James' Birthday Weekend Recap Part 1

We have officially made it through birthday weekend and survived to tell the tale.  Thank goodness Mother Nature blessed us with a snow day today so that we can finally sit down and take a breath.  It was THAT MUCH FUN!  :)

James' first birthday started out with a bang and when I say bang I mean a delivery from FedEx.  If you saw my photos from Toy Fair 2013, you might remember that we had our Toy Fair kids front and center to celebrate Toy Fair's birthday.

See the little boy with brown hair holding the balloons?  Well, he was named James by the Toy Fair Ops team and was sent to our house to help celebrate the big day.

After spending some time with our new buddy, it was off to school to continue the celebration.  When we arrived, this is what we found on the door:

Can I tell you how much we love Willowcreek Academy?!  They made James' big day very special and even let him wear the "I turned 1 today" birthday hat.  Sorry - no pics but use your imagination. :)  

The partying continued later that day when the family arrived.  Grandma M., Uncle Joe, Aunt Adriana and Uncle John make the trek from NY and Aunt Suzy flew in from Chicago to help celebrate James' big day.  We were even surprised by Uncle Rob and Aunt Heather who came in from NY earlier than planned! Since we were all in the same place at the same time we decided to have a family dinner at the Quartuccio casa.  

After a delicious Italian dinner (and a packet of sweet potato, corn and apples), it was time to open presents.  Let me say this.  James is a LUCKY kid.  I mean, look at this mound of gifts!!!

James got down and dirty ripping into the boxes - but as all one year olds do, he got distracted with the toys.  And the paper.  Good thing Mommy and Daddy were there to help him out.

James got some great stuff and wants to thank everyone for spoiling him rotten!  

After some play time with his new toys and the cabinets with Grandpa, it was time to sign Happy Birthday to the Birthday Boy.  We decided a Fudgie the Whale cake from Carvel was in order for this first birthday - and a cupcake for the little man since he is not quite ready for ice cream. :)

James had no problem diving right into that cupcake.  :)  It was a wonderful day and we are so happy that we got to share it with the people we love most.  James may not remember it, but we will absolutely make sure he knows how lucky he is.  But in all honesty, we are the lucky ones.  :)