happy birthday emmers! // snacks & sweet treats

confession:

snacks are my most part of a party.

menu planning and tasting is my favorite.

i've also realized that bite sized snacks are best. 

no one wants to admit they ate 3 bundtinis, but the beauty of a bundtini is that you get to eat three. 

and as much as i love icing, i don't mind not fighting the "how am i going to get this whole bite in my mouth without getting icing up my nose" battle. #sweetworldproblem

the perfect bite sized indulgence.

fruit salad is also an easy go to for me. well, my version of fruit salad anyway.
i usually just pick up a few of my whatever is in-season favorites and toss them in a bowl!
i LOVE when i remember to sprinkle some vanilla pudding mix over it....making it extra sweet.
but i'll be honest. i usually forget. 

can we also just take a minute to talk about how ridiculous watermelon is to cut.
i'm pretty proud of myself for finishing the task with both my thumbs still attached.
it was pretty close though.

and of course.
paper straws for days.

all photos by sarah carpenter.
all calligraphy by katy richards.
paper straws // twigs & twirls

happy birthday emmers! / decorations and paper goods

i'm so excited to start sharing photos from emma grace's party!

from the beginning, my purpose for the party was to have a thank-you-so-much-we-couldn't-have-survived-without-you-celebration for our friends and family.  yes, we love EG and birthdays, but the only reason she made it to her first birthday was because we have such a fantastic support system.

so here is the first installment of our baby girl's celebration! :)

first off, my favorite part....the invitation!

i know most people are probably ok with a text or email invitations, but paper is my love language.  i love printed photos, and handwritten notes, and snail mail, and most of all, invitations!

designing emma grace's party invitation was definitely the most fun, but emotionally involved, project i've worked on to date.  i knew i wanted her party to be full of flowers and sunshine, and after finding some watering cans at ikea, i found my inspiration.

i filled the house with flowers and pictures, and more flowers and more pictures.

i'm officially obsessed with silk flowers.  i know they don't smell the same, or look the same, but when you're planning a party on a budget, for a baby, they are the most wonderful thing. i found the garland at michaels, and the stem flowers at the dollar tree. besides being incredibly budget friendly, it allowed me to set up days in advance, saving me last minute morning of stress.

the downside to having a million photos of baby girl is that i have a million favorites of baby girl. when it came time to picking a few of my favorites, i printed a hundred. i found a pack of brightly colored yardstick and matted them the best i could.  pretty sure they will be hanging on the walls of my dining room until her high school graduation. #babyshrine

oh, and balloons will always and forever be appearing at any event i plan for the rest of my life. or if it's a wednesday.

all photos by sarah carpenter.

emma grace // one year old

it's time for a little game we like to call, "what is she thinking??"

emma grace is the smiliest, most expressive human on the planet. 

i swear she smiles 1000 times a day. maybe more.

and every now and again, if you're lucky, she'll even flash her scrunchy-scowl face, which is equally fantastic. :)

we finished off the year 17 lbs strong, 25 inches tall.
she loves blackbeans and blueberries.
she's a crawling and climbing machine.
still hates snoozing, but snuggles like a champ.
she's working on her pageant wave and is an expert clapper.
little miss independent loves feeding herself and always has crackers in each hand.
she has 4 little toothies, the best snarley grin, and a giggle that makes my heart explode.

i'm not gonna lie,
i'm kinda loving that she's so small.
it makes it a little easier to pretend she's growing up.

a little bit about the photo shoot:
as i mentioned in the cake smash post, i really wanted to keep everything simple.
we laid out one of the quilts my mama made for emma grace, prayed for sunshine, and baby girl did the rest. oh, and my new favorite decoration, balloons! the rag bunting is made from scraps left over from the quilt, which is also her nursery fabric.

the deets:
one piece - baby gap (not listed online)
floral headband - little winter shop

all photos by sarah carpenter photography. 

a lesson in unnecessary traditions

this mom thing is really opening my eyes to a new world of fun and unnecessary traditions.  the cake smash has to be at the top of the list. it's for sure one of my favorite unnecessaries to date. :)

i tried to keep it simple. i found a few inspiration photos on pinterest and realized that simple is the way to go.  plus, i didn't want to spend a lot of time and money on anything that was going to be covered in yogurt and couldn't be washed.

i'm not a health nut by any means, but i am trying to make wise-ish decisions about what foods to introduce to baby girl.  i found this cake and thought it would be a safe bet.  the yogurt icing is amazing and i want to eat it by the gallon. while it's definitely not as amazing as my favorite cream cheese indulgence, it definitely hit the spot.

this cake definitely made me think i could give up sugar.
at least until i made my next fro-yo run. oops.

and can i just say, i was expecting her floral headband to last about 2.5 seconds.
but homegirl surprised me and kept it on for almost 7 minutes, which is basically an eternity!

if i was teaching a baby preparation course, i would definitely add "how to clean up your baby after they try and feed themselves anything" to the agenda. luckily, between dad and gran, they got the job done.  and we only had to soak her in the tub for a few hours to dissolve the dried yogurt from all her nooks and crannies. #babyrollproblems #myfavoriteproblem

the deets:
chambray tank - baby gap
bloomers - jcrew baby
floral headband - little winter shop

all photos by sarah carpenter photography.