It's Time to Party!!

Here are some shots from Carter's first birthday party! Because I had our church's women's retreat this past weekend, we had Carter's party on Saturday the 24th. He absolutely loved the attention and celebration! I wasn't sure how he'd react because he can either be very extroverted and outgoing or he can be very shy and clingy. Luckily, this day was one when he wanted to entertain everyone. :)

He loved all of the balloons!

Carter with Aunt Julie and Uncle Stuart
Somehow, Gram Me and Grand Dad escaped all of the pictures!
The party had a monkey theme.And as my mom used to do for my sister and me, I made a cake with a Wilton pan. Here is the monkey cake....I finished icing it at 11:30 pm the night before!! I waited as long as I could before we cut into it. :)
Carter with his party hat. He also had a little prince crown that my cousin, Ashley, lent us from her own boys' birthdays.
Carter with his Mommy and Daddy...eating some fruit and chicken before diving into sugar.His birthday bibHappy Birthday to Carter!The first taste...As you can see, he loved his cake! I made an allergy free cake, and it was pretty tasty! I have a video from my mom's camera of him diving into the cake...it's hilarious! I just have to figure out how to compress it since it's a file not recognized by our computer. But if I don't get it on here, he had fistfuls of cake and was shaking them in delight by the end. He was wired with sugar and continued to squeal, shake his fists with excitement and dance for the rest of the party. :)

Elmo Live was a hit! I got he idea from my friend Emily Giffen's blog. Her son had received one for his first birthday. I think the adults were even more entertained by Elmo than the kids! Just like the talking Christmas bear, Carter loves to stick his hands in Elmo's mouth when it's moving.

Elmo and Monkey. Uncle Ivan did a great job picking out the little monkey for Carter! Carter took it around with him, hugging and kissing it!And of course, paper and ribbons are always the best part. :)
Carter also enjoyed this farm. The lamb is his favorite animal to carry around.

Aunt Courtney and Grand Mary

What do you know? We finally got Uncle Ivan in a picture!!!!!! :)

Papa (my dad) showed Carter how to throw the basketball into the hoop.

It was a great day, and Carter loved every minute. Following the party, he crashed and slept for almost 3 hours!