ashford's first birthday party

over the weekend, we celebrated ashford's first of many 4-days-before-christmas birthday. i know there are worse things in life, but i can't say i've met anyone who really enjoys having their birthday the same week as christmas. even though he doesn't know the difference yet, i tried to make the celebration as birthday-focused as possible. hey, we didn't celebrate him on christmas, so that's something right? ;)

i decided to just do a family party at our house. we had a pretty big party for azalea's first birthday, but a small gathering worked best this time around. except for the fact that my house can barely hold 10 people, so even a small gathering felt pretty crowded. we had everyone over for a taco lunch and cake and presents. it was a lot of fun! azalea was sooooo excited about the party. i took her with me to buy balloons in the morning and she must have told a dozen people at the store "it's ashford's birthday today!"

a few decorations...in case you can't tell, i'm sort of a 'less is more' party decorator

silly face from my big boy!

this picture makes my heart so happy

delicious taco bar...we ended up with lots of leftovers. yum!

azalea was all about "helping" with the important parts of the party. she opened all of his gifts and would hand the paper to him to play with. he seemed to love all of his gifts and enjoyed testing them out.

 

 he had a little meltdown when i took away the tissue paper that he was stuffing in his mouth. mean mom alert ;)

we ended the party with the cake smashing. well, that was the idea, but ashford wasn't too into smashing (or eating) the cake. it was his fist time having sweets, so i wasn't sure what to expect. 

bulldozer cake that thatcher made. so cute!

trying it out...i think he only ate two bites

then he had another meltdown because i wouldn't let him rub his frosting-covered hands on my shirt. it's his party and he'll cry if he wants to. haha!

i love azalea's face in this one!  

it's hard being one. 

i promise, despite all the crying pictures, that he had a fun party! they are just too cute and funny not to share. happy first birthday, ashford!