Yea!  I am finally getting around to posting about Derek's birthday.  I must say, that a child's first birthday is really about the parents.   The baby is so little, they won't remember anything, and really they have NO clue what is going on, but, oh, the parents . . . we enjoy teaching our kids how to tear open presents, eat cake – and Kevin and I particularly like watching our child on their first sugar high :).  There is nothing like a one year old hopped up on sugar – he he!  It's so cute!  But back to Derek's birthday . . .

It started around 6 am, when Lily came in and woke us up.  Derek got to watch the Wiggles with Lily, while I made him a special breakfast of German pancakes (Picture #1).

Then we went to the park with some friends, so the kids could play and I could take some pictures of the boy.  He loved roaming around, trying to eat wood chips, and playing on the swings (picture #2).

For dinner, we gave Derek his very favorite – french fries!! (picture #3)

 Then we took a break from food, to open presents.  My friend Cindy – aka: Derek's girlfriend (picture #6)- came over for the party, and gave him his favorite present, a baseball game with a little bat.  Derek also got the cutest sock monkey quilt from his Grandma Valerie, and it fits perfectly on our toddler bed :).

Last, but not least, we had cake – and not just any cake, a cake that took me over 2 1/2 hours to decorate . . . don't ask.  Okay, it was because I let Lily choose Derek's cake, and she picked the cute train one, except that it was SUPER complicated.  (Oh well, it turned out fine, and all it really meant was that we got dinner from Sonic, instead of me making the french fries from scratch – he he!)  Derek loved it, and even got to eat one of the Oreo wheels, which was especially messy.

One of the fun highlights of the night, was when my parents called from Scotland to wish him a Happy Birthday.  My dad sang to him over the phone, and he smiled and laughed the whole time (picture #9).  It was a perfect end to a great first birthday.

PS. I finally got the pictures of Lily at the Ward party posted, if you wanted to see them.  In the angel one, her back is turned, but she is in the front in both of them.