Spring has Sprung and Isaac is ONE!

Suddenly the trees are fully sprouted in the bright greens of spring, and the flowers are their vibrant companions; and in our household Isaac has reached the milestone of turning ONE.

To celebrate, we had a small gathering of family join us for dinner, cake and presents. We asked them to arrive in the afternoon so that we could all attend Jack's T-Ball game first.

With a second born, things are different. Obviously, we love Isaac just as much as Jack, but we (meaning I) are not quite as crazy about the details as we once were. While I did spend some time perusing Pinterest for ideas, I didn't go overboard.

We hung streamers and blew up balloons (mostly at Jack's request), and Daniel asked me to grill chicken for burrito bowls in lieu of ordering pizza, while Jack requested dirt cups with gummy worms. 

I agreed to their suggestions and also made my family's traditional pistachio birthday cake. Nothing grandiose, but still lovely.

I don't repeat many meals, but the burrito bowls will happen again (I made them once that week for our family and then again for the party). They were THAT good! Check out the recipe here.

After the T-Ball game we came back to our house to open presents. I think Jack enjoyed this more than Isaac, but both boys are thrilled with the loot. 

Especially a big green wagon. We haven't even bothered to put the wheels on because Isaac loves to climb in and out, while opening and shutting the door on the side.

Jack picked out a toy garbage truck to give to Isaac (which he really wanted to play with before the party) and there were so many other gifts – books, stuffed animals, clothes, a noisy VTech dinosaur. Isaac loves it all (though he may have cried when he took the clothes out of the bag, but he's a one-year-old, so no hard feelings!). 

After presents, I finished up meal prep for the grill while my brother whipped up some fabulous guacamole. We ate and then prepared to let Isaac have his smash cake.

The only problem was, it was already his bedtime (7pm), and he had missed a nap, and he was pretty much over it all. We sang to him and he tried to grab the candle (maybe a little pyro like his daddy?), and after Jack blew out the candle, Isaac took one look at the cake and burst into tears.

I guess I might burst into tears too if I was tired and there was a gaggle of people staring at me, trying to get me to smile for a camera! 

So we tried to coax Isaac with icing. Then we offered him some chocolate pudding from the dirt cups as an alternative, but he wasn't having any of it.

We gave in and had everyone give him final hugs and kisses, and it was off to bed for our little, tired one-year-old. I'm sure next year will be better and maybe we will shoot for an earlier party time!

We still have cake in the fridge that we need to give him an opportunity to smash...

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to celebrate with us!