Happy Birthday Jerald

Seth and I were so happy that Jerald's birthday fell on a weekend this year so we could spend the whole day with him. We let him sleep in until 8:30! (he got up on his own - I promise we didn't wake him!). Then we took a family trip to the Aquarium (pictures to come) where we had so much fun. And then back at home, I cooked a gourmet meal for the birthday boy...

Jerald’s Birthday Dinner Menu

~ First Course ~

Harvest Salad
romaine lettuce, cucumbers, dried cranberries

and candied walnuts


~ Main Course ~

Rib-eye Steak
steak prepared medium rare with sides of garlic mashed potatoes,

sautéed mushrooms and onions in a red wine reduction


~ Dessert ~

Chocolate Melting Pots
individual chocolate soufflé with a warm chocolate center,

dusted with powdered sugar and tipped with fresh raspberries


~ Wine ~

BV Coastal Estates
Private Cellars
2004 Cabernet Sauvignon
California

Happy Birthday Jerald! We love you more than words can ever say. You are truly the best and we hope we gave you a great birthday.

Joint Birthday Party

Today we had the big Joint 1st Birthday Party with some of our friends from various Mom's groups. The party was at this children's music center in Jamaica Plain.

All the Mom's helped out with various jobs to make the party as wonderful as it was. My job was a photo collage of the babies. They have all gotten so big!

Below is a group shot of some of the kids and Moms at the party...

Seth loved all the musical instruments they had out to play with. He especially loved these big drums - he didn't bang on them so much but found them the perfect height for climbing.

And of course no birthday party would be complete without cake!

Birthday Party - Part II ~ the cake ~

We thought the cake deserved its own post. A little background first. Seth's favorite song is "Old MacDonald" so we thought a farm themed cake was appropriate. We got the cake from this amazing bakery in Brookline, Party Favors. And look how wonderful it came out!

The whole group sang "Happy Birthday" and Seth smiled, totally enjoying all the attention. He even helped us blow out the candle.

We fed him is first piece of cake and then let him at it.

Of course he loved every bite!

Birthday Party - Part I

We had a "small" family party to celebrate Seth's 1st Birthday party. It was so amazing to have most of Seth's immediate family and some close friends all in one place to eat, laugh and celebrate our little guy.

We were a bit worried how Seth would handle all the people, pictures, and noise but Seth ended up having a blast. He smiled, laughed, ate and mingled with everyone.

Thank you to everyone who came from near and far to celebrate Seth. It was truly special to have so many of the people Seth loves the most in one room. We love you all!

Here we have Nana, Grandma and Grandpa

Uncle Josh (aka Uncle Beard), Aunt Sara, and Uncle Jono

Great Gram and Great-Grandaddy

Aunt Naomi and Uncle Jason

Great Grandpa and Great Grandma

Top row ~ Great Grandma, Great Aunt Lauren, Grandpa

Bottom row ~ Great Grandpa, Great Uncle Ken, and Grandma
Mom and Grandma

Great Gram, Great Uncle Dave and Grandaddy

Birthday Weekend

The celebration of Seth's first birthday continued on through the weekend. We woke up this morning and found some balloons outside our apartment door from a friend in the building. Why didn't we think of getting Mylar balloons sooner? Seth was so entertained by the balloon all day we could barely get him to play with any of his new toys. He spent most of the day either holding the balloon, pointing to the balloon and even saying "balloon."

Seth's Grandma and Grandpa (Lauren's Parents) and then Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa (Lauren's Grandparents) came to Boston for the big celebrations. We had a fun afternoon playing, opening presents and going out to dinner.

Birthday Party in Class

Today was our first "Sprouts" class and we brought cupcakes to celebrate Seth's birthday with.

They got a little injured in transit but the kids loved them (pineapple angel food cupcakes with vanilla frosting!)

Seth had a lot of fun getting to know our new teacher and playing with some new and old friends.

The kids are so big now, during the second half of class we have an activity where the kids sit at this table and play. Today they played with play dough in plastic bags (so they wouldn't eat it). And then we ended with one of Seth's favorite ~ bubbles.

Early Birthday Present from Mom & Dad

We decided to give Seth his birthday present from us two weeks early for a couple of reasons. (1) It came in the mail over the weekend and Lauren has a hard time waiting to give presents; and (2) We are going to be away next weekend and then the weekend of Seth's birthday lots of family will be in town to overshadow our present.

Well, this activity table was a huge hit! Seth played with it for almost 45 minutes today - that is pretty incredible.

And then he played with the box for an additional 10 minutes.