Well I am sorry (but not really sorry) for the slew of pictures about to come, but our Dempsey turned ONE on Wednesday and the whole week has felt like a non-stop party. I don’t want to forget a moment of it, so it’s all going here!

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On Mondays, my parents come over to watch Dempsey and I work from home, so my mom and I took the opportunity to make his first birthday cake together. A red velvet, naturally! He maybe woke up from his nap while my dad was out running an errand, so we plopped him in his highchair in the kitchen so he could make the cake “with” us. Or more like throw stuff for us to constantly pick back up 😂 My mom gave him some licks of batter and he was INTO IT. Who wouldn’t be? And the cake turned out soooooo cute. Love that my mom and I got to have that experience and that Demps was there for it too 🥰🥰🥰

Tuesday night, we took our Dempsey to the Botanic Gardens for the Glow at the Gardens event and it was so fun! Parking was sort of a nightmare, but once we were inside, it was great. Dempsey definitely won’t remember, but I think he had a good time looking (and pointing) at all the pumpkins and the adults had fun looking at everything too. At the end, there was a giant skeleton dancing and a skeleton band playing music and that was definitely my favorite part 😂 I’m so glad we went!

Birthday morning!!!! We went to breakfast with his Grandpa Steve, Lorna, Adam, Keith, Courtney and his great grandparents. He shares a birthday with his Great Grandma Marge, so it felt right to have a celebratory breakfast together. She turned 80, so it was a big milestone birthday for her too! That good boy sat on her lap for a long while and it was so sweet to see ❤

Post nap, we gave him our presents and he seems pretty into his play food! He’s also made a lot of hybrid foods, like a bell pepper egg or a corn banana 😂

Everyone came over around 5 and we had the decorations all set up and the birthday boy ready to celebrate! He got a table and chairs, a bike and helmet, books and a winter jacket and a workshop. What a lucky and loved boy!!! We all feasted on BBQ from Post Oak and then, the piėce de résistance, Dempsey’s red velvet cake! Took him a little bit to get through the frosting — he spent a few minutes poking one finger into the frosting and then into his mouth and it was seriously the cutest — but once he did, he really went for it! Some of the pieces he was putting into his mouth were pretty sizable 😂 It was a hit! What a perfect night, celebrating our Dempsey!

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Everyone keeps saying this year with him flew by and on the one hand, YES, it totally did! But on the other hand, there have been so many phases and so many development and so so so many fun and wonderful experiences that we’ve had with him. I keep forgetting we’ve already had a holiday season with him. That seems like soooo long ago. There’s just no way I could put this past year into words. It’s been HARD but also THE ABSOLUTE BEST. All I know is that I love this little bean so much. I love being his mama. And I can’t wait for all the fun things we will do in this life together. Happy Birthday, my love!