the birthday party

After much debate, we decided to have Ammon’s birthday party at Brian’s parents’ home. We also decided to have it on Saturday – the 6th – rather than on his actual birthday – the 7th. We opted for a simple, easy, no-fuss route… as he wouldn’t care anyway, and would (without a doubt) be fairly overwhelmed by the whole experience. Another reason for this uncomplicated method was that it would (hopefully) help lighten my already heavy-laden plate… and ease my already splitting headache.

And then, at the last minute – in true Stacy fashion – I started to get excited.

Originally, Ammon wasn’t going to have a themed birthday party. Just fun colors. But, once I got so enthusiastic about it, I got a little carried away and threw in all these little monster accents… inspired by Ammon’s birthday cake plate. So I guess you could say that, by the end of it, Ammon’s birthday party had a mild-mannered monster theme to it. Hmm… Monsters. Appropriate enough.

Things started going sour around Wednesday evening. Ammon caught a cold… somewhere… somehow. By Thursday, Brian was sick. I was still feeing a little questionable after the moldy-pumpkin-pie-incident. But, I was bound and determined to pull off a successful, organized, and special party for my wee little one.

I was able to do so thanks to thanks to my mom. She came Friday night to help with a few things and had already helped out a great deal before then. I was already a tad punchy when I started making cupcakes and such… I was glad she was there to keep me in line. And, yet again, I have proven that I work better under pressure. I will not lie… I am a procrastinator. I managed to accomplish a great deal on Friday: goodie bags with personalized tags; the table centerpiece; Ammon’s birthday banner; cupcakes, each donning the letter “A”; Ammon’s birthday cake (enter Mom’s help… it looked a little terrifying at first); Ammon’s highchair-birthday-garland; and all other forms of birthday party preparation. Brian also finished Ammon’s birthday CD (well, CDs… there were 3 of them), which featured all of his favorite tunes.

Saturday came bright and early… really early considering we never really went to bed. I ran around doing some last minute things, while Brian had Ammon duty. It was proving to be a difficult day mood-wise. I braced myself for the worst: A raunchy child being ghastly at his very own birthday party.

Sooner or later we got things set up and were raring to go down in the Nub. We had yummy hamburgers, chips and dip, cupcakes (with vanilla and chocolate frosting) and ice cream (both vanilla and chocolate)… and boy did we have a good time. The normal charming-curious-happy-Ammon returned for the duration of the shindig. And how happy were we that he chowed down on his Pa’s world-famous burgers (marking his first real meal in a week)!

On the reverse side of the eat-all-I-can coin – Ammon wanted nothing to do with his cake. The first child to refuse his first birthday cake, you might agree. But, try as we might, he just didn’t want it. Until after everyone left and my camera battery died, that is. Then, of course, he had a bite. Ammon did, however, really get into the whole birthday-party-thing when it was time to open his presents. His cousins, Caulin and Lainee, were his helpers. Everyone was very generous… he received many nice gifts.

All in all, it was a very nice party. Whew… I did it. We are so thankful that we have such wonderful family and friends that love Ammon so much. We had such a good time that we hated for it to end. But that nap that was promised at the end of the day sure did sound like heaven.

Thanks to everyone who helped make Ammon’s party a hit. Thanks to everyone for being a part of such a special time in Ammon’s life… and in ours.

From Ammon… Thank you: Sissy and Pa; Ammi; Grandpa; MawMaw and Granddaddy; Great-Grandma; GG and GGP; Uncle Craig, Aunt Rachel, Caulin and Lainee; Great-Uncle Gary; Uncle Paige, Shelby and Clay, and Rachel; Brian, Becky, Little Brian and Lucas Mitchell… and everyone else who wished me a happy birthday but couldn’t come to my party. I love you!