How have 365 days passed? 365 of the best days of our lives, might I add. Our greatest joy, Aarya, was born on January 26th, 2018. Our love has grown, our hearts exploded, and our lives complete. What was life before her? I have absolutely loved watching her grow this past year. Witnessing her hugs, kisses, babbles, sign language, admiration of books, love of music, her sheer determination and cheekiness.. it's all so surreal. I feel like I was just dreaming of having a little one, and ta-da.. she's here! Motherhood is seriously finding this balance of: grow up so I can see who you become, but slow down so you can stay as my little baby.. who’s with me? Does it get easier?? We did her nursery theme with hot air balloons and clouds, and wanted to continue that into her first birthday. I'll be sharing her room in another blog post - SOON! I've been getting lots of questions about certain pieces that I've snapped in my IG stories. Anyway - her first birthday... We had such a fun time with her cake smash + milestone photos with our lovely photographer friend, Sarah from Fawn Lily Photography. She's patient, kind and takes such perfect photos! Sarah does an impeccable job and I'm so happy we chose her to document Aarya's first year! It's so difficult to pick a few to share.. cause I am that mom.. the oversharing-look-at-my-baby-oh-so-cute-photo-obsessed mama. Here are some credits to some lovely shops for the personalization for the shoot: Cake Smash Cake: Pammie Cakes Hot Air Balloon Photo - Headband: TweedleDee Baby Cake Smash Photo - Headband: Mojo & Me Decor + Cake Topper + Custom Onesie: Creations by Sonia - yep, gotta plug myself in here ;) I ordered the large round balloon from Amazon, and got it filled up from a local Dollar store. We tied ribbon to a basket that Sarah had, and ta-da... faux hot air balloon! I also made the pennant banner to add a final touch! I can't find the letterboard on Amazon anymore.. but that is where I got this cute little square. It's a whiteboard on the other side, which I thought was genius! I made a classic "1" cake topper in glitter gold (you can find that here), and added a glitter cloud to personalize it to her theme. Milestone boards are the perfect way to pause time. I love that I can look at this photo and not only remember her tiny fingers, but her most important details. My memory isn't what it used to be, so I love that I will not forget how many teeth she had, or what her favourite book was. We always say we'll remember.. but, really, we don't. It all becomes a blur. I'm not there yet, but I know it will happen. I also love these boards to showcase to her loved ones. They can get a snapshot of the special little details, and it makes her birthday just that much more memorable. Everyone loved seeing if she would say the things we put on her board.. my favourite being, mama ;) Did you know that was her first word? You can shop her specific board design here. I wanted to capture her growth from the first year, so I printed her newborn photo and had her hold it.. and I LOVE how it turned out! Speaking of showcasing to loved ones.
We had an intimate party to celebrate Aarya's one year, and I am looking forward to sharing those details.. but I think this post is getting pretty long. I'll stop here, and get a new post together for you all to see. We did some DIY items (I made a pinata!!!), and I want to share them with you! Stay tuned for that. I hope you enjoyed seeing a little #BTS action on Little A's first birthday photos! Hopefully there's some inspiration here you can take for your own little's birthday. xo, Sonia |