Caleb's First Birthday Party (cute as a button)

I absolutely cannot believe my itty bitty baby is turning one.  Before his party, while I was rocking and nursing him for his nap, I had myself a little moment realizing that all those parents that want to give you the advise to slow down and appreciate every moment, are so right. I feel like I have so many moments from this first year forever etched into my heart but it did go by so terribly fast.

We actually found this banner at Target and my mom helped me to coordinate it with everything by sewing some buttons that we had left over onto it. (I still have a few hundred buttons left over. I got them from Joanne's on sale.)

I LOVED his wreath for the front door. I kept it up for quite a while after his birthday party. I used regular twine to wrap it all first and then used fishing wire to string the buttons on. His invitations I put together on photoshop.

My husband helped make the button flowers. We used floral wire and an electric drill. Once I threaded the buttons through, he drilled the wire and held onto the "flower" part so they would stay closed. Not so bad! I also made the oreo button pops for favors and now have the homemade button frame at my desk at work. 

 

I LOVED the banner idea from the minute I saw it on Pinterest. And I LOVE how his banner came out. It's now in his scrapbook for when he's older and I can pull it out for his 30th birthday or something. 

The chalk board took a few nights to make. There were some things that were definitely going on the sign, but I didn't know how to line it all up. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out and I got to use it in his 1 year photos, too! I did make his hats as well. You wouldn't believe how EASY those were. The base is a regular party hat (that you would buy in packs of 8 or 10) then you unfold it so it's flat and cut out fancy scrapbooking paper to make the designs/colors you want. There is ribbon along the bottom and the pom ball on top is just yarn. When you're done decorating seal it back up the way it was and wah-lah!

Button Garland. This was much easier than you would think. It's fishing wire and a circle hole punch. The time consuming part was punching out the circles - but you have to delegate some tasks to hubby right?! :)

I ordered his cake topper fondant pieces from a shop on Etsy. She made assorted buttons that we put on his smash cake and the top of the big cake. I think it was about $20 for all of them which wasn't bad if you ask me. I did have to do some mending on the letters when they came in, but it was really easy.

Baby boy wanted nothing to do with the cake and didn't get as messy as your typical baby does. He munched on his pretzels and was just as happy.

your handsome face: 12 months

While I was putting this last collage together, I have come to realized that these pictures have helped me to watch you become into a little boy this past year. I can remember vividly with every snap of my camera phone the odd faces you would make as a baby... but they have now turned into babbles, huge smiles, and sometimes a frown. Your face is just as handsome and captivating to me as it was the first time I saw it while you were still inside me... but you're a little boy now. Not just my baby, but a ball of energy and personality. You're someone, baby boy. And these pictures have helped me to capture you becoming one. I hope one day you'll appreciate them as much as I do.

12 months

12 months! One year... I can't believe I'm writing this post. Happy 1st incredible birthday to my little buddy. I love how you've changed my life and my heart since you've been in my life. I love you so very much and hope your day was so special and perfect. <3<3

I was going to put Caleb's "Dear baby" birthday letter here, but I decided to save it just for his baby book.