Happy 1st Birthday Asher!

Happy Birthday sweet little boy!  A year ago today, Asher Bennett Whalen was brought into the world and into our family.  This past year has been filled with so much love and joy, and maybe a little bit of crying and screaming, but we all have survived it!  We now have a happy, active, funny one year old.  We could not be happier!

Birthday Celebrations - Part 1

Today, we were able to celebrate the year by having our good friends come over and enjoy the evening!



Since Asher seems to be athletic, we thought this cake was appropriate! 
While I couldn't get the blue dark enough to match either BYU Cougar or Indianapolis Colt blue, we made do :)

 Asher getting ready for the party, sporting his slick hair

Asher with his friends, Ava, Florida & Mereme

 Fate would have it that one of the other families here in Albania also had a little boy who was born on the exact same day as Asher.  We celebrated their birthdays together, even though they were both quite oblivious to the significance of the day :)  Happy birthday Tate!!

The birthday boys, Tate & Asher!

Many friends to share the day!

 It's Present Time!

Asher wasn't quite sure what to do with the presents. 
First he started playing with the tissue paper, and ignored the toy inside...

Once he noticed the toy, he was still a little unsure how to respond :)

After we opened presents, it was cake time!!

Let's just say the main reaction from these two was probably confusion, wondering why in the world everyone was staring at them, singing and clapping!  And I think poor Asher was just overwhelmed by it all because he was so tired :)  That's probably what happens when the normal afternoon one and a half to two hour nap only lasts 40 minutes!

First we sang them Happy Birthday :)

Then we cut the cake and gave them their slice!



Happy 1st Birthday Asher!

We expected Asher to dig right in...

 

We expected wrong! He didn't exactly respond to the cake like we thought. 
There was definitely a lack of interest in the cake...
again, he was very tired by this time :)

Apparently, Tate's cake was more interesting than his own. 
By how he reacts when Tate is holding a toy, this didn't surprise us too much :)
"I want his cake, he looks like he's having more fun with it!"

And Tate was kind enough to share :)

Then with some help from the parents, Asher got a little more messy.

Then he was done.
"I don't know what you all want, but I'm too tired to give it to you. 
Please just leave me alone!"

"Seriously!  I'm tired!"

Clean up time!


While the pictures are great, watching it is wonderful.  It's long, and I don't expect people to watch it, but parts are pretty funny :)

I saw on the blog my sister-in-law has that she did a little overview of the birthday child.  I liked the idea a lot, so here it is for Asher!

- Favorite toy: Empty soda bottles, toy car, and toy steering wheel

- Favorite stuffed animal: Winnie the Pooh

- Favorite color: Blue (imposed upon him by his mom)

- Favorite book: All Aboard Noah's Ark flip book, Feely Bugs, Baby Einstein Music is Everywhere & Neighborhood Animals, and Happy Baby ABCs & 123s,
- Favorite foods: Bread, yogurt and any fruit.  He actually eats anything we put in front of his mouth (ecept birthday cake, apparently)!

- Favorite things to do: Play outside, jump, walk backwards, wrestle with dad, push things (walker, shopping cart, anything that can be pushed)

- Favorite song: The Itsy Bitsy Spider & Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree

- Favorite thing to wear: Anything mom puts him in - either plaid shorts, or basketball shorts & a T-shirt

- Favorite people (other than his parents, of course): Mereme & Florida

Thank you everyone for all your help in getting us through the first year of Asher's life.  Stay tuned for part two.  Hopefully he won't be as tired for the next celebration!