If all the raindrops were lemondrops & gumdrops…

Damian turned one.

I want to be a good mom. There just wasn’t a lot of time to really sit down & plan this party, so I entered into the weekend a little frantic. I had one full day set aside to decorate & bake for a party that didn’t have a theme.

There were several ideas. Should we do a traditional Fourth of July party since he was born on the 5th? Maybe it would be a good time to do his first Greek themed party, since his middle name is Achilles & his dad loves Spartacus. Is it too early for Thomas? He’s kind of into playing with his brother’s trains…

Then the mail came. And a very pretty pretty cake stand that I won from Sweet & Saucy Supply arrived.
One look at this lovely yellow beauty, and a concept was born.

Damian is accustomed to listening to Florence & The Machine, Adele, & Bon Iver, but he does know & love one nursery rhyme: If All the Raindrops. This has been a lifesaver since he was less than a month old, we would sing it and watch his tiny mouth open for the chorus, “Standing outside with my mouth open wide… ah ah ah…” Kevin knew that to calm his baby brother down, he needed to hear us sing that. Soon Damian was singing with us & it is one of the most precious memories I have of his infancy. I decided to focus on part of a lyric, lemondrops & gumdrops, for the loose theme of his party. I took the meaning a little whimsical & of my own interpretation, but that made a lot of things come together in a very short amount of time. One stressful day.

I had a lot of help from my family & I can not thank them enough! My sister Abby & her boyfriend Zach made the pom pom tissue balls. My brothers hung the streamers for the photo booth backdrop! I WISH I had a picture of them doing that, it turned out beautiful.

I baked vanilla bean cupcakes & lemon mini cupcakes & my sister frosted the cupcakes. I always kind of wing it with the frosting, since I still have yet to unpack cookbooks {oh my}. You can tell I don’t do a lot of experimental baking anymore.

I love this beautiful 6″ Yellow Hobnail Cake Stand from My Sweet & Saucy Supply that I won for commenting on their Facebook Page! It came just in time.

I found the cupcake liners at Jo Ann Fabrics along with a slew of cute new goodies from Martha Stewart. It was hard to decide which ones to select.

In retrospect, I would have loved to devote time for crafts ahead of time.
I would have enjoyed gluing the rope into the word “one” instead of burning my fingers in haste.

I made a bean salsa & used the cans to make a toss game. I used wrapping paper scraps & wooden stars leftover from a previous project.

As I mentioned a few posts ago, Damian was not himself during his party & ended up in the ER two days later.
I am so happy to see some very happy moments shine through…

You may notice this little Thomas on his plate. His big brother “gifted” it to him just before he ate his cake. It was a very sweet moment because I know how much Kevin loves those trains & what it meant for him to “give” it to Damian. I missed photographing it of course.

His signal when he’s eaten enough:

I was in heaven when I found these classic toys at Target on clearance for half the original price.

Rocky worked so hard to help set everything up & pick up food for the party. This was definitely a “we did it” picture.

Damian’s cousin Nathaniel just turned one too & loved the balloons.

As the sun set, we brought out baby jar containers for catching fireflies. Definitely a hit with the older kids.

It’s very bittersweet to say goodbye to Damian’s baby days. In some ways I’ve known him all my life, in others it went entirely too fast. I’m so thankful for this past year & all the joy that he has brought us. For being able to be together & grow so close as a little family. When he used to wake up at night for feedings, I was so happy for extra time to hold him & cuddle with such a tiny new friend. I tried so hard not to take any of it for granted, because I knew how quickly Kevin grew up.  As I see him grow to look more like his Dad & admire his big brother, I know even better days are ahead.

Perhaps I’m biased because he so openly & affectionately loves me, but I just can’t think of a more perfect way to spend my life. ♥