Happy Birthday Maddox!

I can't believe a whole year has passed since Max was born. It's been a very interesting year, to say the least. I can't believe how incredibly hard it is to be a mother. But I also wouldn't have believed anyone who told me it would be this rewarding, either. Being Max's mom has been wonderful and I'm excited to watch him continue to grow and learn. He's becoming such a fun, bright, daring, exciting little boy! I feel so privileged to be able to watch him every day. It's like participating in a miracle (okay, is this getting too cheesy for you all? I'll stop now).

So we had Max's party at La Jolla Shores beach and it was the perfect spot to have it. Max LOVES the beach so he had a great time playing in the sand and the water. We had both families here, Tyler's and mine, and lots of friends to help celebrate. We cooked hot dogs and hamburgers and scarfed on potato salad, guacamole, watermelon and amazing dirt cake made by my mom.

I think the party was a success. Of course I was nervous seeing as this was my first birthday party planning adventure for my kids. I didn't plan any games like my mom did for our parties, I think that will come later since mostly Maddox just liked to walk around carrying a pail and a shovel stealing food from everyone's plates.

I made him a surfboard cake! It was my first time working with fondant and I think it came out alright. He really wasn't that in to the cake. I don't think he's a big fan of chocolate. I think he had more fun squishing it around and drinking his milk than actually eating it.

I also made a bunch of balloons out of mini cupcakes that spelled out happy birthday.

And no party would have been complete without a homeless beach bum coming up to us and asking us for some food. When we offered him a hamburger, he politely declined and said he only wanted some chips since he was a vegetarian. It took a lot from all of us not to laugh. We gave him some chips and he went on his way.

Take a look at our album of pictures to get the full pictorial experience. You can view them in the sidebar on this page or here:

Max's First Birthday

**Oh, and a big huge THANK YOU to everyone that helped me out!! Couldn't have done it without all of you!!**