papier mache: ONE-derland!

Credit: pictures are courtesy of Vanessa Hedstrom and Maria Luna. Thank you guys!

Can you believe it? I can’t either.

Our baby is ONE!

We hear it all the time, all parents have warned us, “DON’T BLINK!”. It seems all too true how fast time really flies. I still remember (very clearly) how natural of a birth I had, all the difficulties with breastfeeding, weight issues, sleep deprivation, etc. It’s hard to realize how far we’ve come as parents, as individuals, and as a family in one year. Ryan and I have faced our own “growing pains” as we have to deal with the transitions in our marriage, our lives, and (honestly) our bank account. But God continues to be so apparent and ALIVE in our lives...we see Him work in us everyday. Our faith in what He has prepared for us is so deep and secure, it's quite amazing.

We have seen the true fruit of our work by truly investing in our daughter. Many close friends and family can attest to this, but Estella definitely didn’t make things easy for us...she still doesn’t actually (haha). She had a difficult time in the beginning with breastfeeding so she was quite fussy and overstimulation was the 2^nd to worse thing that could happen to her (aside from being hungry). It was hard for us to hear many unsolicited comments about what kind of parents we are along with criticism about our decision that we made for me to be a full time stay at home mom. It doesn’t take long for people to inquire about my educational background, the degrees I have, and wonder what the heck I’m doing “just” staying home. You can picture the amount of eye rolling I’ve done in this past year (haha). Don’t worry, we’ve learned to shut our ears to the naysayers and open our ears to what truly benefits us.

Free hand art by Oscar Luna!

Our daughter has really blossomed in more ways than we can imagine. We also can’t ignore the fact that (obviously) we think she is also extremely intelligent considering she can already respond verbally to commands and has social cues! However, that’s not what impresses us the most. We also aren’t talking about the physical stats we get at every doctor’s appointment that tell us she’s right on track and very healthy, but her personality, her sweet heart, her silly humor, and her confidence. Those are things Ryan and I have continued to nurture everyday...we have always talked about being parents in the way to support God’s intentions for her life versus what we want her to be.

Life is so different. And we are loving every second of it.


Guestbooks from my baby shower & her 1st bday! Great keepsake!

Everyone told us that the moment Estella arrives, it will seem as if nothing else ever existed...we would never be able to picture our life any differently. What a beautiful way to truly represent how our life is currently.

There have been difficulties over the past year that we have overcome and continue to work on everyday. Not only do we have the support from each other, but also the endless amounts of love outpoured from both of our family and friends have been everything we needed and then some.

One of the favors- DIY Polaroid magnets!

I also can’t believe the new genuine and supportive friendships I have formed with fellow mamas from my “new” social life as well as reconnecting with old friends that are also new parents as well. We have felt somewhat departed from our friends that do not have kids, but we are appreciative for the new friends we’ve made and those relationships that we have built. I never realized how important these kind of relationships are as new parents until we had Estella.

My mama friends understand my “crazy”, let me brag about Estella (because they love to talk about their own kids), keep me grounded, and share the same insane love for coffee that I do. (Btw- hardly drank coffee before Estella...now I depend on it! Eek!)

Estella finger painted on her own on canvas along with the party favors on display!

I can go on and on about how much we love this new role we have but I think you get the idea. Let’s talk about THIS PARTY!

Our documentation of each month of her growth!

Estella with one of her BFFs, Addie!

So for everyone that knows me, I like to be different and think “outside of the box” a little. I figured that the first birthday is more of a celebration for the parents! (“WE MADE IT A WHOLE YEAR AND SHE’S ALIVE!” type of thing) So any princess or girly kid theme was out of the question in my head (plus I want to save that for later when she can appreciate it!). I wanted the adults to have fun and keep it light hearted! So what’s better than an 80’s theme where everyone gets to let go a little and dress up?!

I am not a fan of the super crazy neon 80’s rock kinda stuff...which is the majority of what I saw browsing on Pinterest for hours and hours! So I started to incorporate ideas from the 80’s with a pastel “vintage” color scheme and hints of gold glam...because what girl doesn’t love GOLD AND GLAM?! Basically- I wanted a chic 80’s gold party and that’s what we were able to achieve!

I am so grateful for the help of my CREATIVE AND TALENTED best friend, Maria, and sister-in-law, Metta who helped more than I could ever pay back! This is cliché but I really mean it literally, I could NOT have done it without them. The work they put in prior to the party was key to us actually pulling it all off!

Oliver also enjoyed the party!

Props for our photo booth!!

The only downer of the day was that our baby girl woke up at 3am with an extremely high fever (ugh) but she wasn’t too crabby and was a trooper for the whole party. The weather was PERFECT (because we had a set up outside as well) and the food turned out DELICIOUS (well...we made it so of course it’s delicious haha).

Not only were our outfits AWESOME (the hubby rocked some hot short shorts!), majority of the guests dressed up and made the theme what we wanted, which was FUN FUN FUN!

Best 80's outfits!!

Cakes by Marco!

I hope you enjoy seeing glimpses of all the work we put into making this one of the most memorable parties ever! We couldn’t have done it without my mom (she made majority of the food), my best friends (Maria & Oscar handed over their house for us to use and let us borrow their talents and Rosie paid for our beautiful cakes made by Marco!), Marco (our personal baker haha), my pregnant SIL, Metta who helped with so much décor and running errands, my brothers, and all the friends and family that supported us and kept us sane through the process.


Her beautiful smash cake by Marco!

Dark chocolate cake with a salted caramel buttercream

Vanilla cake with walnuts and a maple syrup buttercream

Her vegan and gluten free kale cake :) Mmmm!!

What a daddy's girl! I love these two more than life itself!

I also want to acknowledge my husband. We spent the whole week prior to the party in Rockford to prepare and he commuted to work EVERY DAY. Not once did he complain or make me feel guilty. He truly loves us more than I could ever hope for and I only wish that everyone in the world could be blessed with someone like him. He is my soul mate and this journey of parenthood is only making us fall in love deeper than ever. I love you baby!