My baby is one. And I can't stop eating cake.

My baby's one year birthday celebrations came and went as fast as the year itself. 

And all that's left is this cupcake staring at me to eat it. I ate one for breakfast and one for lunch. And I'm thinking of having this one as a snack. 

I haven't found a boxed cake mix that I didn't love. 

A few days ago, I googled "gluten-free diet." And that's as far as I got...

About the birthday boy:

He had several celebrations to honor his year with us. To say he is a joy is an understatement. 

Here he is at his birthday party in the Louisiana country. 

And on his actual birthday, August 8, at home. 

And then I caved and gave him a proper birthday party at home and invited some local family and a few of his closest friends. 

Mostly, I used items I already had, with a few trips to the Dollar Store and Smiths Variety. 

I don't want my frugality to be mistaken as cheap, but I really dislike frivolously spending money. I can't tell you how many people wanted to know how I was going to do my nursery or what theme I would do for his birthday party. While those are normal questions, the busyness and spending behind them annoyed me. 

But I decided that it's fun to be festive and more importantly, to celebrate my wonderful son. 

I thought about him and what he likes. I thought, animals. He really loves animals. So, I went to the Variety store and found paper napkins and plates with animals. I was cleaning out my old college boxes and found my owl collection from sorority days, so I threw those in for the table scape. I got gold fish, teddy grahams, and animal crackers. I used a few more animal things from around the house and voila: an animal party!

I struggle with the notion of nonsense and foolish spending vs being fun and making something special. 

Well, John Henry is worth the fuss. 

Here he is today, still happy.