Mathew's Birthday Extravaganza!

Mathew's first birthday celebration was a very special time! We were planning on heading to St. Louis for the weekend to celebrate his birthday, and we were afraid we almost weren't going to make it. Mat and I got food poisoning Wednesday night and were completely laid up all day Thursday. Luckily though by Friday we were feeling well enough to pack up the birthday boy and hit the road.

Saturday we had his one year portrait taken. We'd seen our friends little girl's one year pics and absolutley fell in love with them, so we decided to use the same photographer. MJ was a little fussy and out of sorts from traveling, so he did a fair amount of crying, but luckily he cheered up once he realized how yummy this cake was! Here's a peak at one of our faves:



After his photo session we headed to Mat's Aunt Lorrie's salon. She gave MJ his very first haircut. It was hard for me to part with those sweet baby curls, but it was getting a little unruly. Even after this haircut, his hair is still curly so we're thinking he might have curls around to stay for awhile. MJ wasn't so sure about getting sprayed with the water bottle, but after that he did great! He sat in mommy's lap and held onto Cuddle Bear. I think he got nice and relaxed and sleepy from his hair cut.



The next day was MJ's first birthday party with his grandparents, great grandparents, aunts, uncles, and just a couple of our close friends. It was great to have everyone together to celebrate MJ's first year of life. We had some yummy food, opened presents, visited, and chowed on cake. After two days in a row of cake, MJ was quite wound up. We headed back to Dubuque shortly after his party and we were all quite tired by the time we got home. MJ is used to going to bed about 8:30, but he was so wound up that night he didn't go to sleep until midnight. I even had to rock him to sleep for a good 15 minutes. Noramlly he's great about just lying him down in bed awake and he goes to sleep on his own, but I must admit it felt like a huge treat to me to be able to spend that time with him just rocking and having him cuddle. I was reflecting back on the year and treasuring that moment with him.

Two days later was MJ's real birthday and we celebrated quietly here with just the three of us. It was perfect. We were just so happy to be together and have the time with him. I worked in the morning and Mat worked in the afternoon so we each had our alone time with him during the day, and then that night we had dinner, presents, and cake together as a family.

We couldn't have asked for a better birthday celebration for our sweet little one. It's crazy to think he's a year old, but yet when I think about how much has changed in this past year it's almost hard to believe it's all happened in only a year! He is such a blessing and we can't imagine our lives without him. We hope you enjoy some wonderful pictures from his birthday celebrations! Just click on the title of this post to go to the shutterfly website full of pics.