Everything you wanted to know about the Sneads....: Tyler-Fest 2008

We had Part 2 of Tyler's birthday celebrations last weekend at our house. We had a ton of rain the night before right up until an hour or so before the party was to start. Thankfully, the rain stopped and the sun came out. However, the rain was replaced with a strong wind with strong gusts. But it was a warm day, and there were lots of people in our house, so the wind was nice with the windows open.

I once again started out the day by bringing balloons into the house. This made Tyler's day. He was so excited to see his balloons again! He just toddled around the house with one (or more) of them in his hands at all times. Almost a week later, we still have several of the mylar balloons floating around, and he's still as excited about them. Travis and I, on the other hand, are thinking of creative ways to make the balloons disappear. It was adorable the first day, but now it's a little frustrating to have to constantly work around balloons and strings and what not.

Our first guests to show up were Travis' Uncle Wallace & Aunt Brenda. They also brought Tyler a balloon. Then Matt & Laura showed up (meatballs in tow - yum!), followed by a couple of out-of-towners - Julia & Claire from Arlington! (We had been to Claire's 1st birthday party at the beginning of February with our friends the Clarkes from SC.) Also in attendance: Gramme & Granddad Snead, Aunt Jenn & Uncle Brian, Great-Grandma Smith and her friend Julia, my Uncle Nathan, Aunt Donna, & their girls Jessi & Becky, the Griffiths (with their boys CJ & Gage), the Welshes (with little Abby, who is 6 months old & was in Tyler's infant room at daycare - I work with her dad), the Kreckmans (whose son, Evan, turned 1 just 6 days before Tyler), "Uncle" David (who works with Trav), and neighbors the Brants, the Grahams, & the Ailstocks. Talk about a full house, especially with that many little ones running around!

We all enjoyed some food and visited for a while, and the Birthday Boy walked around and impressed everyone with his skills. He was a very gracious host (that is, once he woke up from his nap AFTER most everyone had gotten there, but at least we knew he was well-rested). After a while, we got ready for Cake Part 2. This one was made by Williams Bakery, a local bakery near our house that's pretty famous around here for donuts, cake, whatever. VERY tasty stuff. The cake was a full sheet cake with 3 cupcakes on top - Elmo, Big Bird, & Cookie Monster. I was so excited when I picked it up, they did such a wonderful job. So this time, instead of Tyler getting his own cake, he got to have the Big Bird cupcake to do with as he pleased. And just like the weekend before, he wasn't really interested.

He barely touched it or anything, and wouldn't even let us put icing on his lips to taste. He wanted nothing to do with it. Gave him some ricecakes and the kid went to town on those - again. Guess I should be happy for now that he chooses the healthier snack.

We then retreated to the living room to watch a wonderful video of Tyler's first year. My friend, Lori, made one of these for her son's birthday and I absolutely loved it. So she volunteered to make one for us. I am so thankful to her for taking the time to do this. It turned out beautifully. THANK YOU, LORI! Watch the video here.

Next up: presents! And lots and lots of them. Again, our little man was quite spoiled. Lots of clothes and LOTS of toys. New trucks, cars, Little People, ride-on toys (complete with sippy cup holders - haha!), beach toys, you name it. He racked up. And he's having a great time pulling each and every new toy out to play with it. We've got so much going on in the living room now that we finally pulled out the plastic bins that my Uncle Nathan's family gave us at my baby shower last year. Until now, the bins were being used to hold some of our things in the office.

But not anymore. Now we have blocks, and balls, and Little People, and stuffed animals, and whatever else in there. Tyler likes to pull all of the bins off of the shelves, and sometimes wear them as hats, but in time we hope that he'll learn their true purpose.

After the party, we headed out to dinner with Julia & Claire. Tyler & Claire did pretty well, but you could tell that the lack of an afternoon nap was starting to catch up with them. So we ate pretty quickly, and Julia & Claire hit the road. And we took our Birthday Boy back home to catch some Z's. Yet another successful party, though, and we are so thankful for everyone that came to celebrate with us!!!