I’m still doing some serious catching up on here, but I’m so happy to finally post about Nella’s birthday party! It was definitely the simplest first-birthday party we’ve thrown so far, but it was perfect for our easygoing baby girl.Only Grandma Debbie was able to travel up for the party. We enjoyed having her here for Nella’s special day, and I’m sure she enjoyed not having to share all the baby cuddles. My mom is always a big help. She even brought Nella’s super cute birthday onesie!Before Nella was even born, we called her “Baby Sunshine” (mostly due to Kaya deciding that that absolutely had to be her new baby sister’s name). Once she was born, the moniker fit her so perfectly that we continued to use it. She is so full of happiness, and she shares her joy with everyone around her. Clearly, she just had to have a sunshine-themed first birthday party.
Confession: the cake… was actually a giant brownie. I’ve probably said it too often already, but we really just aren’t “cake people”, and after having spent so much time on Kaya’s birthday cake just two weeks previous, I really wanted to do something easy that everyone would actually eat. (I loosely based the design on these cupcakes.)It was delicious, but people….there’s a reason it’s traditional to decorate cakes, and not brownies. Cakes are so much more porous and better able to hold frosting on. It was difficult to get it anywhere close to smooth-looking, and no frosting would stick to the sides. Still, I don’t regret switching to a brownie this time- it tasted heavenly, and everyone was happy! She may still be little, but there was no mistaking it, this princess knew that all this was a celebration for her. She just couldn’t stop smiling and squealing! Too little to blow out the candle, she needed a little help from Daddy! We all love you so much Nellbells!Finally! She’s the first of all three kids to dig into her birthday treat and actually enjoy it!She may have had her doubts at first, though… …but then it was true love. Nella + cake!My mom brought her a whole new wardrobe, which has been so nice to have, since so many of the older girls’ things from this age are pretty worn out.
Nella definitely had a lot of helpers for opening her gifts!She was actually better at ripping the paper off than I had expected! I think I’ll always swoon a little over baby girl clothes.Nella loved the boxes and paper more than the actual clothes, I think.Happy Birthday sweet girl!