Maybe there aren't quite as many pictures the second time around. But the memories in my mind are there, and that is what is important. Kevin once told me to stop trying to take a million pictures and just enjoy the moment. I've found he's right. The pictures are so special to me and perhaps one day I might return to scrapbooking...like when the girls have moved to college :) But if your eye is always behind the camera, you can forget to live in the moment...or as so often happens to me, I get frustrated and ruin the moment waiting on the girls to cooperate for said picture. Don't get me wrong, we still have a ton of pictures and rarely leave the house without a camera of some form. But most of our pics are candid and those are the ones I love the most.
All of that being said, and you wondering what the point of this post may be, the second time around, the one thing I didn't do any differently was one very special little girl's 1st birthday party. Knowing this could very well be our last 1st birthday party, I was pulling out all the stops...no stone was going to be left unturned. I searched through 26 pages of Etsy to find the perfect invitation. Of course it just happened to be the VERY LAST option, but was so totally worth the search. Also, it included matching thank you notes ~ so double win for me! I spent an hour one day trying to take the cutest picture for that perfect invitation and then sending multiple emails so people could vote on their favorite. I made countless homemade ice cream cones, pom poms, and paper fans. I spent hours on Pinterest looking for the cutest options, visited Party City more times than I care to count, searched Houston and surrounding areas for the playhouse that suddenly wasn't available and wouldn't arrive on time if shipped. I enlisted help in assembling birthday gifts, making favors, hanging banners, and creating some yummy rice krispie treat ice cream cones.
Granted, the craziness was perhaps over the top and on more than one occasion my dear husband asked "when is it going to stop?", but I loved every second! Of course, I realize she won't remember anything about this party... Let's be honest, first birthday parties are for the parents! Nonetheless, they are priceless memories and it makes my heart happy to celebrate with those who love us and our sweet girls so much. Thank you to each of you for making this day so very special. I wouldn't have traded a minute of it!
Photos Courtesy of Little Lamb Photography

































