Zach's Birthday!!!

We had Zach's first birthday party the Saturday before his actual birthday (which is July 26). It was a great success! It was a baseball theme, and it was a lot of work but a lot of fun. We had the party at our house, and because the Kroger's bakery wanted an astronomical amount of money for a couple dozen cupcakes plus a cake for Zach, Heidi and I made all the baked goods. Keeping in with the baseball theme, we served ball park food: hamburgers, hot dogs with coney sauce, giant pickles, soft pretzels, and nachos. Zach had a blast; he likes big groups of people, especially when all eyes are on him. Plus, some of our friends that have children the same age came, so he had lots of playmates. He received a lot of great toys and books, which is wonderful because we read 4-5 books a night with him - so it was good to add to our repetoire. My mom and Heidi went together to get him a sandbox, which he absolutely loves. And Chris and I got him a swingset. He plays on it at least twice a day, so it was a great present.

I can't believe my baby is already a year old. It seems like yesterday that he was all brand new and squishy-faced, and now he talks and runs and dances and jumps and climbs. And has opinions on EVERYTHING. He's got 6 teeth and is working on 4 more, and absolutely refuses to eat any pureed baby food. He's tall and handsome and looks like his Daddy with my brown eyes. It's amazing how fast this year has gone by, and I can only imagine how fast the years will continue to grow...



This is the picture I used for his party invitations.


A glimpse of all the cupcakes and Zach's cake: We had baseball caps, baseballs, and Zach had his very own baseball diamond. It took a long time to make, but was fun for Heidi and I to do and infinitely cheaper than the bakery...



Happy birthday to you!

He wasn't quite sure what to do at first...

But he got into it pretty fast.

Mmmmm...... icing.....

And he even shared with Mommy! And don't we look cute in our matching Braves shirts! Chris had one on as well, so we were all matchy-matchy!

Next week we go back to work, which I'm kind of dreading. But it's one of those things where once it just starts I know it won't be too bad. It just seems like summer went by so fast!