azalea's first birthday party

we celebrated azalea's first birthday with friends and family on sunday the 25th. it was a great time, but i have to admit...i have some lingering guilt about this party. i wish we could have invited everyone who has been a part of azalea's first year, but unfortunately it's just not possible. a lot of people commented on how many people came, but in all honesty there were many more people we love who i wish we could have included. azalea was a trooper and held up really well with all the attention. she did start melting down at the end, but it was all good. :) 

we used the party room at my grandma's condo. we have a lot of family events there because it's a nice large space (and as a bonus, you don't have to clean your house). i mentioned before that my friend kelli and i started working on the decorations a few weeks ago. i didn't have a real "theme" besides the colors yellow and gray, but i was so happy with the way everything came out. 

party hat on the door and monthly photos hung on the mantel. i also popped some of the 12 month photos into a collage frame from home. 

the food table. the banner says "azalea is one". we were in the process of setting up the food, that's why is looks sort of bare. it was a mid afternoon party and i decided to just serve snack stuff (i didn't even cook!). best decision ever. i think everyone still enjoyed it.

the big one year old and her daddy ready to party

since we were expecting about 10 kids, i had the idea to bring along a bin full of toys to keep them entertained...it was a hit! 

some of the guests enjoying their food

thatcher is a pretty avid baker, so he decided he wanted to bake all the cake for the party. it took him quite a few hours the day before, but the cakes turned out great! we overestimated how much we needed and ended up having tons of leftovers. oh well, i can think of worse problems :) 

azalea was funny when it came cake time. we all sang to her and she sort of looked at us like "what is this all about?" we gave her her own cupcake and she squished it all up, but didn't really eat much of it. we all had fun watching her. she made a huge mess by the end, so i was glad i stripped her down to her diaper. 

in fact, she made such a mess that we decided to just put her in the kitchen sink to clean her off. i think she was pretty confused. it was so funny to watch! thanks to my bff kelli for heading up the clean up :) 

finally we opened some presents with her. of course she was more interest in the paper than anything. she was very lucky to receive lots of toys, clothes, and books. we feel so blessed to have so many people who love her! 

thanks to our friends and family who helped make this a special day for our girl!