Landon's 1st Birthday: Monster Party

Today was party day! We decided to have a low key party for Landon's first birthday, and after seeing this cake on Pinterest, we chose a monster theme to celebrate the little man's big day!

Monster shirt made by yours truly :)

Before the party we had a little cookout for lunch with Matt's family, my parents, and my brother Aaron's family. It was so hot, but eating outside was the easiest way to feed everybody before the party started. Mmm, hot dogs!

Then we were joined by our friends Carlos and Kendra (with Cami!), the Winants, and my Uncle Vernon and Aunt Tina.

I got to hold Camila for the first time! She's SO precious!

Landon with his buddy Tucker

Landon got lots of fun toys and clothes (although Avery wouldn't let him open them without her assistance). He's one lucky little dude!

Ride-on truck from NeNe and Pop Pop!

"Taking turns" (?) on the new slide from Grandma and Grandaddy

Rockin' out with Elmo!

Matt made some AWESOME cakes and cupcakes, and seeing the final product made our 2:30 am bedtime worth it.

Smash cake (aka sugar overload). I mean, really, whose idea was it to give a baby an entire cake?

{Vanilla cake made with this recipe, buttercream frosting made from this one, frosted using Wilton's grass tip, eyes made from Rice Krispie treats that were covered with melted white chocolate chips and coated with leftover frosting, and mouth made from chocolate chips and cut marshmallows}

(we had leftover cake batter from Landon's small one, so CUPCAKES!)

We'll call this shot "Before the Cake"

JoJo, Samantha, and Avery ready for some orange monster goodness!

Hmmm...

Not too shabby! It's safe to say that Landon likes cake. And now he goes back to being deprived of it. :)

{party favors for the big kids: stickers, sucker, rubber ducky monster, and party blower; the babies just got the rubber monster and blower}

A party during naptime meant that Landon crashed at 6 pm, Avery was asleep by 7:30, and we're ready to go to bed at only 8:00. Whew!

We love this kid so much and had a fun time celebrating his life! Happy first birthday, Landon!