Happy Birthday JP!!!

We officially celebrated JP's right of passage from baby to toddler this past weekend with a little birthday party. It was great fun and he had a great time. I think that Shelby had the best time as she is my little socialite and loves having people over. All the time she asks me who is coming over, followed a name of someone whom she would like to see. It is amazing to me to watch our sweet babies grow. I mean, just yesterday we brought JP home from the hospital, helpless and crying; and today he is nearly walking and loves to roll around on the floor and has the best laugh you have ever heard. Of course, he is still a true mamma's boy and I hope that he never tires of that. There is no greater feeling in the world than when your baby wraps his/her whole body around you in the best hug ever.

Anyway, back to the party. Of course, just like always our morning started out earlier than I would like, but that was okay because adrenaline was already pumping over the excitement of the day. Shelby played host to all who entered and made sure that all of her friends were greeted with a box of apple juice upon arrival. I think that part of her thought that this party was for her.

Here is a picture of some of the "big" (and I use that term lightly) kids. They all sat at the coffee table and enjoyed some snacks.


We were so excited that Grandmother and Granddaddy were able to join us for JP's special day. He is a fourth generation Reed and so it is always a special treat to have all four generations in one house together. Papa John is so proud of his family. Everytime we are all together he proudly announces that there are four generations of Reed in the house and then we gather for a picture.

And now.....time for cake!!!! I was a little apprehensive about how this whole process would go. At Shelby's one year birthday I was so excited because I just knew that she would dive head first into her cake and make the mess of all messes; which we all know is acceptable at a one year birthday. In fact, anything less is just disappointing. Well, in true Shelby form, she marched to her own drum that day and didn't do anything but cry when we put the cake in front of her. It really was so cute, but not the mess that I had hoped for. So, back to the present, just in case JP would make a mess I dutifully put down some plastic on the floor and then took off all of JP's clothes so that if there was to be a mess it would be as easy to clean as possible. As you can see from the pictures below, I got a little more cooperation this time around. In this first picture you can see JP trying to put the cake in one of the little cupholders on the tray. It is funny because when he doesn't like something he always puts it in the cupholder of the tray.

When he realized that the icing wasn't going to come off and stay in the cupholder he got a little frustrated and tried to wipe the icing off on his chest and then I got it!!!!! A big mess!!!! All he wanted was to get that icing off of his fingers and so anywhere he could think to wipe his hands he tried. Isn't it sad how we all just stood around, watched and laughed at him in his somewhat stage of misery??? Oh well, I guess that is just part of being a one year old.

When JP clearly had enough we whisked him off to the tub for a quick rinse and then brought him back out to play.

It was a perfect day. We were surrounded by love and friendship and really, who could ask for anything more. God is so good!!!!