walcott

It’s hard to believe that my little beansprout is turning one this week. I think back to this day last year: I was heading into the hospital to begin labor (but still had about 3 days to go before I met my perfect, precious bean). How amazingly different my life was then – and I had no inclination as to how greatly it was about to change. This weekend, we celebrated 365 days of Chase – his arrival and each and every day since then how he turns our worlds upside down and teaches us that even when we think our hearts cannot handle any more love, we are surprised to find that there is just no end to how far our love can grow. It’s an amazing lesson, one that can only be taught by a truly innocent and inspiring young soul.

There are so many wonderful people in our lives that have helped us make this transition from married couple to family, who have supported us through this year when we needed it most and I am thankful for all of you. You know who you are. And though many of you could not make it to the party, know that you were here in our hearts. And this post is for all of you!

Welcome to Chase’s Sock Monkey Extravaganza -a party that truly tested the limits of my creativity and endurance for a DIY project! Each hand-cut decoration, hand-baked good, and monkey-styled shot in this post was done by myself with the help of my amazing husband and my dear sweet mother. Although it was one of the more challenging tasks I’ve ever taken on, I most certainly did not learn my lesson, because I’m already looking forward to next year’s theme and planning to do it all homemade once again. Don’t even try and stop me.

There was no question that Chase understood what was going on – he knew he was the man of the hour. Sporting his sock monkey hat without the slightest fuss, he was ready to dig into some presents.

And then, in the handmade-spirit of the party, my dear grandfather restored an old radio flyer bike for my wee one. And he is IN. LOVE. with it.

Finally, the moment we all awaited – the birthday cake. Chase’s first encounter with buttercream icing was, well, unforgettable. Especially the hours that followed, with Chase wired as they come, He took great pleasure in demolishing mommy’s handiwork, but not as much pleasure as I took in watching him discover his very first sweet-tooth.

And at the end of the day, exhausted and proud, we were thankful for our family that is blessed in so many ways. Happy first birthday to my sweet bean!

Special thanks to Five by Design Studio on Etsy for the amazing designs for the birthday decorations!