First Year Birthday Bash

      Since Dawson's birthday was on Sunday, we got to have his birthday on his actual birth date.  I started planning his party months ago.  I knew that I wanted to go with a monkey theme since I always call him my little monkey.  I also wanted to use the same colors of his room which are green and brown.  I have learned in the past that our house is just too small to have large parties.  It works much better in the summer when we can spread out outside.  We decided to invite only family and close friends.  We had a very nice turnout and our house still seemed too small for all the guests.  We really need a bigger house! 

      I was so happy with the way everything turned out.  The food was great.  The decorations looked just like I had envisioned them.  My sister and Bri were such a big help!  I would not have pulled it off without their help!  The cupcakes tasted amazing and Dawson enjoyed his cake.  I know that Dawson will have no memory of his first birthday, but we all will remember the smile on his face.  He will also have pictures to look back at to see what a special day he had.  He is definitely a very loved little boy and blessed to have so many people that care for him.  Here are some pictures from the day:

Here are some of the decorations.  We made a banner that chronicled Dawson's first year of life with a picture of him at every month.  It was really neat to see him change over the year.  I just couldn't get a good picture of the entire thing because it was too long.

The cupcake and punch table.  Ashlyn let us use some of her monkeys. 



Bri did an amazing job on Dawson's birthday banner.  I thought the monkeys added a cute touch. 



There were a lot of monkeys. 

Here is more of his banner.

The cupcakes.  They turned out so cute!  Everyone loved them.  The cupcakes were chocolate banana chip with homemade chocolate frosting.  They were amazing!!!

Close-up

Here is the smash cake we made for Dawson.

Such a nice picture of Ashlyn.

Doing her silly monkey girl face

Dawson and his auntie.

The kids playing

Dawson and Mommy

I made him a "1" shirt to wear. 

Ella found a little monkey friend.  She was carrying him around all day.  It was precious. 

Opening presents. 

He got some great stuff.

Checking out his presents with his sister's help.

Dawson and Papa

So excited to try his cake.

He was hooked from the first bite.

Ashlyn had to make sure he was eating it okay.

He loved it!

Messy boy!

Family picture.

This is the damage he did.  We had to take the cake away because I was afraid he would get sick. 

The after picture.  Lol.