A Party Fitting a Princess...

 

When I was born, my mom was quite ill. She endured an extra lengthy, high risk pregnancy to get me into this world. And when I finally arrived, I think I left her worn, ill, and tired. At the time, my sister was living at home and attending college. She stepped in and became like a second mother for me.

For my early years we were quite inseparable. She used to take me everywhere with her - even on a few dates with her now husband of thirty years. We are still close. Her own handsome son is almost a teenager. I know she always wanted a son, but I also know she always wanted a baby girl of her own, too - probably remembering our early days together.

When she said she wanted to throw Bebe Sister a birthday party, I thought, "Great. I don't have the bandwidth with everything going on so this will be wonderful." Of course, I seem to always forget that my sister could have made a career out of organizing parties. I know she might have gone a bit over-board but since I'm the one blessed with the baby girl, I am happy to share.

So here you have it, photos galore of our family party for our sweet little princess. Many of the photos lack faces. I apologize for that but many of the people attending the party prefer to not have facial photos online.

This is me just prior to the gathering - I was trying to be artsy be taking a self-portrait in the balloon's reflection. (By the way, take a good look at that sweater - it accidentally went through the wash so it will be up-cycled into some pants for Bebe Sister very soon.)

Bebe Sister and her Cousin Dede - he was entertaining her so the rest of us could enjoy some lunch. He is the best big cousin - really great with both the kids, actually.

Party games - once again, T Rex Dad won the chop stick game. He is undefeated three times and counting. He is challenging his sister and his sister-in-law here.

My mom and aunt working on another party game - word scramble. Gotta love Auntie in a crown!

Even T Rex insisted on wearing a crown.

 

Cake time - my sister made the entire cake from scratch - it was delicious. Apparently, it took three attempts to meet her satisfaction level.

Ready to have her cake and eat it too - pinata to the left - a long standing family tradition.

Clapping along to Cousin's singing.

Mmm - delicious cake made even better when eaten off a princess figurine.

More of that great cake because I was just having the best time with it!

A few posed shots...

With Auntie JAZ.

With her Mama.

With her Nana.

T Rex Dad took most of these photos, hence his absence in them. And he also took her official one year old photos this day, too. Those will be forthcoming and published on her blog soon.

Thank you to my sis for making this event amazingly special, memorable, non-stressful and the best one year old birthday party I've ever attended.