Sydney's 1st Birthday Party

We celebrated Sydney's 1st birthday on May 15th. We welcomed 75 family & friends to our "new" home to celebrate the momentous occasion. It's been an amazing year and well worth celebrating in a BIG way. We went all out and it was fabulous. It was a lot of work getting the house ready for the special day and we wouldn't have been able to make it a success without the help of our wonderful family. The list of people who helped us is long. It warms my heart to know how much we are loved.

The little zookeeper

All smiles

The centerpieces. I used our wedding candle holders, added some ribbon, some pom poms & pipe cleaners from the dollars store & some wood animals I bought for 50 cents at Micheal's. Cheap & easy...

My mom made this sign for Sydney. We can remove the "1st" part & put a new number in for every new birthday. I love it!

Mommy, Daddy & Sydney

Grammy & Sydney

Sydney's hearing aids all dressed-up for the party

Our home

Sydney's 1st year in review (Thanks Ashley)

I bought the cake topper on Etsy (kharygoarts) and I made the cake myself. It was 3 layers of chocolate & white cake with 2 different fillings (banana & chocolate pudding & strawberries & cream). I made Martha Stewart's Swiss meringue butter cream and it was yummy! I only wish I got to enjoy more of it.

The cakes

Pinwheels and poppies

Paper pinwheels made by my mom. She used flower & animal papers.

My mom made these hanging paper balls with cute, whimsical cardstock. I wish I had more photos of these. She made some with fuzzy animal print cardstock. They also had hanging tags with zoo animals.

The decor. We used pink tablecloths with animals print wrapping paper as table runners. My mom bought really cool animal balloons at Target. Before the party began I peeked out Sydney's window and I saw how beautiful everything looked and it made me tear up. Our family helped to make it so beautiful. My father-in-law spent many hours working on our yard, my mother-in-law made food and bought almost everything we needed, my dad came weekly to keep Sydney occupied while I cleaned or ran errands and my mom worked on handmade decorations for weeks. It was really special for us to celebrate how far we've come. It was a hard year...but a beautiful, joyous year. I couldn't be happier.

The kid's table (Thanks Audrey!)

The beautiful sign the my mother-in-law had made for Sydney. She used one of my favorite photos.

My cousin Loretta & my little niece Giovanna. Lori just completed her 1st year at Cal and then hopped on a plane to be here just for the party. My family is amazing!

The salsas

The Taco guys cooking up the carne. Woody was barking at these guys until he realized they were cooking meat and then he wouldn't leave their side.

Mr. Gorilla was hanging around at the party. I spotted him with a beer during the party.

The best Elmo pinata I could find. He's a little cheesy and kind of creepy but Sydney really loves Elmo. She squealed with delight when she saw this pinata.

Aiden taking his turn

Little Sophia taking her turn

Sammy whacking Elmo (I forgot the blindfold!)

Brooke in for the kill...Poor Elmo!

Sydney getting candy for mommy. :) Look at Elmo's poor head in the background.

Opening presents. Sydney got so many thoughtful gifts. We are so very thankful.

Elmo!

Sweet Delilah

The End!

I can't wait to see what adventures Sydney's 2nd year brings. She is the most amazing, sweet, loving little girl. She brings so much joy to every one's life she touches. Despite the stress of having such a big party it was well worth the work. I'm so thankful for everyone who came and celebrated with us.