Gavin is ONE!!! And a Farewell Post

This will come as no surprise to anyone, but I'm seriously considering closing up shop around here at Our Fabulous Life. This space doesn't really feel like "home" to me anymore, and I think I'm ready to move on to something new. I do think I will continue writing, and I'm thinking/hoping that a new space and all new "brand" will be the right move for me. With that said, there's a good chance that this post may be my last real post here on my beloved little blog. Once I know for sure what I decide to do going forward I'll come update things here, but until then, this is probably it.

And that feels incredibly appropriate to me, because this is Gavin's first birthday post! This blog launched as a way to keep family and friends in the loop with all the happenings when A and I first moved to Texas after graduation, and it's basically been an online diary of our engagement, wedding, newlywed years, early parenthood, and in reality, it's turned into one big baby book. I think that is wonderful and I LOVE having so many memories to look back on, but I know that's not what things will be about for me going forward. 

So today, let's talk about my sweet, sweet Gavin! This boy is a delight in every sense of the word, and I couldn't adore him more if I tried. He is an absolute angel, and I'm sure the bragging about him is annoying but I can't help myself. We celebrated his birthday on October 29th, just one day after his first birthday, and it was a great day. All his grandparents, our amazing Guncles, and several close friends came to celebrate with us, and it was such a fun time. 

I won't lie, I started panicking about a week before the big day because I hadn't done much planning. Let's be honest, I had a couple packages of balloons, the invites were sent and the cake was ordered, and I knew the theme. At this point for Grayson's first birthday I had about a million details nailed down, so I got on Amazon the Sunday before his party and ordered a ton of decoration, got on Pinterest and planned the menu, and moaned about how awful I felt for my poor second child. Nevertheless, I pulled it all together at the last minute. 

Our theme was "Gavin is a Party Animal!" because of his wild and crazy personality. He's always reminded me of a little monkey, so a jungle theme seemed appropriate. While the party was pretty low-key, I think it was perfect for Gav. Where Grayson totally relished in the huge party atmosphere and all the attention of his first birthday, Gavin is so happy 24/7 that he would have been just as content with the four of us celebrating as he was with a house full of people. He had a super fun time and got loved on by a lot of special people, and my heart was totally full all day long.

I still can't believe this little guy has been with us for over a year now, but at the same time, I have a hard time remembering life without him. This past year has been wonderful - adjusting to life as a family of four was a smoother transition than I was expecting, and I think sweet Gavin was the absolute perfect addition to our crazy crew. He's so sweet it makes me question my desire for a third baby sometimes, because there's no WAY I'll get one as easy going and happy as this one!

Friends, thank you so much for supporting me here over the years. I have been so, so absent for so long, but so many of you still stay in contact on Instagram on a regular basis. I really cherish the friendships that I've made here, and I hope they'll continue on once I move on to my next venture. I'll be back at some point to let you all know what I'm up to and where to find me, but until then, I'd love for you to follow along on Instagram! 

A Circus Party ~ Grayson's First Birthday ~ Party Time!

Now that we've covered the party decor for Grayson's first birthday, I thought I'd post about the actual party. I had no idea what to expect really - we don't have many friends with kids, so we weren't sure how many people would really be interested in hanging out at a first birthday party. Luckily, our friends seem to either really like us or really like our kid, so we had a big turn out. A few of mine and the hubs family members came, too, although we actually had family get togethers the weekend before.

Since I've never hosted a kid's birthday party, I wasn't totally sure what to do. I decided since G is so little and there wouldn't be many other kids to not worry about activities. We didn't have any games or anything planned, but it ended up being just fine. The main events seemed to be the food, the opening of the gifts, and the cake. The party started at one and we did the cake around 3:30, and by that time Grayson was on an attention high and just about to crash. He absolutely loved being the center of attention for the whole party, though, and I'm pretty sure he would love it if we invited people over to watch him be cute every single weekend.

I have to say, the party was even more enjoyable than I thought it would be. And I learned a pretty valuable lesson, I think. Even though this was kind of thrown together last minute (sad that 3 weeks feels last minute) , everything was great. I hope that every year I can remember that it isn't about some extravagant, Pinterest-perfect party. Because seriously, what kid really cares about every little detail being perfect? I'm pretty sure that we could have had six balloons, a cake, and people to sing him "Happy Birthday" and he would have been just as happy :) 

Oh - I did have another mommy-fail. I totally and completely forgot to get a picture of him in his special cake smash outfit. I ordered it from Etsy and it was the cutest thing EVER and I can't believe I didn't get one single picture of the whole thing! Insanity. 

Oh well! We still had a wonderful time with all of our fabulous friends and family, and I'm so thankful to everyone that came to help Grayson celebrate! 

Grayson's First Birthday Party ~ The Build-Up

Planning my first baby's first birthday didn't quite go down like I expected. If you guys recall, we listed our home for sale and started house hunting early this year kind of on a whim. We very quickly got our house ready to put on the market and started spending every free minute out and about, searching for the perfect place. In right around three or four weeks we sold our house, found a house, changed our minds, found another one, and got our offer accepted. We then had about a month to pack up everything in our lives and move it into our new place. I'm exhausted just typing it all out and remembering how insane it was.

After we got in to our new place and I started the incredibly fun yet ridiculously stressful job of trying to find a new place for all of our many, many things, I realized - umm, my child will be one in LESS than ONE MONTH and I need to plan an epic and memorable party. Like, yesterday. 

Oh guys. I wish you could have witnessed the insanity that my life spiraled into. Not only did I need to plan this party in less than a month, I needed to get my house in the best possible condition it could be in - like, unpack all the boxes, try and decorate it all up to my ridiculous personal expectations, paint walls - you know, all of the things that really matter. (wink wink, heavy sarcasm)

But, as A promised about 347 times in my (daily) moments of sheer panic, it all got done. Of course there were some things I wanted to happen that didn't, and decorations I forgot about, and memorable activities that I accidentally bypassed, and photos I neglected to take. But all in all it was a pretty freaking fabulous party if I do say so myself. I relaxed and had fun, Grayson adored being the center of attention, and I think our guests enjoyed themselves.

By the way, I hope the above explains at least in part why I've been totally and completely GONE from the blogging world for the majority of the past three or so months. I do intend to come back on a regular basis, but I don't think it's quite time yet. 

SO - this post was originally going to be all about the decorations and what I did and why and how and blah blah. But now that I've rambled on and on, I think it's gonna turn into a three part kinda thing. I'll be back tomorrow with the decorations, then the next day with the actual party photos that only I really want to see. That's a pretty lofty goal for a girl who hasn't blogged in months, but what can I say? I like to live on the edge. 

I'll leave you with just a couple pics of the handsome little birthday boy to entice you to come back for the real deal. 

And P.S. - I miss you all.