Today was Jacob's first birthday party. It was Mickey Mouse themed. I made mickey mouse hat centerpieces out of styrofoam balls and painted them black and then put someof our favorite pictures on them. We also had a wall dedicated to pictures of Jacob throughout his first year. We had balloons and mickey mouse confetti. There was a Mickey Mouse jumper that all the kids (and some mommies and daddies too) jumped in. All of Jacob's family and friends came to the party. We had a full house. The little kids had fun playing in our small play yard. I think the ball pit was a hit. The Taco Man came to feed us all some yummy chicken, carne asada and carnitas tacos with rice and beans. It was YUMMY. WE got a HUGE cake that had the disney characters all over it. The cake was so big we were trying to give cake away at the end of the party.

Last night Jacob stayed over at his Nani and Papa's so that we could get some stuff done last night and this morning without having to watch Jacob. Nani took him to the park in the morning and then he came home and took a very short nap. Bill and I were getting everything ready for the big day. Everything went smoothly until I tried blowing up his Mickey balloons. One had a hole in it and the other one wouldn't even blow up. I had to go back to Party City and get them to give me new balloons and have them put helium in them because the tank we bought ran out of helium! OH NO! Other than that the morning ran smoothly and everything was ready to go by 12pm when the party started. We were pleasantly surprised to see the entire Ahlswede family come to the party. Baby Donovan, only 2 weeks old was here too! I was so excited to see him. I got him out of his car seat and held him and then Jacob came over to me almost immediately and hung on to my legs. I think he got a little jealous.

Jacob had a good time jumping with his daddy and friends in the jumper. I think his daddy had a little more fun than Jacob did. Jacob also had a good time playing inside the house with all his friends and cousins. When it came time for the pinata, we had each of the kids pull a string but then the candy never fell out. UH oh...so cousin Chris and Uncle Gerad had to drop the pinata from the balcony a couple of times to make the pinata break open. Then all the kids went diving in for the candy. It was so much fun to watch. Jacob was a little overwhelmed by it all. Then we cut the cake. Like I said the cake was a lot bigger than we expected. Everyone sang happy birthday to Jacob and we let him eat a small cupcake. He mainly ate the frosting, really not wanting the cake part. When it came time to open the presents, He was more interested in reading one of the books than he was opening gifts. There were so many presents to open that mommy and daddy tag teamed and opened one right after the other. Poor Whitney was taking notes and I think she might have gotten a cramp in her hand from writing so much so fast.

A couple of times during the party he got sleepy and layed his head down on my shoulder, but only for a few minutes. Then he got his second, third and fourth winds and went crazy again. When most everyone had left only Gerad, Brendan and Christian and his parents remained. We all went in the jumper and went crazy! Jacob and Christian were so tired by then so they didn't want to jump too much.

We had a great time today. Again, I can't believe the first year went by so fast. I was looking at some of the pictures on the wall and it seems like just yesterday that we took most of them. Now our baby is a big boy wanting to run not walk and wanting to gain lots of independence. Anway, today was a fun day and I can't wait to see all the pictures we took. So until next time...mommy and daddy love you!

For only having a 45 minute nap today, Jacob was GREAT with everyone there.