365 Days Old

It was Allen Jess' first birthday and we were all so excited and thrilled about the momentous occasion that we had planned... absolutely nothing! Well, that's not entirely true, but for all but one special family activity in the late afternoon that day... the three of us had no plans, no party, and no real birthday fun to speak of. Sounds a little depressing I know, but after attending a friend's 1-year-old birthday party and realizing the party was more for all of the adults than it was for the 1-year-old, plus the fact that he really has no idea that it's his birthday anyway... Jei & I decided that Allen's birthday was going to be very low-key and celebrate it together - just the three of us.  

So while Mommy worked her magic in the kitchen making us a special birthday breakfast... Allen & I walked over to the store to get some birthday balloons! I can't recall whether or not Allen had seen balloons before, but if he had he sure didn't act like it! He was completely fascinated with them! 

Allen's birthday breakfast surprise!

We of course had to throw up some cheesy decorations for the day... which Allen could have cared less about, for he was way too busy diggin' into that pancake and staring at those balloons!

A birthday breakfast for three at home.

Not very exciting, but it sure was delicious!

Watching Allen feed his little face with that big pancake for the very first time was very entertaining!

Birthday boy was full and happy!

Not a bad way to start off the day.

The obligatory birthday pics were a must!

So the one thing we did have planned that day was to attend a private photo shoot that afternoon up in the mountains! We hired a photographer, found a beautiful place to shoot up in Idyllwild, CA, and spent about an hour and a half trying to make our son smile and laugh. Apparently having to do a photo shoot wasn't exactly what Allen had in mind when he thought about fun things to do on his birthday! He wasn't a very happy camper, or at least not his usual happy self that afternoon, so we're hoping we get at least a few good pictures out of the shoot. But regardless, it was a great idea and it was lots of fun. 

After a long afternoon of driving and posing for pictures, we were all tired and very hungry. We stopped on our way home for dinner and Allen had a little bread, corn, mashed potatoes, and pulled pork for his birthday dinner! We got home that night and we were exhausted. So tired in fact, that Allen could only muster up enough energy to open just one birthday present.

It wasn't very exciting or glamorous... or even all that memorable, but we celebrated Allen's big first birthday the best way we knew how: together, with a whole lotta love! Thanks for all the wonderful cards and gifts.