Sam’s First Birthday: Prep-time!
It’s taken me a while to post about this, but I just had so much to write about, stuffing it all in one post seemed like a bad idea. So what the hell, I’m splitting it up. First we’ll tackle the preparation for our little guy’s party. Now I don’t know how this idea snuck into my head, but when we started talking about his birthday back in January, I was under the impression that a baby birthday party was an easy thing to plan. I’m thinking Sam’s only gonna be one year old; he ain’t gonna remember squat, right? So, we should put together an easy party: blow up a couple balloons, throw a few decorations around, wrap a box or two, pay for a cake and BAM! We are done folks.
Not so.
Mom had her say too.
Now wait just a second before you fill the comment box with the sounds of cracking whips or asking me where my pants are. She brought up a couple interesting points in her argument, and I admit that while she was right on those, I was right on… well one or two others. So, like any couple, we compromised (I let her think she won 
). Having set the ground rules for the party, a hard decision awaited us: the theme. Did we need a theme? Did we have to have a theme? Would theme be overkill? Sam was not even one yet and didn’t really express interest in anything in particular. What kind of theme could we possibly do? Sam likes the nipples on his bottles… Should we do a nipple theme? Imagine the cake! Finally, after a week of brainstorming, Melissa and I sat in the kitchen eating lunch, while Sam played on the floor near by, when we suddenly had an epiphany. Actually Sam clued us in: he tickled Elmo… And the rest, as they say, is history.
 Sammy checking out the theme |
 Elmo floats above all! |
Next thing you know, it’s Sam’s big day, and we are running around trying to get everything done in time. Melissa’s big project was the cake. It was the focus of the party, so she was using that sharp-shooter concentration of hers to get it done… No pressure! 
 Melissa working her baker talents... |
 ...almost done... |
 Elmo! I'd say the cake was a success! |
 Hmmmm! Left over cake and icing means Elmo cupcake clones! |
While Melissa was again displaying her culinary talents, I was on Sam duty. Did I mention I had a bad cold? Well I did. You know that guy you see on the news every year… The one who gets trampled by a bull in Spain during the running of the bulls? That’s how I felt. I was hopped up on DayQuil and Advil Cold & Flu pills. Should I have mixed? Maybe not, but they got me through the day! Suddenly the door bell rang. It was around noon and the party was starting a 2 pm, so we weren’t expecting anybody, so I run up and answer: it was our neighbor and her son with a gift for Sam! His first official birthday gift! They gave Sam a set of children’s books, but not just any books. Her son hand picked, from his own collection, his favorite books and gave them to Sam. Talk about a thoughtful gift! He was happy to give them to Sam since he had so much fun reading them when he was little. We loved his idea and thoughtfulness. I’ve written it before and I’ll surely write it again: we have great neighbors!
 Sam unwrapping his gift... Once all the tissue paper was gone, he lost interest! |
 Melissa looking through the books... which one shall we read first?? |
 Sam and our neighbor! |
|
After our friends left, Sam was now ready for his party. Putting him down for a quick nap beforehand was a good move on out part… We knew he would have a busy day ahead of him, but we just weren’t sure how busy. Would he make it through? Would I (my really, really bad cold remember 
)? Would the house survive all Sam’s kiddy friends hopped up on icing sugar and soda pop? Sam Vs. the cake: who survives? Who got drunk and strip-teased on the living room table?
Come back soon, and I’ll tell you all about it!
That’s it for now folks! Take care and thanks for reading!
Related posts:
feel like I am there already, it’s a cold alright, just a cold. Like my mom used to tell me ‘come back and complain when something as fell off’ My mom was a bit on the hard side. ha ha
LOL yeah your mom sounds a little familiar with the memories I have from my childhood!
Taught us be grow up strong right?