Need More Goldfish!!

On Aiden's actual birthday, we made spaghetti (his favorite) and we did a test run with a cupcake. I think he did pretty good.

After his bath, we opened a few presents from Gramma. Earlier that day, he went to the store with Gramma to help pick out which gifts he wanted. I think they did a great job!

Have you ever seen that Saturday Night Live skit of Christopher Walken and the cowbell? Well, every time I looked at the table at Aiden's birthday party, I couldn't help buy yell in my head, "Need! More! Goldfish!"

Since I was going for a goldfish themed party, Rachel found an ice tray that made cubes that look like goldfish. They were REALLY cute when I pulled them out of the tray, but not so much in the punch bowl. Sort of looked like a bunch of dead fish floating in the punch bowl...

All the little kids congregated in the living room around Aiden's toy corner. Holy cow! Look at 'em all!!

We served traditional BBQ food for dinner (burgers, pasta salad, chips, beans, etc). Travis set up a couple tents in the yard. Originally the plan was for them to be shelter from the sun, but they ended up functioning more as a shelter from the rain. Thankfully it only rained for about the first 30 minutes of the party. We had also set up some water games for the bigger kids to play in, slip'n'slide and the kiddie pool. We were going to set up the sprinkler, but decided not to because it was RAINING.

After food, I was too full for cake, so I opted for presents first.

Aiden made out like a bandit! Seriously, we are going to have to add on to the house to have enough room for all this stuff. Actually, I think it will be okay if we make some of the toys only for outdoors. That should free up some space. Come to think of it, we are still expecting a couple more gifts in the mail - a swing from Gramma Carol and a surprise gift from Chrissie, Jordan and Audrey. Ahhh! At least the swing goes outside. He's going to LOVE that. I can't wait!!

I attempted to make some goldfish cupcakes to match Aiden's cake, but they were a disaster. I used this icing that came as a powder in a box and you were just supposed to add boiling water. Unfortunately, the icing melted over night and had the goldfish spilling over the sides. Thankfully, Baker Rachel came to the rescue with a couple jars of regular icing and fixed the problem. I was so grateful because even if I had the energy to spend more time on those things, I didn't have the time. In the end, they turned out great!

After he finished opening presents, we moved over to the cake. Rachel made two cakes - a small one for Aiden to tear into and a big one for everyone else. You can see both cakes in the third photo from the top.

Aiden WENT TO TOWN on that cake. For a "small" cake, it was actually pretty large. I would say he ate at least half of it. He just kept going and going and going. It was getting to the point where I thought I should stop him, in fear of him getting sick from all that sugar.

Rachel and Ariel stuck a goldfish to his forehead - hence the blue spot in the center of his head.

He finally stopped on his own accord. I gave him a quick wipe down and then we headed straight for the bath tub.

He started crying as soon as I put him in the tub. At first I was worried his stomach was hurting, but then he proceeded to chug an entire cup of water. The poor kid was thirsty! I didn't even think about giving him a cup of water. BAD MOMMY.

After a little while, the guests started to trickle out. Jenna and Kai (and their kids) stuck around after Aiden went to bed, so we sat out under the gazebo (which Travis fitted with Christmas lights) and had a few drinks. Finally it was time for them to get their kids to bed, so they headed home and we headed inside to do a little damage control. I knew there was no way I would be able to clean everything up that night. I just wanted to get the food taken care of. About an hour later, we CRASHED hard. I did not want to get up that next morning. Aiden was a sweet pea and slept in until almost 7:30am. It was awesome.

The house is still a disaster zone. We got the floors mostly cleaned up and the dishes are slowly but surely getting cleaned and put away. We have SO MANY leftovers. I don't know what to do with it all. I'm pretty sure we'll be eating hamburger-related meals for the next two weeks. But it was worth it! Our little man has officially made it through a year of life!!