Liam's 1st Birthday - Part Two - The Party

It's time to party!

Almost everything went smoothly...except the most important part....the cake smash! Oh well, that's life, right??

Our friends Jonathan and Joanna came early to help us set up. Joanna kept Liam entertained with balloons while we prepared. I think the balloons were his favorite part of the party.

And FYI - the giant 36" balloons we got are still completely inflated over a week later. I can't bring myself to pop them so they are the only birthday decor still standing. Worth every penny though!

Family picture before the party. Liam looks a little sleepy here, and he ended up taking a quick nap right before the party started. He was actually still asleep when the first few guests arrived!

We needed to make room in the fridge so the birthday boy gladly polished off the last of the apple juice. He just wanted to help out!

This was the backyard set up for the party. It ended up being the most beautiful day, so the kids spent a majority of the party outside. We got Liam the slide and the swing, and my parents got him the picnic table and the coupe car. We also picked up some big orange and blue balls from Wal-Mart for the kids to throw around. I definitely recommend using outdoor space if you can!

It was hot out, someone needed some refreshment!

After awhile, we got Liam changed into his outfit the for cake smash!

All ready for cake!

So what happened was....

I had just taken the cake off the cake stand and put it on Liam's highchair so my fingers were covered in frosting. I was trying to quickly lick them off before we got started and wasn't paying attention.

While I was doing that, William lit the candle and everybody started singing. AS SOON AS Liam saw the flame he dove for it with his right hand. I saw it happen in time and grabbed it, but because he had lunged, Will went to fix his birthday hat and didn't see what he was doing with his left hand...

Yep, right into the flame! It was just one of those moments where it's happening in slow motion but there's nothing you can do about it. Everyone froze mid-birthday song and we all just stared at Liam. He didn't cry out at first, he just yanked his hand away and was silent.

THEN he started bawling! I figured it was a lost cause at that point and was going to take him out and move on, but I wanted to give him one taste before we stopped.

That one taste did the trick! He stopped crying as soon as that sweet frosting hit his lips and he was good to go after that! Hallelujah!

He didn't dive in and destroy the cake, but I didn't expect him too. I love that little frosting face!

Then everyone else enjoyed cupcakes!

After cake, it was time for presents!

Liam still doesn't really get the whole concept of presents so we opened most of them, and everything was SO cute! Liam got a lot of fun outdoor toys for the summer and some cute summer clothes and shoes!

My friend Nat made Liam an amazing scrapbook of all the top tens of 2011. Top ten forbes people, google searches, news headlines, top twenty billboard songs, etc. She also bought him the top ten children's books for 2011. She's really sentimental like that, and I love her for it!

Mallory took Liam's new airplane for a test spin!

After presents we broke the pinata! I wanted something fun for the older kids to look forward to, but the babies took a swing at it too!

Got it!

The babies winding down on the couch. The one thing I didn't think to do was the get a picture of all the party guests. That would have been good to have, but at least I got all their individual pictures at the photo booth.

The morning after with all the sad, deflated balloons. I hated to see them go because they brought so much entertainment!

Liam says thanks for stopping by my party!

Stay tuned for Part Three and all the crazy photo booth pictures!