i was initially conflicted about whether or not to even have a first birthday party for my daughter. i mean, of course we would have celebrated, but i didn't know if a party was something she would even be able to enjoy at such a young age.

but then as her first birthday got closer, i started getting bummed about how quickly my baby girl was growing up, and that's when i decided a party was definitely in order! if nothing else, i needed i diversion!


i decided to go for a hot air balloon themed party. the reasoning was that while i was in labor with jia and just about to start pushing, there was a hot air balloon floating outside my hospital window! despite everything that was going on for me in that moment, that made a special impact, and to me is a cool memory of her birth!

so i started putting together a party for jia and her batch of baby friends from church, and drew on some ideas from pinterest. if you look up anything about baby parties on pinterest, expect to be bombarded, and for things to quickly spiral out of control! it's like i couldn't help myself...pinterest projects turned into my therapy. although i must say, not all the ideas were stolen from pinterest...i did have a couple original ones in the mix!

i made a hot air balloon fruit basket, with rainbow fruit skewers, and photo "clouds." basically i used the walgreens app to print the instagram pics i've been taking like crazy for the past year, and i taped them to the end of balloons. it was a sweet little photo gallery.



the picnic part didn't quite turn out like my vision though. we were supposed to have a couple balloons on each picnic blanket, tied to lanterns with little citronella candles in them to keep the mosquitos away...but alas, the wind blew us all away. we had to resort to weighing the blankets down with random stuff...but at least the wind also kept the mosquitos at bay...and you can't complain about a breeze when it's 100 degrees! and i totally recommend a picnic for little ones...it makes the clean up so much easier!


we did cupcakes for everyone instead of regular cake...and since a lot of the guests were under 1 year old, i actually made healthy(ish) chocolate zucchini cupcakes so we wouldn't feel as bad about the kiddos chowing down! and contrary to how it sounds, they are delicious! for party favors i had goodies in some little bags with a pinwheel and balloon on top...it kind of looks like little hot air balloons, right? maybe?


jia's smash cake was really just 5 and 1/2 cupcakes put together into the shape of a cloud, and iced over! on top i put an actual pic of the hot air balloon that we took while in labor. it's kind of like it's floating on a cloud, right? as with all smash cakes...cuteness in sued.



one of my favorite party pinspirations was a little hot air balloon photo area. i mean, does it get any cuter?

please! the cuteness!!

but of course the babies would have been just as happy if the whole party had only consisted of the little splash pool. (water is a necessity at all texas summer parties!)

at the end of the day, we all had fun i think. jia was too wiped out at the end to really appreciate gift opening, but the next morning was pretty much like christmas for her!



so even though the fullness of it all was a bit lost on jia, it was still fun to celebrate our little girl, and reminisce a year that all too quickly flew by! and i gotta say...kid parties are fun!

**a big thanks to Akshay Harshe Prasad Photography for the pics!**

so my baby is now a one year old.
i know. it's crazy hard to believe. please don't tell me about how they grow up so quickly.

i'll be honest...this was a little bit hard for me. i'm happy and sad to see my little baby grow up all at the same time! it's very confusing folks! :P

anyways, in order to give her a fun first bday, as well as divert myself from the danger of getting into a sad funk of wondering how the days passed so quickly and where my baby went, we took a family outing to the zoo!


this was jia's first trip to the zoo, and at just 12 months old, i wasn't too sure if she would be that interested honestly. but she's fascinated with dogs, so we hoped she'd get a kick out of other animals as well...and she did! it would be safe to say that she LOVED the zoo!

it was mostly the big animals that fascinated her...particularly the lions and giraffes. i wish the elephants had been closer for her to see, because i'm sure she would have loved those too.





there was also a petting zoo, where she made friends with some goats and horses. she's definitely not afraid of animals! good thing those goats are pretty chilled out!



but perhaps her favorite thing of all was the little water play area that the zoo had for kids. she's been pulling up and walking around with support for several months now, but watching all the big kids running around in the play area inspired her to take her first independent steps!
she's been taking a few more each day since then, so we'll be in trouble soon!



so at the end of the day, we all had a blast. my husband and i just enjoyed watching her have so much fun. it's exciting now that she is enjoying different experiences more. i hate seeing my baby disappear, but each new age brings so much excitement and joy of it's own!

one year old...or 12 months...however you want to say it, i can't believe that it's here!



hopefully i'll crank out a few posts this week about jia's birthday fun, but for now i'm just going to tackle my last monthly baby photo and update. maybe in the future i might do some every 6 months or so, but i probably won't try to replicate the whole laying down on a blanket in a white onesie bit.

do you have any idea how hard it is to get a 12 month old to lay down on their back and be still? the past few months it's gotten increasingly challenging! here's a few out takes from this month...


actually they're kind of all out takes this time...but alas, she was done, so i just picked the one i liked best.

so as you can tell, this month she's been all over the place! she would run around everywhere with her little walker, even though we could tell she would be able to walk if she tried. she also got pretty skilled at running around on her knees, which was kind of cute! but then on her actual birthday she took her first independent steps! since then its been a few more each day.

she's in the 80% for height and weight, so she's trimming down a bit! lol. must be all that exercise!

baby girl LOVES to be outside, but unfortunately she is also a mosquito magnet! must be because she's so sweet!

these days she is learning new things so fast...it's fun watching the little light bulb go off in her head! she is getting better at using a couple signs, and she's learning how to actually play with some of her toys the way they're meant to be played with! haha.

she is full of non-stop chatter these days...once she has command of more words we'll be in trouble!

getting to know her and watch her grow this year has been one of the highlights of my life! 

so it's almost a month later, but i have to mention my first mother's day.

i sort of celebrated last year since i felt pregnant enough to qualify, but this year it definitely all had a whole new meaning.

so far being a mother has been one of the greatest joys of my life. it has far surpassed anything that i had imagined. i feel so blessed and thankful to have jia in my life!

so here are the three generations of ladies in my fam last year...

and then this year...


it's nice to be wearing jia on the outside this year!

we also got to take some pics in the park with a friend that day...which i think needs to be our new annual mother's day tradition!