Thanksgiving and Birthday Parties!

As you know, Asher's first birthday fell on Thanksgiving Day this year.  I really wanted Asher to know it was a special day even if he couldn't yet comprehend that it was his birthday.  

Sooo... I blew up an entire bag of balloons and left them in the living room for him to find when we came down in the morning...

 

And he had fun with them ALL day!  :)  

Eric's parents were here for the weekend and we had a great time talking, playing, and making Thanksgiving dinner together at our house for the first time!  (My family had Thanksgiving at our house last year, but we were in the hospital! :)  )  After a number of minor snafus we had a very successful lunch...  

Snafu #1- I went shopping for a turkey on Tuesday afternoon... umm who knew ginormous frozen turkeys needed time to defrost???... this girl sure didn't think about it!  Praise the Lord that they sell unfrozen turkeys! 

Snafu #2 - Devilled eggs.  Apparently it doesn't matter that eggs hard boil for more than the suggested 15 minutes... not even an hour and a half will overcook your eggs!  Oh the distracted life of the mother of a one year old.  :)

Snafu #3 - Halfway through cooking the turkey we realized that the heating element in Eric's parents faithful old roaster had gone out.  Thankfully???, Walmart was open on Thanksgiving day (sorry employees), 'cause we sure didn't have any pan large enough to hold a turkey in our oven, let alone room in the oven with all the sides baking!  We now are the proud owners of a roaster of our very own. :)

Snafu #4 - Dinner rolls.  For the 100th time in my life, I turned off the oven, and left the food in the oven for two more minutes without resetting the timer only to come back to them 15 minutes later burnt.  Amazingly enough they weren't burnt this time!   Just a little darker than they should have been.  

All I know is I have a lot to be thankful for, and who cares how the meal turns out.  God was still in the little things though and our meal was fantastic!  Thanks for all your help, Joey and Rhonda!  :)

Also up there on the list of fantastic things from that day was that grandma and grandpa babysat for us after we put the birthday boy to bed so Eric and I could get away on a little date to the movies to celebrate our own success of surviving our first year of parenthood. :)   Thanks again to Eric's parents! :)

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On to the Birthday Party!  Sunday, my entire family - parents, sisters, brothers-in-law, nieces, nephews, and grandmas came to join Eric and I and his parents for a grand first birthday party!  :)  

Since his first birthday fell on Thanksgiving Day this year, we had a turkey themed birthday party... a "We're so thankful for Asher" party. 

We had "turkey" food.  (a veggie tray, a pumpkin bar cake - my first wheat free baking experience, little smokies, and turkey shaped sugar cookies.) 

We had a "turkey" game.  Well just pin the feather on the turkey.  Here's the birthday boy playing. :)

"Turkey" decorations...

 

  Here's all the boys wearing their turkey party hats. :)  Unfortunately Asher hates having things on his head!  



... and the three of us!   (Who knows what I was doing... scaring Asher I guess.)  :)

I made a photo banner of Asher's life from his first ultrasound through his first twelve months. 

 

  

It's so sentimental and reminiscent, I can't bear to take it down! :) 

Then we opened gifts. 

And Asher's favorite part --- the cake!!! :)

Oops got it too close! :) 

 What do I do with this whole piece of cake, mom???

  Uhh... smash it in my face  Yeah I think that'll get it in my mouth?  :)  

We had to break it up in pieces for him, and he DEVOURED it!!! :) 

 

And finally for those of you who live near and know our son, the most amazing part was that he wasn't terrified at all by having all his cousins in his face.  He played well with them the entire day.  Think he knows they're family?!  :)    (I love how the littlest two are starring at one another in this pic! oh and the fact that his two year old cousin is making his hair stand up on end.  Boys... his daddy was just doing this to him earlier that day. :) )

 
Anyway, we're so blessed to have Asher in our lives and look forward to all the days to come!   Keep a look out for a video Eric put together for the birthday party.  We'll be posting it soon! :) 

Thanks for all your prayers and support as we journeyed through our first year of parenthood! 

#Meagan