Has it really been a whole year already?

     It's hard to believe that an entire year has passed since the Lord blessed us with a healthy baby girl.  Looking back, those 9 months seemed to take forever.  And these last 12 have just FLOWN by!  Throughout the year, Dan and I have been taking pictures of Kara every month to document her growth.  Thanks to Shel and Troy, we now have mini recliner that has served as her "seat of honor" for these pictures for the last 6 months.  I hate to admit, but I haven't gotten her 12 month picture yet, and Kara is napping at the moment, so the cupcake picture will have to do.

     I'm trying not to get too carried away with her 1st birthday party, but it's hard when I like making so many different kinds of things!  Here's a sneak peek of a few of my items...

     Well, Kara is having a Little Miss Sunshine themed party.  I searched high and low for pre-made Little Miss Sunshine invitations, but in the end I purchased these invitations on etsy.com, from DistInkDesigns.  I made the additional inserts myself on Publisher.  And I took it all to FedEx to get them printed in color.

     Naturally, when I was looking for ideas for a 1st birthday party, I searched pinterest, but I also came across a few blogs that I got some great ideas from.  On one blog, I came across the idea for a time capsule.  I'm hoping this will turn out as well.  I'm interested to see what people come up with to include in there for Kara.  I wanted to give those who are out of state, and not able to come to her party, an opportunity to contribute something memorable.  The plan is for Kara to open it on her 18th birthday.  Dan and I still haven't quite decided what it is we want to put in there, but we think we've figured it out :).

     I plan on making her birthday cake, and of course, I want it to be a Little Miss Sunshine cake, but I just hope I don't get too ambitious, and end up not having enough time to accomplish everything.  I've also started working on some decorations.  I've got a banner done, and also a smaller banner for her high chair.  There are just so many cute ideas out there!  I have to hold myself back so I don't spend a small fortune on this thing.

 

     I've even ordered a diaper for the occasion.  We LOVE our cloth diapers from NanaPants by Betsy (Micah's mom, one of Dan's roommates in college).  And I couldn't resist getting a custom one for Kara's birthday.  Isn't it cute?

     While I could use the excuse that this party is really a celebration of us surviving being parents for our first year, and honestly it kind of is, we've really been blessed with a pretty good and happy baby girl.  Granted she's always crawling all over the place, and getting into things, but she's healthy and happy.   What else can we really ask for?  I thank the Lord that he has blessed us so richly!

     I'm going to leave you with a picture and a video from Friday (her 1st birthday!).

    Here's her first experience with her own cake.  She wasn't sure what to do with it at first (that's why the video's so long)!