Connor's 1st Birthday

Sunday, December 13th, marked an important milestone for our family -  

Connor's 1st Birthday Party! 

Since Uncle Scott's birthday is on December 12th, and we were going to be in Arizona with so many of our family members around close to Connor's big day, we thought it would be fun to celebrate with the entire Rogers clan.

So, we decided to go with the whole Elmo theme this year (handmade Elmo, not store-bought Elmo)...  since I had a grand idea while still at home in Illinois that I could pull it off (and our little one is so enamored with Elmo).  Needless to say, much of vacation ended up being more work than I intended, with all the running around, trying to gather supplies.  There was some unnecessary hassle over simple red grass grocery store cupcakes (Scottsdale Fry's is NOT the place to go for baked goods!)  And, I might have made my mother slave over her sewing machine for the party (what's new, right?).   But, in the end, it was a fun time had by all!

Party favors were assembled days in advance, and cupcakes and the house were decorated the day of the party.  Grandma Rogers completed the birthday boys' shirts a few days prior.  The evening was a combination birthday party/early Christmas, with 3 kids under 2 years in attendance, so we kept the activities to a minimum.

Master pizza man, Brian, busied himself making homemade pizzas (because Elmo LOVES pizza!), ensuring that not a piece of pineapple ended up on Grandpa's special quadrant.  After dinner, we all dived into the plethora of presents.

Then came Connor's first taste of cupcake!  Stripped down to just his diaper, Connor tried about 4 little bites and had enough.  In retrospect, Red 40 on cupcakes probably wasn't the best choice.  Oh well.

All in all, it was a perfect, simple celebration to mark such an important day!

I linked up to these parties to share pics of the cupcakes, party favors, invite, and party shirts, in case anyone else is thinking about an Elmo party for their little one: