happy birthday emmers! | cake and presents

cake is definitely the highlight of any birthday. at least any birthday i've been a part of!

we chose pink velvet for her baby bundt cakes. 

selfishly, i wanted to try and avoid a giant mess with a bunch of icing [we already messed with that during her smash cake shoot...] but let's be real. it's not a real birthday cake if you don't have icing on top! 

home girl also has quite the love for her crackers.  i would never think twice about having to choose between cake or crackers, but she just couldn't leave her first love behind! :)

emma grace had so much fun opening her gifts!  she loved crawling and climbing on all the bags and pulling the paper out. but she also loved the goodies.  maybe next year will be our "cardboard box" birthday celebration.

from the very beginning, bub-hub and i decided we wanted emma grace's birthday celebration to be a giant thank you party for our friends and family.  we are so beyond blessed with love and support, and i can't even begin to imagine how different our first year as parents would have been without them.

was it a little unncecssary. sure. but it was fun, and we got to share the day with our friends and family, so in my book, that makes it all more than worth it!

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

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.