Celebrating Luca

Luca's birthday festivities have come to a close and I am sad and relieved all at the same time. It's bittersweet. His first birthday has come and gone, and I can't help but feel like it came and went all too quickly. I'm relieved because, I'm not even kidding when I say I may or may not have put in more time and effort to this celebration than I did my own wedding. I am sad because in the blink of an eye, after all the planning, after all the anticipation and all of the excitement, just like that it was over.

First birthdays are funny because chances are Luca will never remember that sunny Saturday. But we did it for us, for the photos we will one day show Luca and reminisce about how much fun we all had. We do it to to confirm to him what he already knows...that he is so loved--that he has been loved from the moment he came into this world. Luca is one lucky baby. He has so much family surrounding him, to support him and his decisions, to comfort him when he needs love, and to offer to him a listening ear when he has something to say, and all those wonderful people make you realize what life is all about. We are so lucky. So blessed. So filled with gratitude. Our family is beautiful.

So then it came to an end. It was stressful, it was demanding, but it was so much fun & worth every hitch. What I'm now left with is a one-year-old & my mind working overtime, having a hard time grasping the reality that my baby is growing up so fast & what gets me to me the most is I worry I'm missing it all as it flies on by. I try and savor the days and each and every stage is my new favorite; it gets better and better everyday. Luca only seems to get more fun and more imaginative. He had the best first birthday a child could ever wish for and I am thunderstruck & filled with more gratitude than I ever thought possible. I am beholden that this beautiful little boy is mine all mine.

On Luca's actual birthday, the 23rd, he woke up to a teepee from his grandpa full of little gifts from his mama and papa. Luca is on the verge of taking his first steps, but in the mean time he loves to push anything he can grasp those dimpled little hands on. This means my dining room chairs have been rearranged at least 1000+ times. I knew when I spotted the little blue push cart I linked in this post it would be a hit & I could not have been more right (patting myself on the back right now & speaking in 3rd person..."Good Job Chelsie, good job.") Luca can be found anytime, day or night, filling the bin with his toys and my flip-flops and racing around the house. Fortunately, the sound of the wheels skidding as he makes an overabundant amount of turns keeps me in the know of his whereabouts at all times, particularly when he has outrun me (yes, my one year old outruns me--maybe it's the meager 32 inches I have on him or the fact that I'm still carrying the smallest portion of my baby weight & it's slowing me down?) Who am I kidding, it's because I suck at running and Luca is fast as shit-ake mushrooms. Miles and I have been desperately trying to clean up our sailor mouths, because Luca is starting to identify & speak words aside from the usual "mama" and "dada." Lu spoke his very first word a few days ago, "duck," which rhymes with, *ahem* is way too close for comfort to another word we all know too well and we don't want to be "those parents," so I'm training myself to say things such as "mother trucker," "cheese & rice," "Shut the front door," "snapdragon," & "sap sippin' son of a biscuit eater" to name a few. Have I taken it too far? Probably, but my bases are covered & it's for a good cause. That being said, what the fudge-stick is with all the parenthesis in this post?? I don't know, but they're provocative and they get the people going! ("Blades of Glory" reference, because well, we love Will Ferrell in this house).

 I regress. Luca's blue push cart needed some pizzaz, especially for a little man who is crazy about all things vibrant and colorful, so I gave it a face lift & spruced it up with patterned duck tape and subtle blue washi tape & voila! He loves it, I love it, we all win!

Could you tell he was excited? Upon his requests, we sang "Happy Birthday" at least once per hour and he loved every second of it. His hands were flailing about orchestrating, a bucketload of colossal smiles with tightly squinted eyes set the mood as he took it all in, & then the grand finale included heaps upon heaps of his applause making known his gratitude of approval. It was one-derfully fabulous! Birthdays are a big deal around here & this confirmed the apple didn't fall far from the tree. There is no doubt, looks aside, this boy is definitely my son! 

Later in the evening, Luca opened his gifts. Like Santa's elf (I've dreamt of that title my entire life and I was giddy as ever to take it on) I got to work the night before, doing my best to make Lu's gifts charmingly enchanting, only to have them torn to shreds, but that's the beauty of DIY inexpensive wrapping.

Yarn wrapped gifts are a perfectly easy & adorable fix for when you're running low on ribbon & need an alternative solution. They make a gift look so whimsical & remind me of something that would be in Anthropologie's window display during Christmas time!

Depending on how much yarn you have on hand, you could go to town with an assortment of colors and styles! It goes without saying that poms, small bows, yarn balls, and weaves were undoubtably my drug of choice. That sounds like the beginnings of a new D.A.R.E campaign: Don't do drugs kids, do yarn!

Here's our attempt at a birthday family photo. Luca had other agendas such as wondering what this new greenery is in our backyard and whether or not the said grass was moccasin-proof.

 It's was all fun & games but...

 We take roasting marshmallows and hot dogs tofurky links very seriously around here.

Donuts were served, saving his smash cake for his big party, and my one-year-old slept well that night, deep in dreams of frosted, sprinkled donuts and the distant sound of the happy birthday song. His eyes fluttered, he grasped my finger and a small smile draped across his lips. I couldn't believe I survived the past year, and at the same time I wondered, "How did I ever survive without him?" Life, for once, made absolute sense.

A few days later, was Lu's big fiesta. The entire build up of all the work we'd been at was about to come to a head. Luca woke up, hiding between the barstools wondering worriedly, "Will they pull it off???" And to be honest, I was wondering the exact same thing.

There was so much to do, so little time, and the only thing I had on my side was the fact that I work well under pressure. Not to tute my own horn, but I put the "pro" in procrastination. 

Firstly, the centerpieces had to be assembled. 

These floral centerpieces were so simple to put together. I bought a bouquet of baby's breath flowers and an inexpensive bouquet of wild flowers from Ralph's. I trimmed and assembled them, attaching adorable hedgehog themed ribbon with hot glue. That project was a wrap.

In the entry way was "Lu's Garden of Good Wishes," where people could write notes to Luca that would eventually make their way into a time capsule I'm currently putting together for him.

I love all things monogrammed, and so I heat embossed the letter "L" on way too many pieces of card stock & assembled a planter box of wheat grass to display the notes upon wire holders I assembled with craft wire. 

It's been agreed upon, there is simply nothing cuter than a chubby stuffed hedgehog wearing a party hat.

Luca's smash cake before it was so delicately smashed grazed.

The sweets table was the most festive piece to the party puzzle. I couldn't walk by it without a handful of something or another. I had no self-control that day, I just stuffed my face with sugar treats, potato, macaroni, pasta and all-things-carbs salads. It was gluttonously shameful. I definitely needed to hit up confession or the gym once that gourmand, yet so delicious, episode finally came to an end. It took me nearly a year to get my pre-baby body back, and it may have all gone to shot with one swift run-in with the buffet.

The cupcakes were funfetti, of course, because we all know Pilsbury's funfetti cupcakes are the bee's knees. Furthermore, if you are lucky enough, Betty Crocker's rainbow chip "funfetti knock-off" mix won't be sold out and you will have hit the jackpot. Some might say rainbow chip cupcakes are the love child of the Pilsbury Dough Boy and Aunt Jemima. Some may even go so far as to say they are the pastry of our generation...but that's just speculation. I wasn't so lucky this go, and plain ol' funfetti had to suffice.

The true highlight of the cakes were the decorations and cake toppers. I found the too-cute-to-be-true teal glitter numeral and candy cups via Shop Sweet LuLu (one of my favorite party shops) and I made the gold glittered "1" seen displayed on the tray. 

My personal favorite decorations from Lu's party, were the woodland creature party sticks c/o Crafting Crew on Etsy.

These enchanting die-cuts were a hit among the kid attendees as I saw many of them carrying handfuls of them home. This warmed my heart. And It didn't stop at the kids...I too saw a few adults carrying one or two in tow as they gave their hugs goodbye & I must admit, I saved one of each character for my own collection. You can't do everything by yourself and I cannot begin to tell you how relieved I felt when I opened this package in the mail and saw how perfectly each and every animal was assembled. I will definitely shop Crafting Crew again as they were a joy to work with and they over-exceeded all my expectations!

Alongside the cupcakes were many other sweet treats including, but not limited to: German Berry Candies that I found at the Sweet Factory (so so yummy, so addictive), marshmallows, and chocolate dipped rice krispies. 

Paper-made hedgehogs and foxes were scattered about...

& I even got to work on a project I'd been anticipating on making for some time, a yarn display via Creative Bug Blog and I finally found the time (baby-free) & patience to do it (with a little help from an all day marathon of one of my favorite shows, "Girls"). And I must say, I love how it turned out! During the party it hung above the drink station, but now I cannot decide whether to keep it outdoors or to display it in Luca's room, any suggestions?! I am way too indecisive...

Oh hey look! It's my Watermelon Agua Fresca! This is always a great party go-to & a crowd pleaser. And alongside the ague fresca, I ventured off  to loose leaf Blackberry Mojito Iced Tea from Teavana--sooo good. All in all, I'd say the ice chest full of beer was the biggest crowd pleaser, and you may be thinking "Wasn't it a one-year-old's birthday party?" Why yes, yes it was, but I'll tell you, just be glad we decided to ditch the keg idea (it was up for discussion at one point) & kept to an ice chest. If you want to know a sure way to reel in the RSVPs just let people know booze is involved. First birthday party or not, people are guaranteed to show when the thermometer is reading 90 degrees and there are cold ones on deck on a help yourself basis.

Side Note: This post is not sponsored by gatorade, but it just so happens that my husband is, hence all the gatorade regalia. I personally am not a gatorade fan due to all the dyes and sugars in them, but I must say, I do love their ice chests and drink dispensers! Everyone kept hydrated I was happy the heat wasn't to the extreme it had recently been. No doubt, it was hot, but it was a mild heat, and shade was plentiful! The sun gods were on our side that day!

Our wonderful family friends Jeff & Christine, had their second baby boy two weeks after Luca was born. Luca and Oliver are just destined to be best friends, can't you feel the love tonight?

If you couldn't feel the love there, then maybe you'll feel it here? Don't we look happy?! It's because we are! This was after we nearly pulled each other's hair out & had many "I love you, but I really don't like you right now" moments in planning everything. But alas, here we are...we did it, we succeeded, we pulled through, and we couldn't be happier. This wasn't just Lu's party it was ours, we did get him through the first year didn't we?! (pause for an ecstatic high five) We did it babe! Give it up for teamwork, yeah! And compromise, yeah! And lots and lots of patience, amen to that one! I love this man, I really do.

Here he is, a product of our love and commitment to one another and our family:

He may look concerned because, never do we ever let him dig into anything so big and sugar-filled. His expression says it all:"This is some sort of trap isn't it?? I'm gonna go in for a bite, and then bam! I'll be busted & everything I say or don't say will be held against me!"

Here he is taking in the Happy Birthday choir: "Forget about the cake, this song is my jam!"

 "Fine I'm only going in because you insist, but I'm not gonna be happy if this heads south real quick."

"No flash photography while I'm eating please."

So good, so tired, and so happy even if his facial expression above reads otherwise. 

This boy is officially spoiled in all the best ways & this little boy is officially 1! I'm coming to terms with it all.

& for the grand finale...drumroll please.....

 This picture is a tradition anytime we are all together. Because, why not?!

Here we are, Luca, myself, my dad, my two grandmothers, and my great grandparents (Luca's great great grandparents) who just shared their 72nd wedding anniversary in July!
 FIVE generations! Is that something or what?!

All of this deserves a round of applause. It was better than my wildest dreams could have made it out to be & who better to lead it than the clapping master himself?!

Happy 1st Birthday Luca Lennox Wood! (Please don't have another one too soon)