Happy 1st Birthday, Benjamin!

Wow. One. My little baby is now a toddler! This past year has, indeed, gone by so quickly. I was warned of this, but you can never know just how fast it will go until it's gone.

Benjamin is such a joy to us. He's always on the move, always babbling about something and always trying to get into something. He's easy going and throws some serious tantrums. He laughs a lot and will wave to anyone. I just don't think I could tell you enough about how great this boy is!

Benjamin is my constant companion. He is, literally at times, attached to my hip. He's my partner in crime during the day. He's the little baby that made me a momma. We've learned and grown together. We've cried together and laughed together. My days would be so lonely without him. My nights can be long with him. My heart is incomplete without this little man. I just can't wait to see how we grow, laugh, learn and cry together in his second year of life!

Oh boy. I love this boy. Here are some pictures of his party. I went with a polka dot theme and had a lot of fun planning! Most everything was homemade, with love :)

Birthday banner! I copied this idea from homemade by Jill. I tweaked her method, but loved the idea. I used small plates and twine. Each plate had a picture of B starting as a newborn and then to 12 months. One per month!
Patrick and I got him a wagon. He really enjoyed it. We promptly went for a walk and he was babbling the whole time.
Our neighbor does wood work as a hobby. Yesterday, they stopped by with this homemade rocking horse for our little guy. He likes rocking it and likes even more when he gets to sit on it :) Also, I made the onsie he wore today. I got the blue onsie from the Dollar Store (for a dollar) and cut and sewed the "1" onto the shirt. The fabric I used is also used as "flags" on the ends of the banner.

Smash cake (and you can see the polka dot table cloth. this was not homemade). I got this striped candle about two weeks ago. Just yesterday I saw a polka dot "1" candle at Wal-Mart. Bummer!
Birthday cake, covered with M&M's, obviously. I used the brown ones to make the "1".
Benjamin got a Cars walker thing. LOVES it.
Opening presents...
Hey, hip guy! Uncle Kent & Aunt Sarah got B this cool hat.
He got so excited when I showed him his new toys! This noisy thing was from Aunt Beth and Uncle Jeff. He, of course, loves it. :)

This boy was not cake shy. He dug right in.
And kept digging. He ate so much more of this cake than I wanted him to :) He had chocolate cake all over himself!
Loving life...
The after party. We both fell asleep in this exact spot just minutes later.
Daddy and the birthday boy!

What a day, what a day. Happy birthday to my sweet little boy! What a good year it's been!