Taylor's 1st Birthday

It's been six weeks since Taylor's birthday and I am finally posting his party recap! Better late than never, I always say! I actually say that very rarely. But it seemed appropriate in this situation.

Moving on.

I can't believe my baby is one!

This last year is such a blur. Lots of sleep deprivation because he FINALLY started sleeping through the night about a month before his birthday. He still has an occasional weird night here or there, but overall we're sleeping through the night at our house and it makes me so happy!

To celebrate T's birthday we had our families and a few friends here and we had all sorts of party fun. Our theme was balls, because Taylor loves balls! (The sports variety, to be more specific.)

I decided to make my children's birthday cakes this year and it was an adventure, to be sure! I am no cake decorator, but I do enjoy baking. And I had opportunities o-plenty with my kids' June and July birthdays. I should be good with the cake decorating until next summer. I think I tapped every creative brain cell in my noggin and they all need a long winter's nap before birthday season comes around again.

I'll use pictures from the big event to tell the rest of the story. Here goes:

The first cake I made was a 9x13 football field with teddy bear crackers as the players. This one was super easy to make and lots of fun. The hardest part was getting the frosting a dark enough shade of green. I must have worked on that for at least a half hour. I kept adding food coloring until I finished a bottle off and had to head to the grocery store for more! It was INSANE!

This is Taylor's eggless cake. I posted the recipe for it here. He wasn't sure about it at first, but once he got a taste he was all in.

And then I made ball cupcakes. I got this idea from a website like Betty Crocker or something. The orange frosting for the basketballs was tricky, but otherwise these were pretty easy. And decorative. And fit in perfectly with our theme.

The "kids" table

Ahna, Amelia, T and G'ma, Benjamin and Lily

The Birthday Boy!

It was love at first sight when he saw this Leap Frog train toy from his Grandma and Grandpa Becker. He could hardly wait for it to be taken out of the packaging. I love this picture - look at his chubby little fingers holding onto that red ball!

It's hard to see, but he has his tongue out in this picture as he's enjoying opening presents

Happy Birthday to you!

Not so sure about this

Oooh! Getting excited now!

Yup. It's delicious!

On his way to the bathtub. He'd already been through a preliminary wipedown. Happy as a clam.

The kids

Grandma and Grandpa Becker

Great grandma Becker

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It's already hard for me to remember what he was like six weeks ago, because he has changed SO MUCH in that time. Somewhere during those six weeks, he grew out of babyhood and became a toddler. It happens before our eyes and it's amazing.

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He's entirely done with baby food and eating tons of table food.

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He has 8 teeth which helps a lot with eating. At his age, Lily only had 2 teeth so she wasn't eating as many table foods.

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He's walking! He almost never crawls anymore. It's so amazing how quickly it disappears.

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He is transitioning to one nap. He takes a good morning nap, and unless he's particularly tuckered out for some reason, I have a hard time getting him to sleep in the afternoon.

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He takes his bedtime bottle at 6:30, goes to bed immediately after, and rises anywhere between 6 and 7. It's so nice!

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He loves sippy cups. He mainly likes to drink water out of a sippy at this point. He's not a huge fan of milk yet, but I'm okay with that. I'm not a huge fan of milk either. And as long as my kids get their calcium from other things, I couldn't care less if they don't want to be milk drinkers. I think cows milk is for cows. But that's another post for another time. =)

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He loves to play outside.

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I don't think he's ever been constipated a day in his life. Currently he poops four or five times a day. It's impressive. He also poops in the tub on a "regular" basis. Pun intended. And it's SO GROSS! He and Lily still bathe together, so it's always an adventure scooping them both out of the tub, draining the water, cleaning the tub, and starting all over. =)

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He is very verbal and talks all the time. He just has very few actual "words" in his vocabulary. He says daddy and momma clear as a bell. He also says uh-oh. But that's about it. Another big difference between he and Lily.

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He loves his daddy. He gets SO excited to see his daddy when Andy gets home from work. It's precious.

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He loves his momma. He and I have had a special bond from the beginning and it's hard to explain. I absolutely love that boy.

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He loves balls.

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He likes to climb the stairs.

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He likes remotes and cell phones.

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He couldn't care less about books. A MAJOR difference between he and Lily.

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He helps pick up toys. If you get started tossing toys into a bin, he'll come next to you and start throwing them in, too. It's pretty cute.

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He loves baths. And pulls at his clothes until you get them off. And tries to lift his leg over the edge until you lift him in. It's hilarious and adorable.

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He enjoys the tupperware drawer, the towel drawer and the cupboard with the disposable forks and plates.

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He likes music. He usually claps along. And has recently started to do a little jig. Love it.

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He is overall such a pleasant kid - so happy and laid back. He's just a joy to be around.

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I thank the Lord every day for Taylor. What a gift from Him! I can't imagine life without Taylor and I feel so blessed to be his momma.

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At times the weight of the responsibility of raising him feels overwhelming. So I pray. I pray that Andy and I will be on the same page, that we'll have the right priorities and that our home would continue to have Christ at the center so that we point our children to Him. I pray that Taylor would become a godly man. A kind, loving, hard working, honest man of integrity. I pray that he would love GOD with all his heart. And that he would love his family and be the leader of his family. I pray that his heart would be inclined to God's Word and that he would be a man after God's own heart. I pray that God would bless him and protect him. I pray that God would draw Taylor to Himself and that Taylor would walk with the Lord.