Camden's Little Monster Bash

This cute little guy turned one year old.  (I know, fastest year ever.)  We planned a fun Little Monster party to celebrate our little monster's big day. We thought it would be fun to have the party outside for a change. We decided since his birthday fell on Labor Day weekend that we would do a barbecue outside with lots of family and friends. I made a lot of cute monster decorations to really bring out the "Little Monster" theme and because I can't help myself with parties and I seem to like to torture myself with too much to do in too little time.

These super cute invitations were sent out:

(Nope, I didn't make these. I paid someone else to do it. Being a busy mom of 3 kids, I am really starting to get behind these types of decisions.)

Here is the birthday boy before the party began. Despite having two naps, he was still a little tired and overwhelmed by everything around him. How cute is that little face?

But don't worry, there were smiles too.

On the big day, we checked the weather again and again and again and decided that the weather looked good through the party which was good because we really wanted to have it outside. We set everything up and decorated. And it looked festive and there were little monsters everywhere.

These are tissue pom-poms made monsters.

The guests arrived and it was barbecue time! Camden wasn't a fan of any of the food. He decided to be extra picky on his birthday. The rest of us enjoyed eating though.

And then, these BIG, mean clouds rolled in. And in came a severe storm warning, and a tornado warning, and a hail warning. :( So we sadly took all of the decorations and tables down and moved it all inside. It was stressful and hectic, but we all squished in our little house and put up some of the decor.

Once set up inside, the party continued. Camden unwrapped his presents.

Camden's favorite part was getting to play with his new toys. We are thrilled to have some boy toys in our house!

Next, came the cake. I had big plans to make cute monster cupcakes, but then I smartened up and decided that the party would be busy enough with a barbecue and decided to order a cake from good ol' Costco. They even made the dinosaur look like a monster! I heart Costco.

Camden thought it was more fun to grab the cake than to blow out the candle.

Then, it was the birthday boy's turn to dig into his cake. He was a beautiful, sticky little mess.

All-in-all, it was a good party even with the crazy storm. How many kids can say that they had a tornado warning at their first birthday? This is the stuff memories are made of. 

Happy 1st Birthday to our favorite little monster, Camden. We are incredibly grateful that you joined our family on this day a year ago. Our family is forever changed and so happy about it.

I love this picture of Camden cruising around through the crowd.

12 Months

 How did we go from this...

to this in such a flash?

Our sweet, happy, energetic, playful, stubborn Camden turned one year! We are still amazed that this big milestone has already come. His first year really flew by. But man, has it been fun!  He is so adorable. Really, he is as cute as they come. He truly makes us so happy. I cannot imagine our lives without him.  He was meant to be with us. I think about this day a year ago, and I can't help but get sentimental. It has been thrilling to have him here from the first moment. We really are still so excited to have this baby boy. The minute he wakes up in the morning or from a nap, it's a race to see who can get to him first. We marvel everyday at him and the things he learns. We have loved the last 12 months and can't wait to see all that he learns in the next year.

Here are  some things about his twelfth month:

• He is WALKING... everywhere and always. He is really good at it. And he's pretty proud of it. It is about the cutest thing. But that means getting into things quicker. He is always climbing on things now. And he is always trying to find treasures to carry around.

                      He likes to carry around his sisters' purses 

because of the handles. Hee hee.

• He has become very VOCAL about what he wants or dislikes. It's amazing what he can tell us without any words. He shakes his head "no" and points to tell us too. And he says, "ma" for more.
• At 12 months, he weighs 20 lbs. 3oz. (10th percentile) and is 28 inches tall (0 percentile, yes as in zero. He went from 50th to zero in three months. Sigh.) 
• He is a FOOD HOARDER. He must have food in both hands or he gets upset:

• He has become a pill at CHURCH. He just wants to run around and play instead of sitting on our laps. And when we are home, he just wants me to hold him instead of play. We need to get on the same schedule.
• He is irresistible in his footed PAJAMAS:

• He has to be ROCKED TO SLEEP. He always has. If I just lay him in his crib, he becomes hysterical. Like I just crushed his heart. So finally when he can't take a breath because he is crying so hard, I go in and pick him up and he wraps those little arms around me with a death grip and lays his head on my shoulder. It is so sad. So then, I calm him down and rock him to sleep. And then he sleeps all night through. The girls were never like that, they would cry for maybe a few minutes. Maybe because this may be my last baby, I have decided that I don't get to cuddle him and rock him for very long, so I will take this opportunity to hold my baby.
• SLEEPS with his bum in the air:

• He is sooooo PICKY with foods. He is a texture eater. He literally won't eat any fruits, vegetables, or meats because of the textures, so we have to keep giving him baby food. When I feed him yogurt, if there is the teeniest piece of fruit in the bite, he will spit it out. His favorite foods are french fries, pb&j sandwiches, cereal, yogurt, chips, french toast, oatmeal, toast with jam, and popcorn. He is a carb junkie!

• He BABBLES all the time, like he's really telling us something legit.
•  Still NO TEETH
• Had his first HAIR CUT:

Before

After

• Had likes to take LIDS off of things and put them back on. He was a big help putting on the canning rings when we were doing peaches. :)
• Is WEANED off breastfeeding. It was super easy because he loves cow's milk.
• LOVES to be OUTSIDE:

• DANCES with his hands and arms.
• Thinks it is fun to throw toys down the STAIRS.
• He is proud to BRING THINGS and give them to us. He also enjoys feeding us.
• Loves to play PEEK-A-BOO:

• He finally will pick up and hold his SIPPY CUP/ BOTTLE by himself:

• Still loves his PACIFIER. When to break him of that?
• He had his first stomach FLU this week. It was heartbreaking- he didn't understand what was happening and would let out these sad squeaky cries.
• He is now in a front-facing CARSEAT. And he is loving it. He just laughed the first time he rode in it.

Back to school

Yup, it's already that time of year. It really is amazing how fast summer flies by. But Makenna was happy to go back to school. She was excited to be in SECOND GRADE and see her friends again. And, I have to say that she is one darn cute second grader.

The night before the big first day, we made Makenna pull out two of her teeth that were literally dangling. Seriously, they both came out so easy. They first got out a top tooth. I'm a little sad to say goodbye to her baby smile. But she looks pretty cute with a missing front tooth. The other top tooth will be out in a few weeks too, which will be entertaining. The other tooth was the other bottom front tooth. She really did not want to pull the second one. But we were determined to get them both out while we were at it. It was sad- she was crying and asking Travis why we were doing this to her. So dramatic. But she was thrilled when she had two teeth to put under her pillow.

TEETH-PULLING

"Wait, wait Daddy. Why are you doing this to me? Can't we pull it tomorrow?"

THE FIRST DAY OF SECOND GRADE

I told her to strike a pose. Ha ha.

Hadley's turn is in a few weeks.

Love that missing tooth!

 Waiting outside her classroom.

Good luck this year my big second grader!