Happy Birthday, Darling Girl!

It's been a whole year since I gave birth to my sweet Clara right here at home. I know it's cliche, but I honestly can't believe how fast it's gone!

Today, she's perfectly healthy. 20 lbs, 29 inches, right on track with milestones and just the sweetest little thing you could possibly imagine!

We had a party for her on Saturday. I'm lucky enough to live in an AWESOME ward full of awesome people that are willing to trade their talents for mine. (I love doing that!) So, Jessica, baker and sewer extraordinaire, was willing to trade a cake for a shoot and look at the amazing cake!



Seriously! How lucky am I?

So, I had this image in my head. Gorgeous day, gorgeous cake, gorgeous baby, all our friends at the park for a "teddy bear picnic". Doesn't it sound sweet?

I should probably point out, I can get a teensy bit stubborn at times.

So, I have this image in my head. I was all ready to go. I woke up and looked out at a beautiful day! Blue sky, no wind, warm sun...

Aria had a soccer game at 11, followed by a birthday party at 1, so I was outside from 10:30 to 2:30 and the weather was great. I even got a little sun burn on my face.

But then the clouds started rolling in. The wind started blowing. I was sure it would be no big deal. It would stop and I'd have my lovely party. So, we went to the park. We unloaded the cars and the kids started to play. I probably should have gotten a clue when we had to anchor everything down, but the cake showed up and it was so amazing that I was sure the sun was going to pop back out. No problem.

So, amidst the grumbling (from the grown-ups...well, some of them...) and the whining (the kids...they were cold), I decided we could do the party in fast forward mode. Everybody huddled and we sang to Clara.



I lit the candle a couple times during the song because of the wind. Then the other kids helped blow it out.


But since we pulled Clara away from burning herself on the candle...she got a little upset....sing it with me now...."it's my party, and I'll cry if I want to!..."


I'm a sucker for this face, though.


So I gave her the candle. All better.




Then we dug into the cake! How cute is she with her Papa?




Buuuut....it wasn't getting any better outside. People were cold. The sun never came back. I think the wind just blew something in Rachel's eye here.


So, we packed everything up and went home for presents.




I'm not sure that anyone but Clara and I really enjoyed it. But it was her first birthday and we made a memory.

Here's to the sun coming out next year!