Conrad turns ONE!

He's almost 14 months old, but we'll ignore that. We had a super fun time celebrating our little guy's first birthday back in April (feels like forever ago!?).

I really enjoy planning for and celebrating 1st birthday parties for our kiddos. It seems appropriate to celebrate how the Lord sustained us through the ups and downs of adjusting to a new baby in the house. He kept us healthy and provided us so much joy through our Conrad Cross. We were busy and a bit overwhelmed at times, but we're on the other side with greater love and more appreciation than we've ever known. God is good. And He has shown us how good He is through the blessing of Conrad.

Now, please notice I say "1st birthday" parties. I don't (as of right now) do parties beyond that. Mostly because parties are a lot of work! We've found family fun days to be wonderful and relaxing ways to celebrate. Conrad's party was simple but sweet and we were so thankful to have family from both sides there to party with us. (Shout out to my mom who helped with food, my sister who kept me laughing when I was still frantically vacuuming 18 minutes before guests were to arrive, and my incredible friend Erin who spent her day off helping me with decor. See those super fun tissue paper garlands? My idea. Her handiwork. You don't want to know many hours (yes, hours) she spent on them. But boy are we happy she did!)

We LOVE books!

Retrieving wrapping paper from his mouth...

This water table from Mimi and Papa has been a huge hit!

Love him in his new aqua shirt and adorable sandals that squeak! Another fun China find from my parents.

(Notice Conrad fixed upon the generous bill they also included with his new kicks...)

Our BIRTHDAY BOY!

Happier without his hat...

His face lights up when he sees Aunt Trishy...

Cake time!

After bath and third change of clothes...he's back folks...

Look who wore her party pants to the party!

Cousin TENLEY!

Cousins!

You may recall that Becca flew in for the big event...such a blessing to have her there celebrating with us!

Mom and her girls.

Decor:

It's hard to see, but these are my favorite pictures of the two kids together over the course of the last year. Without even trying, I noticed I had almost exactly 12 pictures of them sitting together in the recliner. So fun to see how they BOTH changed so much over the course of 12 months!

Photo banners made with his bi-weekly picture updates.

Absolutely LOVED the way the party hat faces captured his personality so well. We didn't have to look long to find 20ish (Tom made me stop) different and hilarious facial expressions that little baby has given us over the last year. He has so many ways of melting our hearts!

closer view...

I thought about buying him a hat for....about 7 minutes and then I just couldn't bring myself to hit "purchase." (Amazon, naturally.) I did it for Gwendolyn, and it's one of my favorite parts about planning the 1st birthday party. Worth the two hours spent wandering JoAnn Fabric. Deep down within me there is a hint of craftiness.

Food:

Pulled BBQ pork

Deviled eggs

Lettuce salad

Veggies with dip

Baked beans with apple

Dirt dessert

Strawberry pretzel salad

Chips

Cake!

Just as I had hoped and done my best to plan...the birthday boy woke up from his morning nap and arrived to his own party shortly after most had finished lunch. 

Somebody was the center of attention!

And somebody really liked mommy's strawberry pretzel jello salad...

(Can't blame him. It's so yummy.)

Surrounded by family, he officially turned ONE. What a loved baby!

We're so blessed and I'm so thankful he's ours. I wish everyone had a Conrad Cross in their lives because the world would be a better place.