Pierce-Man's birthday party

Oh man we've finally gotten to celebrate our little boy turning one! I've been so excited for this moment for much longer than I should admit haha

Originally we planned to do his party at this place, Kidtopia, in Draper. However, by the time I went to book it they didn't have too many good options for Saturday. They did have some openings on Sunday, but I wasn't sure that would work for everyone so I decided to look at other places around the area.

We ended up finding a place that was pretty much just like that place called Kids Empire in Midvale. And ya know what? I ended up LOVING this place and am so happy we switched. 

But before we get to that, we started our day with cinnamon rolls for breakfast (kind of a bust...don't think we'll do those again) and letting Pierce open his "boring" gifts (i.e. the clothes he needed haha). I thought I had some time to rest and then got a message that I was late to go pick up his smash cake. I felt SO bad I kind of forgot about that so I rushed over in half pajamas half clothes to get that and it ended up making our morning a little more chaotic than I wanted. 

After breakfast we got ready for our usual family pictures. I love doing this on the first birthdays to compare to their newborn pictures. I didn't love our family shots for the newborn pictures so there was a bit of pressure to get good ones this time. I decided on monster colored themes for shirts with black pants (so basically bright shirts and Pierce's had "One" printed on his). When we got the pictures I was also nervous getting a good shot of ALL of us would be more than difficult (4 young kids don't make it easy). Luckily, that was not the case and our pictures turned out so good they might be my favorite pictures of us.

After photos we went home for lunch and nap time. I had to hurry and make our grocery list while I had a moment, so Larry was the lucky one who got to rest during nap time haha. 

We kind of ho hummed for a bit before needing to head over to get the regular cake and to the party. We decided on a monster cake from Wal Mart. I normally HATE Wal Mart, but they REALLY made up for the bad experiences we've had before. They got us the cutest cake AND I got yellow cake with some jam filling. I had wanted yellow cake for Gwen's last birthday, but the place I ordered it from let me know when I picked it up that they didn't have yellow cake and I was a bit bummed. We got to the party and I realized that because we booked a party we actually had access for playing all day so we totally could have headed over earlier. Bummer, but not the biggest loss. 

The party was SO much fun and our party host person was SO helpful. She stayed on top of everything we'd need (food, drinks, gummy bears, treat bags, etc.), she served the pizza to us, she was always available for if we had questions or issues. They made sure there was a flow to the party so it wasn't just on us to figure out. It was great. My only complaint was that the check-in process was extremely slow, but once we got in the kids got to have as much fun as they could stand. Gwen and Cara played in the playground area. Lucy LOVED the dance room. Pierce loved the ball pit haha. We got to let them play for a bit, then did pizza and gifts, then they did a little parade/dancing/pictures with their dinosaur mascot, and then we did cake. 

Pierce ended up hating his smash cake (I'm not sure if it tickled him or what, but he started crying and I thought it was all the attention. When we waited and let him go at it when no one was watching he still kept crying haha). I felt like I really got to visit with everyone and we got so many new clothing items for him. It was one of the best birthday parties I think we've had. The only better place might be Chuck E Cheese, but this is a very close 2nd. 

We let the kids play so late, I think we were there until 8:30 so they got to stay up late, boy were they ready for bed when we got home.

To my Pierce man,

You are such a fun little boy. I love making you smile and laugh when I can. I find it hilarious that you don't smile for any new people, but not in a shy way. More like a "they have to impress me first" way haha. I love how you will crawl to me to grab my hand to go for a walk. I love the few moments you'll cuddle close to me. You love watching your sisters be crazy around you and I'm so surprised you haven't started walking yet so you can keep up with them (you seem so antsy for it). I'm so excited to try new foods with you. I'm so excited to take you on family vacations and see how you do at Legoland later this year. I love that you are our last baby. You have been the perfect last baby (you are definitely my best surprise I've ever had in my whole entire life). I love your six-toothed smile. I love when you rub your eyes when you are tired, it's the sweetest tired sign ever. I love how much you love your bottles, I'm nervous about stopping them and how you'll do, but it's so sweet how much you like it. I love how you sleep with your feet crossed at your ankles. I love your crazy blond hair and big blue eyes. I love having you as a son and look forward to so many years with you and what sort of personality you have.