Happy 1st Birthday Isabel!

We can't believe it's already been a year! Time just flew by faster than we could ever imagined it would. We look back at pics from when we first got her home and can't believe how much she's grown and progressed this year. Anyway, enough of the sappy parent stuff, let's celebrate!

I took the day off of work the day before her party and started working on her giraffe themed cakes and cupcakes. I have never actually made a decorated cake before and got some great tips from a friend and work and the employees of my favorite baking store in Madison, Vanilla Bean. It was a huge success!

To celebrate we planned a big 1st birthday bash at our home. We invited family, friends, and some of Isabel's little buddies too. We had a great turn out and a great party. Isabel got way too many gifts, but with Christmas and her birthday being so close together, we just packed some of them away unopened to be able to bring them out later in the year. Thanks to all our friends and family (especially those that came up from IL) for making this such a special day!

Here are a bunch of pictures from cake making to party times...Enjoy!





































She managed to stay up all day until about 4:00 p.m. when she got super tired. All of our guests were heading out by then, so it worked out well. She slept for about 2 1/2 hours...I kinda wondered if she was going to wake up ;) We played some more that evening and being the crazy mommy that I am, I entertained her long enough to stay up until her birth time of 9:53 p.m.

Birthdays have a whole new meaning now...