!)

For favors, we sent everyone home with a few die cast racing cars that I found in bulk for cheap at Party City. It was a hit...and easy.

This sweet boy...one year old, starting to stand on his own, and he'll be walking soon. Wow. How is that possible, when it seems like just yesterday I was spending my days of maternity leave snuggled up in bed with him for hours on end? I love you so much, little guy! You'll always be momma's baby.