My baby is almost ONE!

Wow, I cannot believe that Ryder is going to be ONE YEAR OLD in a couple days! It feels like he was just born a couple months ago! Though I am considerably more rested than back then. :) This last year has certainly been quite the ride, from the first few panic-stricken hormone-crazy euphoric days to the where-did-my-little-baby-go feeling that I have now and everything in between. Yesterday, I was playing peekaboo with Ryder and it just hit me...he's no longer a baby! (I always say this but I guess I never really got it until then) He walks and plays games, has a sense humor, "reads" books and babbles nonstop. The other day we were playing "How big is Ryder?" and he was giggling that perfect little kid giggle and my heart just melted. Then, later, he walked up to me holding a book and babbled to me like he expected me to understand. And even though there wasn't a single understandable word in what he had just said, I understood him perfectly. How weird, I never knew I could speak baby :)
So, since the big "oh-one" is fast approaching, I need to start planning his party! Well, actually I have been planning it all month but I need to start put my plans in action!! I am thinking of doing a The Very Hungry Caterpillar themed party. (Why not go all out, right?) When I was looking up cake ideas I found one that looked pretty doable. Making a caterpillar cake out of a bundt cake pan? I can do that! (insert self deprecating chuckle here) And to top it all off, I decided to bake cupcakes and decorate them as the various things that the caterpillar eats in the book. And a "Happy Birthday" banner in the shape of a caterpillar. And now I am officially freaking out. I have a feeling that I am going to accomplish this all on "Tahnee Time" aka: I'm going to procrastinate but still hopefully manage to finish it all at the last second. Oh and have I mentioned that my house is a mess? I'm in the middle of organizing, which means I am making my house messier in hopes of somehow making it all clean and orderly. Yikes. But hopefully my mom and sisters will be up in time to work their magic and help me decorate the cake!! I am so excited that Ryder is turning one, but at the same it's so crazy that a year has passed already! Wish me luck! :]