Category Archives: birthday

this is 31

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It’s my birthday (31!), so I thought I’d stick with my tradition (that I apparently skipped last year, oops), of sharing a few facts and tidbits about myself right now! I obviously don’t change year to year as much as the kids do, but it’s still fun to look back on these. I absolutely love birthdays and always make a pretty big deal out of them, and I think I’ll probably want to write these posts no matter what my age is. Here goes!1. I make chocolate-chip cookies just so I can eat the dough.

2. I am still terrible at laundry. I thought I was getting better at it, but then I guess we’ve added a couple of kids in the past few years, and it’s still just all chaos.

3. Going into my late 20s and early 30s has been amazing. I know a lot of people complain about getting older, but I honestly feel like I’ve grown to really discover myself and feel a lot more confident in who I am. I still have some personality traits that I’m learning to deal with, but overall, age has been good to me.

4. One such personality trait would be that I am still painfully introverted… and I don’t see that ever changing. Socializing is really hard, but I try to do it as best as I can. There are probably only a few people who know the “real” version of me, and while I wish that weren’t true, it’s something I think I’ll forever be working on.

5. This blog is still so important to me, despite feeling like I have almost no free time or energy to work on it these days. I’m really writing this for my kids, with the hope that one day, they can look back and see what life was like when they were little. I want them to have kids and be able to come here and glean a little knowledge from the experiences I’ve shared as their mom. I hope that if they ever find themselves struggling, they can read these posts and see how much I have always loved and cherished them beyond anything I ever knew possible.

6. I thought maybe I was becoming less clumsy, but in the past 24 hours, I’ve dropped and broken my electric griddle and a whole jar of strawberry jam. Oops. I think our hardwood floor is not a fan.

7. As of this January, I have given up almost all dairy. If you’ve known me for a long time, it’s probably completely shocking that I’m not eating ice cream anymore. I wouldn’t say that I’m lactose intolerant, but I definitely have sensitivity to dairy, and I wasn’t happy with how I’d feel after I consumed it. It’s surprisingly been a lot easier to give up than I thought it’d be.

8. Right now, I’m really into all the “retro” 1960s television shows: Green Acres, the Andy Griffith Show, Bewitched, etc. I used to watch these shows all the time in high school, so it’s fun to revisit a lot of them via Netflix and Amazon now!

9. I’ve been running for TEN YEARS and I can’t believe it’s been that long. It took me a long time to start racing (my first official 10k was less than 3 years ago), but I’m coming up on my second half marathon! To say that I’m nervous is an understatement.

10. I have been a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for 12 years now, and I honestly don’t know where I would be in this world without it. One of my favorite recent quotes comes from Elder Dieter F. Uchtfdorf: 

“Those who find a way to truly behold the Man find the doorway to life’s greatest joys and the balm to life’s most demanding despairs.
So, when you are encompassed by sorrows and grief, behold the Man.
When you feel lost or forgotten, behold the Man.
When you are despairing, deserted, doubting, damaged, or defeated, behold the Man.
He will comfort you.
He will heal you and give meaning to your journey. He will pour out His Spirit and fill your heart with exceeding joy.”

I am grateful for our Savior and the ability He has to heal us, comfort us, strengthen us, and love us.

Here’s to 31!

nella’s 2nd birthday party!

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We celebrated our sweet Nellbells’ birthday two whole months ago already… but I think I’ll likely be playing catch-up on here forever, so here it is! We had her party a little later than we usually would, since that was the only weekend Grandma Debbie could come up. It was a simple little celebration, but our girl definitely felt loved and cherished, which is all that matters.

She had no idea that the entire day would be full of festivities just for her. Daddy and I picked up three mylar balloons for her that morning, and she was instantly happy when we came home and surprised her with them.She liked hiding in them……and most of all, bouncing on them! Unfortunately, bouncing on your balloons does make them deflate faster! I made her a simple cake, with no particular theme this time. Roses on the top and sprinkles on the sides!She started to catch on that this day was just for celebrating her and how precious she is to our family. She was even a good sport for some pictures, which is not an easy feat for any two-year-old! My sweet sweet angel. We sang to her, and she sat there so calmly while she waited for us to finish. She had no idea she was supposed to blow out the candle!Daddy helped her the first time! Then, she surprised us by doing it all on her own! I still can’t believe she’s big enough to do things like this. Mmmm, chocolate!Nella dug right into her cake! She made a huge mess and really enjoyed herself.She definitely ate more cake than either of her sisters did at their second birthday parties.Grandma Debbie was the only guest for this party (everyone had just been here a couple of weeks prior, so I knew we wouldn’t have many visitors this time)! She enjoyed some Evie snuggles.After cake, Nella was actually excited to open her presents!Grandma gave her a small Mickey Mouse and a couple of outfits! My Mom and I went in together on a nice doll stroller for her (I’m done with all the $10 ones that break after a couple of months)…. Daddy put it all together, but Nella cried because she wanted to sit in it herself (I guess it looks too much like our real stroller)! She’s since figured it out and really enjoys it, but that first day was rough!We love you so much, Nellie Bellie. These two years with you have already gone by so fast, and you might not be a baby anymore, but you’ll forever be our Sunshine Girl. Happy 2nd birthday sweetie!

kaya’s 6th birthday (a unicorn party)!

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We celebrated Kaya’s birthday at the end of September (postponed by a week due to the uncertainty of hurricane Florence’s effect on our region), but I’m so excited to be catching up and sharing some of her special day.Kaya is perhaps the most birthday-enthused person in our family (which is saying A LOT, because I’m pretty into birthdays myself), so it’s always a little extra fun to surprise her and make her wishes come true. Ever since her 5th birthday, she’d been counting on having a unicorn-themed party for her 6th. She wanted her cake to be rainbow (for the 3rd year!), so I obliged, but switched things up a little with some rainbow rosettes. My attempt at a fondant unicorn fell flat (literally) late the night before the party, so I ended up printing a unicorn, laminating it, and attaching it to a popsicle stick. I was worried she’d be disappointed, but when she saw the finished cake, she unexpectedly threw her arms around me, squeezed me tight and said, “You did so GREAT!” It was my favorite moment of such a wonderful day.We had unicorn headbands for our three oldest girls (although Nella napped through the entire gig).Have you ever seen anyone happier on her birthday?We let her blow out the candle six times. Why not? Whenever we take these birthday pictures of just the birthday girl and us parents, I can’t help but remember the first picture we ever took with her. It seems like yesterday and forever ago all at the same time. Chocolate cake! Not to brag, but I think this was the best-tasting cake I’ve made so far. It was moist and rich, and the frosting was the creamiest. It had chilled in the refrigerator, so the coolness of the cake was delectable. Uncle Jeff, Auntie Lelia, and Cousin Bryce got to come up and celebrate with us! We were so happy to have them here.Grandma Debbie was here for the party, too!She’s already getting to that age where she asks for more expensive items… so that means she had just a few things to open. I liked the simplicity of it. Hatchimals from Grandma Debbie! She has been talking about these for over a year and was so excited to finally have her own!Kaya had already guessed what this one from us would be…“ROBOTIC PONY!!!”And some money for her 529 from Uncle Jeff, Auntie Lelia and Bryce! It was so funny to hear her read her card aloud as soon as she opened it.Grandma Gina and Grandpa Skip arrived close to dinnertime, so Kaya got to enjoy a second round of presents. A book light!And slippers!We waited until the next day to open her Hatchimals, since we knew it could take a while for them to actually come out, and we were all pretty exhausted by the end of her party. Kaya had so much fun tilting and rubbing the egg, and when they finally broke through, it was pretty exciting. She named her new babies “Flappy” and “Cuddly” and has loved taking care of them.

It was so wonderful to celebrate our girl and have so much of our family here to do it with us. These birthday weekends are some of my favorite memories.

Happy 6th Birthday Kaya!

michael’s 31st birthday!

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We celebrated Michael’s birthday at the end of August (I’m still catching up over here), and although we didn’t do anything too crazy, the girls were so excited to make his day a special one.

We spent the afternoon baking a cake for him before he came home from work. Kaya, Kaelyn, and Nella were all eager to help out!
 After they helped mix it, we baked it, let it cool, and then put some homemade chocolate frosting on top. The appropriate question to ask here would be, “Do you want some cake with your frosting?”Nella was taste-testing everything she could get on her spoon. She made a pretty big mess, but she looked so cute doing it. What’s sweeter than a baby covered in chocolate?If you thought there was a lot of frosting on the cake, well… there were even MORE sprinkles. I let the girls decorate it the way they wanted to, and at the end of it all, my big tub of sprinkles was nearly empty. Michael loved it!Kaya and Kaelyn worked so hard on all these handmade presents for their Daddy. Kaya made him a dot-to-dot coloring page, and Kaelyn made him a giant birthday necklace. They even wrapped it all, and then they set the table up just the way I do for their birthdays- presents on the right, and cake on the left. There was so much excitement and silliness happening while blowing out the candles!Kaya had also made him a custom paper birthday headband to wear.A balloon covered in Minnie stickers, from Kaelyn, of course.All while Eve slept peacefully in her bouncer seat. She has no idea what crazy fun awaits her with these sisters of hers.Michael’s birthday also marks ten years (to the day) that we met. I never could have guessed then that we’d end up married and with four precious baby girls who bring us so much joy. I’m so thankful for my best friend and for all these rambunctious birthday memories we get to make.

kaelyn’s 4th birthday (a paw patrol party!)

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I’m finally getting caught up on pictures from just before Eve joined our family (it’s been a little busy since then!), so I’m really excited to post about Kaelyn’s birthday party! We kept it very simple, but she definitely felt special and loved, so I’d call it a huge success. We were really lucky to have both Grandma Debbie and Grandma Gina there to celebrate with us, too.

We had her party the weekend before her actual birthday, just in case the baby decided to come early. I wanted to be sure she had a day just for celebrating her.

As soon as she woke up on party day, she immediately ran downstairs to see if we had put up any surprise decorations. She loved theses Paw Patrol streamers!Daddy took her to our favorite local donut shop for a special breakfast treat! Getting donuts on birthdays is now an official family tradition. Confession: this is the first one of our girls’ birthday cakes that I didn’t make. My pregnant self was too sick to do much of anything at all for the entire week leading up to her party, and I had no idea how I would be able to get the cake done. I ended up ordering one from the Kroger bakery, and honestly, it was a huge relief (although I did still feel a little guilty for not doing it myself).I put her toy Skye on top, and also had a brand new Everest puppy that I put on there to surprise her. She always says all the pups are her favorite, but I think Skye and Everest are really her most favorite favorites. She was beyond excited! We spent the morning relaxing until Grandma Gina arrived in the early afternoon. Kaelyn had been asking us if it was time to start her party all morning long, so she was ready to go as soon as Grandma arrived!I asked her if she wanted to open presents or eat cake first, and she said she wanted gifts first, because, as she stated, “I don’t want to get cake on my presents!” I knew she’d answer that way, though, because she was pretty excited to see if she had gotten anything on her wishlist.At the very top of her list was this Furreal Friends Talking Charlie dog! She had been talking about it for months, and her smile upon opening it definitely did not disappoint.“Charlie!!!”Grandma Gina supplied her with a bunch of Paw Patrol figurines, cups, sandals, and M&Ms!Grandma Debbie brought her a Rubble truck and a Minnie Mouse dress-up puzzle!After her gifts, she rushed back over to the table to blow out her candle. I just love her happy smile so much.We let her blow it out a few times, just for the fun of it (and because it’s also fun for me to get a couple of different shots of her doing it)! It was chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, and it definitely didn’t disappoint. To be honest, the girls ate more of this cake than any other we’ve ever had.FOUR YEARS OLD!A few days later, on her real birthday, we had some leftover cake and sang to her again!Kaelyn is also currently obsessed with Dalmatians, so we borrowed a few 101 Dalmatians books, as well as the movie, from the library and put them into a gift bag (along with this plush that we already had) just so she’d have something fun to open on her actual birthday.At church the next Sunday, we watched the entire Primary sing to her. She was so excited to get the special “rainbow lollipop” that each child receives on his or her special day (she and Kaya have been talking about it all year)!We love you so much, Kaelyn Grace! I still can’t believe you’re four years old now! You wear one of your Paw Patrol shirts almost every day of the week lately, and I wish I could just freeze time and keep you so sweet.Happy 4th Birthday Kaecakes!

five favorites (07/02)

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Whew! Although I thought maybe we’d have a busy week because we’d have a baby… The littlest lady is still comfy-cozy in there, so we’ve been filling up our time with a lot of other fun activities. Here are my favorites from this past week and weekend!

ONE. We’ve had a few visitors this week! The girls were really looking forward to having both grandmas here, and they were counting down the days until their arrival. Grandma Debbie was able to spend the weekend with us for Kaelyn’s birthday party, and Grandma Gina has been here all week, waiting for baby!My mom cooked up a huge batch of homemade chicken nuggets for us to enjoy (instead of our usual fallbacks of sandwiches and cereal) because I haven’t been able to cook for most of this pregnancy, so we enjoyed those for a few days. She also spent a lot of time coloring with the girls and helped clean a bit.My Mom-in-law and I have cleaned/nested just about everywhere else in the house this week (so now it’s time for the baby to come, right?)! It’s been so nice not to be alone during the day, too. Not carrying Nella all around is also a big plus!Grandpa Skip came up just for this past weekend! Kaya and Kaelyn were so excited to see him. They snuggled a lot and watched some “Shaun the Sheep” together, which is something they look forward to doing every time they see Grandpa!Nella took a while to warm up to him this time, so I don’t have any snuggly pictures of them together, but I do have one of him wearing her hat… Who couldn’t love this goofy guy?TWO. Kaya had her first-ever piano lesson from Grandma! She wrote out all the notes to “Once There Was a Snowman” so Kaya could practice something fun that she recognizes. She’s not reading music yet, but I am impressed with how quickly she’s memorizing songs and picking up on everything.She practiced hard all week long so she could surprise Grandpa Skip when he arrived!
Of course, the little sisters like to have a turn, too.THREE. We took Kaelyn out for her special birthday dinner this week (not-so-coincidentally on the same day that Red Robin was handing out free milkshakes)! She was the happiest girl in the world when the waiters sang to her and she got her birthday sundae at the end. This is a genuine-Kaelyn smile!We might be the silliest people in Red Robin any time we go…Kaya hopped from one side of the table to the other to be in both pictures. Yay!FOUR. Kaya’s been saving her allowance from helping out around the house, and we told her that once she paid tithing at church, she could spend some of it on something she wanted. It took her a while to be willing to pay her tithing, but she finally made her own decision to do it last weekend.

She’s been asking for her own camera for a really long time, so I found a deal on this little Canon Powershot for her for $29. It’s definitely a decent starter camera! She’s been bringing it just about everywhere, making videos, and trying to take the sharpest photos she can. It’s been really cool to see life from her point of view, and it’s also fun to have another little photographer around.“Let’s take a picture of each other taking a picture!” It was all her idea.FIVE. It’s been hot outside, so Michael picked up a little sprinkler to surprise the girls with on Saturday night. They liked running through it for a few minutes, but ultimately, they really wanted to play with the kiddie pool and the slide.

And yeah, I’m married to a total goofball (but I love it)! They always make the funniest faces once they hit the water!Nella really wanted a turn, so Grandma helped her out. She kept saying “WHOA!” anytime someone splashed!These little girls with big smiles… melting my heart.Simple evenings are my favorites. I never wanted to go inside.

Happy Monday!

happy 4th birthday, kaelyn!

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Dear Kaelyn,

I’m writing this on your birthday eve, filled with so many powerful emotions as I remember all the details of the hours leading up to your birth. I can’t even believe that you have been here in our family for FOUR whole years, and I can honestly say that we’ve enjoyed each moment with you.
In a way, you still seem so little to me, until I look back at pictures from last year. You’ve always been a cute kid, but you recently seem to have this more grown-up, elegant sense of beauty about you. I still don’t know who you resemble most in the family, but I love your shining eyes, scrunchy-nosed grin, ever-growing pigtails, and quiet little laugh so much.

You are such a comedian, but you generally make quiet jokes without doing anything too wild or outlandish. Your silly little antics make us laugh every day.

You’re generally very content to “do your own thing” and keep yourself entertained with books, puzzles, or little stories or games you make up yourself. You are still an ultimate puzzle-doer and amaze me with how many small pieces you can put together without any guidance.

You completed another year of homeschool preschool, which was extremely laid back and based off your interests. You’ve learned your letters, can write your name, and even spell some other words, like “yes” and “no”. You love any project that involves paint, scissors, or glue. I’ve slowly started teaching you to read, and you’re getting good at sounding out short letter combinations. You also love BOB books and try to “read” them to us all the time, although you get a little grumpy if we help you too much. You watch everything Kaya does, which is a big reason you’ve picked up on so much so quickly.

You completely surprised me one day when you just started writing letters and asking me how to spell things.

You are also such a great little artist, and you most often draw pictures of you and me together. I love when you leave notes under my pillow for me to find.

Every once in a while, we sometimes still call you “Baba Grace”, but a lot less often than we used to. Your main nickname nowadays is “Kaecakes”, which you also love. You do sometimes think that your full name is “Kaelyn Baba Grace Irwin”, though.

You are all about dogs, and although you rotate who your favorite stuffed animal is, it’s almost always been a canine. “Doggy” (who I made for you) is still your current favorite, and she goes everywhere. You also really love Dalmatians and Paw Patrol, of course.

You are an amazing big sister. You watch out for Nella, and you truly always do whatever is in your power to make her happy. Sometimes that means sharing your baby doll with her, letting her have something that you’re playing with, trying to make her laugh, or giving her some of your snacks. You are our little peacemaker.

You love babies and have been looking forward to meeting your newest sister for the longest time. You always tell us, “It’s almost my birthday… and then we get to see the baby!!!” (There are not enough exclamation points for how excitedly you squeal when you say that sentence!) You cannot wait to be a big sister again, and I know you’re going to help take care of the baby as much as you can.

You love going to Primary at church, and your teachers always tell me what an angel you are in class and how reverent you are.

People often comment on your “adorable little voice”. The way you talk is so sweet, and I almost wish it’d never change, but I know one day your voice will grow with you. There’s no way to really describe it except to just listen to you talk.

You love to tell me, “We are buddies!” when we have anything at all in common (oftentimes, it’s when we’re both having the same food for lunch). I love being buddies with you.

You want to be a pediatric nurse when you grow up. You’ve told me a few times that you’ll need to get a new outfit, though, because you don’t think this one will fit when you’re bigger. You also said, “I want to give them their flu shot because that’s how people be healthy!” You also really want to be a mommy, and be my neighbor when you’re old enough to have your own house.You still really need an afternoon nap of about 1.5 to 2 hours, but you usually would rather read, play in your room, or climb up into Kaya’s bunk and goof off with her. If you don’t sleep, you are usually incredibly tired by dinnertime.Just like last year, you’re still obsessed with blueberry everything, the song “Dirt On My Boots”, and Paw Patrol. You planned on having a Paw Patrol birthday for at least a year and counted down for months leading up to it.Other favorite things include pizza, Minnie Mouse, playing outside, wearing your mint jeans, and the colors pink, purple, and blue.Your Daddy, sisters, and I love you so much, sweet girl. We feel so blessed to have you as our second precious daughter, and we know you’re going to grow up to do amazing things. Happy 4th Birthday Kaelyn!!!

my beach-themed 30th birthday!

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It’s a snowy day here again, and I realized that I somehow never wrote about my birthday last month, so what better time to reminisce about the beach-themed day we enjoyed?

Just after midnight on my birthday, Michael surprised me by telling me that he was taking the entire day off of work, just to spend it together! Time is really the best gift you can give anybody, and I appreciate his time so much because of how incredibly busy he is. I was also pretty excited that I got to sleep in for an extra half an hour! Kaya and Michael had been planning some secret special activities, so I didn’t want to sleep too long and lose time.

Even the weather felt like a gift to me- it was just perfect for running, and because Michael wasn’t rushing off to work, I wasn’t on a time crunch and could run as long as I wanted. I felt good, so I just kept going, and I ended up with 7.5 miles. I think a long run was definitely the perfect way to start my birthday!

It was a good thing I ran for so long, because it gave Michael, Kaya, and Kaelyn time to put all this together:

I walked into “Irwin Beach”, where there were coloring pages decorating all the walls, streamers, beach-themed music, and Michael finishing making pancakes while wearing his Hawaiian swim trunks. They couldn’t take me to my favorite place in February, so they brought it to me!
They didn’t just make any pancakes, either… these are modeled after my very favorite “Nutella S’mores” pancakes that I have when we go out for breakfast down in Myrtle Beach.Just imagine… Fluffy pancakes, covered in Nutella, whipped cream, graham cracker crumbs, marshmallows, chocolate chips, and sprinkles. Mmmm! I ate 1.5 and was so FULL!A couple of little girls were really excited about the sprinkles! This baby girl was just as happy with a tray full of marshmallows!Great post-run fuel, right?Michael had been keeping the rest of the day’s plans a secret, but the girls spilled the beans about us needing our swimsuits shortly after breakfast was over, so I knew we were going to the aquatic center! It took a little while to collect everyone’s necessary suits and towels (we haven’t been swimming since last summer), but it was so worth it when we got there and saw the smiles on the girls’ faces.This was actually our first time going there, and I think Kaya and Kaelyn were equally excited and terrified by the water that would fall from the upper beams. And, as you can see, we were the only ones there besides one other family.The older girls loved going down this crocodile slide! Kaecakes, you crack me up.This was Nella’s first time ever swimming! I can’t believe it took us so long to take her to the pool, but it’s just not as easy as it was with Kaya and Kaelyn, since we had access to a neighborhood pool when they were babies. Nella had the best time, and although the water was a little chilly, she still didn’t want to get out.She was happy as long as she had this big red ball. Kaya had Daddy give her a mini swim lessson, mostly just practicing floating and kicking her legs up and down the short end of the pool. She really wants to learn to swim for real so she can go down that huge water slide in the back (no life jackets are allowed, and parents can’t wait at the bottom to catch their child, either, so she’d need to be completely independent).I love all these baby girls more than I could ever say. This outing had me feeling especially grateful for homeschool, too, because it allowed us to all be together, Kaya included. These are the best days.Michael did have to go and teach his afternoon class, so while he headed off to do that, we all washed up, ate lunch, and had naps. Kaelyn gave me about a thousand sweet homemade cards that she had hidden about a week before my actual birthday. Our sweet new baby girl spent a lot of the day kicking in my belly, which felt like a little gift, too. We ended the day at one of our favorite places- Red Robin!I honestly couldn’t have come up with any better way to spend my birthday. Thirty is looking really great so far.

nella’s first birthday sunset photos

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After Nella’s birthday party, the lighting was perfect outside, so we just had to get out there and take a few pictures with her balloons. I wanted to make a separate blog post for these, because there were too many cute ones to narrow it down. So, ta-da! A thousand adorable baby pictures.She was so obsessed with trying to grab the balloons that getting photos without them in her face was a little bit of a challenge.She definitely loves balloons, though! She also tried to eat them… And when she wasn’t eating balloons, she was trying to eat leaves.But she spent the rest of the time looking like a baby doll. Be still my heart. Clapping! We love you so much, Nella Joy!

a sunshine birthday party (nella’s first birthday!)

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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!