emre's first birthday

my little boy is ONE!

ben and i went all out with a weekend of celebration - first with friends, then with family.

we decorated the house on friday night, absolutely giddy with excitement for his party... overjoyed to be celebrating our e-man.

...the finishing touches were done saturday morning, just in time for our guests to arrive.

all decked out

first year frame from anneanne

#1 cookies for our guests

raspberry & chocolate cupcakes

so much food!  i was glad we decided to have it catered.

saturday's party was all about friends - and so much fun!

me & my boy

we were really pleased with the turnout - plenty of friends came, and everyone hung out for several hours.  emre seemed to enjoy all of the action.

friends!

with can & tahn & mommy & daddy

i'm one!

]

donna, conrad & john

playing with the burchfield boys

with christina & emma

we got to see some of our playgroup friends, some of our turkish friends, and some friends who we hadn't seen in far too long.  it was a good day. 

tom & ben

andy, the experienced dad, balances stef, emre & a beer between his feet

playing 'peek a boo' with aunt ozge

saying goodbye to his guests

we were dead tired by saturday night, but rested up so we could celebrate plenty more on sunday, emre's birthday.

good morning birthday boy!

opening his present from us - 'toby le chien'

hmmm... this looks interesting

ok, i love it!

we got him dressed for some skype sessions with our family in australia (they watched, emre played with his new toys).

playing with cubes - a gift from agatha

then, at 1pm, it was time for his second birthday party - the family celebration.  it was a bit chaotic, as our family gatherings always are, but we were really pleased that they wanted to come and celebrate with us (ayfer came all the way from istanbul with her girls, just for the party!).

sooo much attention!

hanging with fusun & dede

preparing the champagne toast (none for emre, of course! he still prefers milk.)

blowing out his #1 candle

hooray for emre!

surrounded by his adoring fans, the balkaya ladies

they left & the celebration continued with facetime sessions with the lansford family.  at the end of the day, just when we thought the fun was over, there was one last delivery - a rocking chair from anneanne!

it's just my size!

ben and i also toasted at 6:08pm, the time of emre's birth, and spent the rest of the night marveling over the incredible year we've had parenting this amazing little guy.  he's taught us so much, not the least of which how to be his parents, demanded our attention & devotion during every waking second for 365 days, exhausted us more than we ever knew possible, and opened our hearts beyond measure.  we are so in love with our little boy & our family of three.  happy birthday little bearbear/monkey bear/chunky monkey/dooters/doot-doots/doot meister general/stinky poops/e-man!  we love you to the moon and back.