A Day to Celebrate- 1 Year of Life!

I had a different vision for how we would celebrate Jayson's birthday, but I think deep down I knew we'd be celebrating in the hospital.  Back in August, I had a strong feeling we needed to celebrate Jayson's birthday early.  I had this vision of a HUGE party.  I wanted to celebrate Jayson with everyone we love.  As I started day dreaming about this wild fiesta, reality hit me pretty hard.  Jayson's birthday is in December... right in the middle of flu, cold and RSV season.  We cannot have a big celebration with all those we love in December.  Instead of getting depressed, I came up with a solution!  Let's celebrate in September!!!  We picked a weekend that worked for most of our family members, and we discovered even family members who live in different states would be in town on September 21st for a wedding!  That was the day!  Of course, I already had a theme in mind...

BORN TO ROCK!

My baby is a living rockstar.  He rocks his way through life with a smile and a positive attitude.  This child was definitely born to rock and born to change lives!  So I went crazy.  I spent days shopping online and making crafts for his awesome day!  We even rented a popcorn machine.  I had so much fun planning and crafting (and lost many nights of sleep getting ready).

Our invite fit the Rocker theme:

We asked our guests to dress in rockstar attire.  The best dressed was of course the little rockstar.  My online friends all chipped in and bought this custom made adorable onesie as a surprise gift for Jayson.  It made the perfect rockstar outfit to go with his killer fohawk.  Mom and dad also dressed the part, and dad even wore the mullet wig!

 Jayson's feeding miracle happened right before the party during feeding therapy.  Jayson had not been able to eat solids until this week.  We assumed he might be able to smash the cake, but not eat it.  It was amazing to watch him taste and eat his birthday cake.  It was a miracle.

Our guest list was over 100, including children.  Many of those invited came and celebrated with us.  We had a fun background set up for a fun photo op as well!

My mom won the best rockstar outfit.  She was dressed as Lady Gaga

 The party was a great success and was everything I imagined it to be.  Many family members and friends traveled from afar to be there.  It was a day to celebrate, a day to remember, a day to honor Jayson.  He knew it too.  He knew this day was for him. And it was beyond special for Mike and I to celebrate our little man without hesitation or fears.

 Because we had this party, there wasn't as much sorrow when we couldn't celebrate Jayson's real birthday.  Poor Jayse spent December 15th with a 104* degree temperature, chills, sweats, diarrhea and vomiting.  Of course, he tried to keep a smile on his face the best he could!  Both sets of grandparents traveled to see Jayson on his birthday.  We played, opened presents and even had cake!

Most of the good pictures are on my sister's camera since all I had at the hospital was my i-pad, but here are a few i-pad pics:

The little man loved tasting his Brobee cake.  Right when he started diving in, however, he got sick and threw it all up.  Poor little guy.  But he got to play in his one year birthday cake, and that was what was important!!! It doesn't matter where we were... we got together to celebrate one special little boy.  Happy first birthday Jayson!!!