Hayden's 1st Birthday Party!

As I mentioned in the last post, we celebrated Hayden's birthday last Saturday with a party at our home. We had friends and family over for food, cake and fun. I'm not big into character themed birthday parties and cakes and since Hayden doesn't have much of an opinion yet regarding these kinds of things, I did what I wanted- and that was simple and classic party food, made pretty. 

As part of the decoration, Mr. H and I made a photo banner of Hayden, starting with a photo from when he was just hours old all the way up until 12 months. I love it!

I went for a buffet style setup so everyone could take and eat what they wanted, and used the cake as the centerpiece of the table. Here's what I made: 

• Brown Sugar Chocolate Cake with Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese Frosting
• Browned Butter and Cinnamon Spice Rice Krispie Treats
• Veggie Tray with Ranch Dressing
• Deviled Eggs
• Pork Tenderloin Mini Sandwiches
• Cheese Tray
• White Cheddar Cheese Puffs (Hayden's favorite snack!)
• Slow Cooker Lil Smokies

Last November I made a chocolate layer cake for a family friend (Hi Marnie!) and loved that cake so much. It really was one of the best chocolate cakes I've ever had and what sets it apart from others is that it's made with copious amounts of brown sugar. I knew I wanted that cake for Hayden's birthday so, I increased the recipe 1.5x and baked it in two 12-inch pans. I used a double recipe of my favorite cream cheese buttercream for the frosting because I wanted to be able to tint it a soft robin's egg blue. 

One of my favorite photos from Hayden's party- I love the grin on his face as he feeds Autumn a rice krispie treat!

I fell in love with the Bunting Banner that Christa from Mini Baker made for a wedding shower cake a few weeks ago. I contacted her and we emailed back and forth and she made a custom birthday banner that read "Happy 1st Hayden" complete with hand painted blue stars. It turned out better than I expected and complimented the cake and decor. If you want one of your own, head on over to Mini Baker's Etsy Shop, browse around at her handmade items and place your order! She's got some cute stuff over there. Thanks Christa for working with me on such short notice- it turned out perfectly!

Hayden dug into his cake like a pro. At first it was just fingers in the frosting, then before you knew it he was shoving handfuls of the stuff into his mouth. Then he got to the cake part and started sharing with his Daddy and Autumn and was starting to make a mess on the floor. I don't really know why he started crying, but it was funny. A naked baby covered in cake with teary eyes is enough to make a sucker out of anyone. Silly boy. 

And lastly here's a picture of the three of us, just after singing Happy Birthday. It was a great day and we're so blessed that we made it through Hayden's first year in tact and without any major injuries, growing better with each passing day. Happy Birthday Hayden, We love you!

And thank you to all of you who supported us, cheered  us on and offered words of encouragement  throughout the past year. We appreciate each and every one of you!