I figured there would be tears on Kanyon's first birthday. Fully expecting to be a weepy mess, I spent that morning doing our chores getting ready for his party. Little did I know my tears would be tears of stress maybe more than tears of letting go of the baby phase!

We planned his party on New Year's Day, the day after Kanyon's actual birthday. (We had a wedding on New Year's Eve and the Sunday party worked out better for the Packers theme). And of course, struggling with supermom issues, I wanted it to be just right. I had lots of help getting the house ready but apparently grocery shopping sent me over the edge! Chris so kindly talked me out of my meltdown and we kept on with the mission of prepping for the party. (Logically, we know there's no need to cry, but that's not how emotions work)!

I knew all year long that I wanted to do something special at 2:31 p.m. on his birthday, the time he came into the world. It ended up that the special thing was just spending some quiet time with him, Chris and me in his room, telling him how much we love him and how happy we are he came into our lives a year ago. That was enough for me to feel good about that.

Next order of business: it was off to the wedding where we had a great time, but we both missed our birthday boy and came home pretty early to be with him. We ended his actual birthday night on the couch, just the three of us, snuggling in the dark, ringing in the new year, experiencing just about the same kind of feeling we had the year before: bliss that we became a family.

Party day arrived and little man got all dressed up in his Packers jersey and relished in the attention as each grandparent arrived to shower him with love. I was intent on getting him to take a nap so the cake and presents part of the day would happen without a tantrum. Little Kanyon did just great and he was ready for cake!

He approached his cake carefully for the first five minutes or so. If I could read his mind, I would bet he was wondering if he was actually supposed to touch it (he gets told no quite a bit of course, being a busy little explorer) and if he was really allowed to have that much sugar. Once the first few bites of whipped topping hit his system, he started showing off in quite the sugar-fueled fashion! (see the video link I'll provide at the bottom)

I laughed and laughed and so did Kanyon and the grandparents! We so enjoyed seeing him smear the green frosting across his face and up his nose. It was exactly what I wanted him to experience! I knew we had a short window of time before he came crashing down from the frosting high, so it was time to dig into presents.

He was spoiled rotten by the grandparents and his Godmother. He loved getting new books, which we read dozens of times a day and he even got a rocking horse that he mastered within two days. I am so impressed at his development and we're in awe of every smart new thing he learns! He loved ripping the paper once he got the hang of it and bounced from one set of loving arms to the next.

Who could ask for anything more?

I am vowing to become less of a perfectionist, so I can make sure to fully enjoy these special days with my baby boy. I know how fast a year can go and I don't want to look back with regret that I spent hours and days fretting about the dust on my picture frames and what kind of appetizer we'll serve at a party. I made sure to turn off the stress once the party started and I was fully-devoted to being in the moment with Kanyon. I didn't completely live up to my hopes of being a Zen mommy-party-planner this time, but maybe next time I'll chill out more on the road to birthday #2. I think we as moms can put so much pressure on ourselves to make these "firsts" so perfect! I am happy to say it was exactly what I'd hoped for, but as always, I'm a work in progress when it comes to balancing my to-do lists and my family.

The day was just "one"derful. And you know what? My picture frames are still dusty and if the company had looked between the bed and the wall, they'd see all my junk mail stuffed in a box. It's still in a box next to the bed. I'll get to it. Yep. As soon as I'm done enjoying my "one"derful boy.

To see the sugar rush, click here.