Our Baby Turns One - Part 1

February 26, 2008 our lives changed forever. I could never have imagined how much I could love someone until Shannon came along.  Here we are 1 year later and I can't begin to think of life without her or before her for that matter!  As many people say "what did I do with all my time before I had a baby??!!"  I'm guessing Todd and I did a lot of sleeping and wasting time.

My whole life family celebrations have always been big.  From graduation parties to communions to birthdays, I've always loved gathering together with family and friends to enjoy the celebrations of  life.  Shannon's first birthday followed right along with that tradition.  At a local Irish restaurant/pub we all gathered to celebrate the big "1"!  It was the perfect atmosphere... comfortable, inviting, and familiar to most. Online I found this ceramic plate that everyone at the party can sign. You bake it and it creates a forever keepsake. We look forward to using this birthday plate for years to come. 

 

I wanted to have some kind of theme for the party, but as usual I am not very creative and couldn't quite come up with something.  Luckily enough, it just kind of fell into place. First, I found cute invitations with flowers that have a whimsical feel to them with a design or two that could kind of resemble a Celtic design.  A dress I had my eye on for quite some time went on sale with an extra 25% off and of course... it had flowers on it.  After those two items were in place I knew that the cake had to be to finishing touch to bring it all together. 

Our sister in law Wendy, Shannon's godmother, makes cakes as have mentioned before and together we designed a fun flower themed cake.  Wendy helped me pick the frosting colors and flavors, adding the cupcakes for the kids as the stems.  It turned out just as I had imagined it. Wendy's business partner designed the basket with an adorable "Happy Birthday Shannon" design complete with "thank you" white chocolate suckers for the guests in flower shapes!  I told Wendy that she has now set a bar for future birthdays, communion and special occasions for Shannon.

You should be able to click on each picture to view it in a larger size.