P-A-R-T-Y!

Anderson's big birthday party was Saturday afternoon at our home. We intended to make it a small affair with just family, but then there were a few close friends with small children that Anderson plays with regularly that we decided needed to be invited. Before we knew it, we had a pretty big event planned for our little monkey. I can honestly say that for a 1st birthday that he will never remember in the first place...we really busted our butts to get everything just perfect. It was all worth it though. Anderson had a blast! We planned the party to start after he woke up from his afternoon nap which was great because he was in a wonderful mood and ready to party!

Our theme was monkeys, and trust me when I say that I bought anything that I saw that had anything to do with a monkey within the last two months!! I felt like I was becoming THAT mom...you know, the scary one that goes over the top with anything concerning her child...but I couldn't help it! You only have a first birthday once, so I wanted it to be perfect for him! Maybe when he is older he'll look back at the pictures and realize how much planning and effort was put in just for his special day! :-)

We started off the party with entertainment by a dear friend of mine, Miss Dawn. Dawn is one of the girls from my bible study at TCAT that meets on Tuesday nights. Dawn knew me before Anderson was even a thought! She is a music therapist at the RISE school on campus. It is a school that specializes in mainstreaming regular children with special needs children. Coach Stallings helped start the school in honor of his son Johnny, who has Downs Syndrome. Dawn played music for all of the little kiddos at the party and everyone had a blast watching her creative interaction with the children. Anderson always tried to "help" her play the guitar...Saturday was no different!!

Anderson received so many wonderful presents. He got a great mixture of fun toys and money for college!! Some of his favorites were the ball pit that Jeff and I got him. There is also the AWESOME Radio Flyer pony that my Dad and Martha gave him. I think he is going to wear that one out big time!! Jeff and I also just had to get him a "baby" Alabama jersey. We plan on getting him one every year with his age as the number. We are crazy Alabama fans and don't miss a game, so he will grow up a tide boy for sure!! Aunt Jenn shipped a really cool ball popper all the way from Tampa! We really hate that she wasn't able to be there! Marcie gave him a really cool parrot that repeats everything you say. He loves birds so that was a great gift! My mom very generously started a trust for Anderson and daddy was soooo happy about that. He now says Anderson can go to medical school...no pressure Anderson...we just think it would be great if you could be a quarterback at Alabama and a Doctor!! HA!! Mom also gave us a beautiful little child size rocking chair that was hers as a child. What a cool gift! Jeff's parents and some of the other "responsible" adults also gave us money to save for Anderson's college. Who knew we had so many level headed people in our families!

Overall we had a great time! The kids were having a ball, and the parents were enjoying watching all of the festivities. Anderson really did enjoy himself and he slept really well that night...he was one worn out little man!!We spent most of the day Sunday recovering from all of that hard work. We did manage to get in a quick trip to the pool though. What a great weekend!!