James' Birthday Weekend Recap Part 2

I'm a week late.  I know.  It's been over a week since we celebrated James' first birthday and I'm just now getting the recap online.  There really are no excuses...but here are a few.  First off, we all had such a blast over the birthday weekend that we needed ample time to recover.  And when I say ample time to recover I mean time to get the photos out of the camera, edited in PhotoShop and cataloged in my library.  Add a snow day and another bout of pink eye (both James and Ed this time) and I was left with no time to sit down and write.  But alas, the moment has come to share with you James' first birthday party.  Welcome!

The weekend began on Friday with a family party for the little man as covered in part one of the weekend recap. Day two was James' official birthday party ~ and boy did we party!

The morning was calm - a lot calmer than I thought it would be.  Our team of helpers were forced came over bright and early to help with the party set-up.  Because our itty bitty townhouse is itty bitty, we decided to host the event at the Little Rocky Run Recreation Center #1 (aka the room by the pool).  We left James in the hands of the Grandma's (THANK YOU!) and grabbed everyone else on hand to haul all the party gear over and commence Operation: Party Set-up (Sue, Joe, Adriana, John, Rob, Heather - THANK YOU!!).  Within an hour, we were able to make the simple room where ballet classes are held into a "Whale-R-Riffic party space"!

Because I'm a crazy type-A person AND and event planner on top of that, I spent more time than I'd like to admit planning this birthday party and with the help of some Etsy vendors and Party City, I was able to go whale crazy for the big day.  From whale plates and bubble gum whale centerpieces to whale cupcake toppers and a candy favor bar, there was no question as to what the party theme was.

I have to say that my favorite area of the room was the dessert table.  The smash cake (made by yours truly) turned out SOOOOOO cute as did the whale-themed cupcakes.  I am so lucky that I found both Ciaobambino and SweetTouchDecor on Esty.  Without their help, you would be looking at some boring, white cupcakes. :)

James was in awe when we finally brought him over to the room (or at least I'd like to think he was in awe!).  

He took the time to make the rounds and thank everyone for coming.  In between all the thank you's, he found some time to play with the kids in the "kids corner" and grab a bite to eat.  Surprisingly, he kept his party hat on for most of the event.  We thought for sure he'd rip it off his head and toss it to the floor, but not so much.  I guess he wanted everyone to know he was the birthday boy!

I think one of the cutest pictures of the day is this one.  It totally looks like Conner and James are taking part in some sort of drug deal and we caught the hand off as it was in progress.  In actuality, Conner is handing James a Pez candy (which we promptly stole away from him).  Such a giver!

We decided to do something special for James to commemorate his first year. Prior to the party, we asked everyone to bring something to put in a time capsule that we would give to James on his 18th birthday.  Something fun or sentimental to help him remember his first year and 2012.  He got some great stuff - an Obama button, a Best Buy circular, a photo of our house ~ and this: 

I think 18 year old James is going to be a fan of that.  It looks like 1 year old James is actually interested!   

The best part of the day was the presentation of the ceremonial first birthday smash cake.  Yes - this is the always popular tradition where baby is presented with a cake of his very own to dive in and make a big 'ole mess.  James had a trial run with a cupcake the night before, but this cake was a lot bigger which meant he could get a lot messier.  Here is a progression of before, during and after.  Adorable - but messy!!

And a BIG thank you to friend and neighbor Liz for sharing this video of James in action.  Her little Noelle is not too far away from a smash cake of her own!

After an extensive clean up, we moved the party back to the house where James ripped into his gifts and played with his toys the paper and tissue.  He got all kinds of great stuff from clothes and a shark towel to cars and a Spiderman Sprinkler.  No joke.  We also took the opportunity to present James' First Year video to the family.  It was a big hit! James even managed to pay attention - from an upside down position. :)

So there you have it. Our precious baby boy's first birthday party full of food, family, friends, fun, whales, cupcakes, chaos, and laughing til we cried. Thank you to everyone who came.  You truly made the day so special for our little man!

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.  :)

James' First Year

It has been one heck of a busy weekend and we promise a full recap of the birthday festivities soon.  In the mean time, take a peek at this.  I put together a video of James' first year highlighting all the wonderful moments.  It was a very emotional project and one that I'm so glad I did.  Ed and I are truly the luckiest parents in the world!

Now, I must warn you, it is long (14:39 to be exact!).  But it is totally worth it if you want to see some cute.  Enjoy!

Birthday Week Day 5: Life Changer

The Date:  March 1, 2012

The Place:  Inova Fair Oaks Hospital Women's Center

The Time:  11:09 AM

The People:  Two very nervous and very excited Mangiaracina's

The Purpose:  Delivery of the newest member to the Mangiaracina Family

When you are expecting a baby, everyone tells you how different life will be once he arrives.  And while you know this to be true, you don't really understand it until your child is born.  From the moment I heard James' first cry after they pulled him out of my belly, my heart opened up and my brain flooded with more love and emotion than I ever knew could exist.  Ed would agree that when we both took a first look at our little boy, we were introduced to a different kind of love that was so overwhelming it brought tears to our eyes.

A year ago today, James Edward Mangiaracina entered the world and changed our lives forever.  From day one, James has been a loving, sweet, happy boy that finds joy in all that he does.  His big smile is infectious and his enthusiasm for life is inspiring.  He is a blessing in every way and we are so proud of the little man he has become.

This year has been a wild ride filled with ups and downs and many, many learning experiences.  James has grown and flourished in so many ways - more than we can list in one blog post.  Thank God we have an archive filled with his many milestones over the year!

Month 1 | Month 2 | Month 3 | Month 4 | Month 5 | Month 6

Month 7 | Month 8 | Month 9 | Month 10 | Month 11

And without further ado, here is James' official 1 Year photo - a handsome little man if I do say so myself!

Milestones to report:

• We have a walker on our hands.  James is still a little off balance - kind of like a drunken sailor - but he is taking many more steps at a time and his confidence is growing. So much so that he is now in possession of his first pair of big boy shoes from Stride Rite.

• Words, words words!  While we can't say that he has an official "first word", he has lots of things to say through his babble and chitter chatter.  There is lots of "dadadada" and "mumamuma" and "dedede".  We are working on the word ball since he seems to love to play with his EduShape Sensory balls the most, but so far we have "ba" which is close enough for us.

Now, in true Laura Mangiaracina fashion, I decided to go a little overboard for James' first birthday and put together a video to highlight his first year.  The good news is that it is awesome!!  The bad news is that I can't reveal it until Monday.  We want to show it first to our family who will be in town this weekend to help celebrate James' birthday.  Once their eyes see it, then yours can so stay tuned!

Happy 1st Birthday James!!

We love you more than you will ever know!!!