Bubbles and Balloons!

Here are the pictures from Leah's 1st birthday party! We rented the Griffith Park Visitor's Center Auditorium, and I'm really glad we did, because it ended up pouring rain that day. The theme was Bubbles and Balloons!

We came back from Asia 3 days beforehand, so I knew I was going to be pretty strapped for time. I had Elenique Designs help me put together some of the decorations which decreased a lot of the planning stress! We got the cake from Portos, and it was amazing! One layer was chocolate with a chocolate fudge filling, and the other was cuban with a guava fruit filling.  Mmmm

A good friend of mine designed the image on the left for the invitations, and Elenique Designs used the image to create the centerpieces for the table. They turned out super cute!

For food, we hired a taco cart, and it was a big hit! I was a little worried how it would work in the rain, but they were total pros!  They served 3 types of meat (carne asada, chicken, and carnitas) along with different toppings, rice and beans, and chips. 

It was so fun to see our friends and family all get together to help us celebrate this milestone. We are so blessed to have them in our lives.

I had a poster printed out with an image similar to the invitation but without the balloons.  I had the guests write their names on a colored circle, and I'm going to glue those on the poster to make a keepsake guestbook!  I want Leah to be able to look back at it and see the names of the people who helped us get through this 1st year in one piece!

We did a cake smash, and it turned out a little different than expected.  She refused to touch the cake with her hands at first. Then she gently poked it. This girl likes to stay clean! She finally ate some when I fed it to her with a fork and gave her the fork.  Once she realized everyone was staring at her, she started crying.  She stopped shortly after we fed her more cake {takes after her mama!}.

My niece having fun in front of the camera.

I can't believe Leah is 1 now. I know she won't remember this party, but I'm really glad we got to have a big celebration. This year has been the most exhausting, tested my patience, and lowered my standards of cleanliness. However, it has also been the most rewarding and joyful.  I feel so honored to be able to be the mama to this little girl. I thank God for her and my little family everyday.

*all photos by Clicky Photography