First Year Photos

Of course I wanted to do a photo shoot for Brayden's first birthday and of course Zach didn't want to because he says it's a rip off. Well, pictures are priceless! So I grabbed my Nikon and we headed downtown Des Moines to the sculpture garden there to do our own little photo shoot. And I have to say, the photos turned out fab and were completely free!! (hunny, you were right...) Here they are. Enjoy!

Brayden Turns ONE!!!

Well, my boy is one.  I can't even believe it!  Where did the last year go?  Wasn't it just a few months ago that I was laboring for nearly 24 hours to bring this beautiful baby into our world??  Apparently not.

We celebrated Brayden's birthday with a Seusstastical event!!  I planned for months and the party went off without a hitch!! .. except for a few missing guests and a few melting cake items because of the nearly 100 degree temperature.  All in all, the party was exactly how I had pictured it.

The food ideas and other random things were ideas that I came up with on my own or tweaked from other ideas that I found on the internet. 

Dr. Seuss inspired printables were courtesy of Modern Bebe on Etsy:
http://www.etsy.com/shop/ModernBebeDesigns

Cookies were courtesy of Rollin in Dough bakery on Etsy:

http://www.etsy.com/listing/75910825/dr-seuss-cat-in-the-hat-cookies-6-cookie

Brayden with his cake on his actual birthday

Poem that I glued on the inside of the Happy Birthday to You book

"guest book"

During setup

Gift table

balloons and hats

Birthday Boy..he just woke up from a nap

Cupcakes, cake pops and smash cake courtesy of Creme Cupcake in Des Moines

:-)

Weddings and more...!

This has been and is continuing to be the busiest and most expensive year of our lives. On top of the second half of our son's first year of life, we have had event after event after event... Whew! 

Brayden is just down for his nap this morning and it just hit me that his first birthday is next week! After getting over my minor panic attack of this realization, I decided I wanted to write down all that has been filling our calendar this year. Here goes nothing... (italicized events are ones that we will not attend). There are few showers or other smaller events that we don't yet have dates for that are not on this list.

February:

-Justine's wedding shower and bachelorette party weekend (Williamsport, Pa)

-Sarah's wedding shower (Chicago, IL)

March:

-Justine and Steve's wedding (Williamsport, PA) - bridesmaid

April:

-Abby and Derrick's wedding (Memphis, TN)

-Sarah's bachelorette weekend (Egg Harbor, WI)

May:

-Sarah and Scott's wedding (Decorah, IA)

June:

-Jamie's shower and bachelorette party weekend (Pittsburgh, PA)

-Gary and Sharon visit Iowa

-Shea and Darin's wedding (North Carolina)

-Garret's bachelor party weekend (New York City, NY)

July:

-Brayden's first birthday party!!!!! (Des Moines, IA)
-Connie, Bill, Amanda, and Bonnie visit Iowa

-Michelle's shower (Texas)

August:

-Jamie and Dustin's wedding (Pittsburgh, PA) - bridesmaid

-Joe's bachelor party (Dallas, TX)

-Connie, Bonnie and Amanda visit Iowa

-Nicole and Joel's wedding (Montgomeryville, PA)

September:

-Libby and Greg wedding (Edinboro, PA)

-Garret and Jenna wedding (New York City, NY) - groomsman

-Joe and Michelle wedding (Dallas, TX) - best man and ring bearer

-Ashley's 27th birthday

October:

-Katie and Josh wedding (Des Moines, IA) -?

-Mandy's 30th birthday (Disney)

November:

-Zach's 28th birthday

-Thanksgiving

December:

-Seth's 30th birthday party (PA) - ?

-Christmas (PA)

I'm definitely forgetting a couple of things somewhere, I know it. It's only July, so I'm sure that there will be more things added to the second half of our calendar this year.. Whew! I think we're ready for a calmer 2013...