Saturday, April 19, 2008

Kaiya's First Birthday

Yesterday was Kaiya's birthday!! I still can't believe she's one; it seems like she should still be a little baby. We had a lot of fun yesterday doing activities that Kaiya loves. We wanted the day to be all for her, so instead of having a party we decided to plan a whole day of fun. Here are some pictures of what we did:

Patrick and I got her a ball pit because she loves balls (putting the balls in a baby pool was a compromise; I wanted a real ball pit and he wanted a cardboard box), so we had it all set up for her after breakfast to play.


Here's the living room all decorated and the ball pit (before Kai got her hands on everything)


Kaiya loving her balloon


She opened presents throughout the day. We wanted her to enjoy it, so we tried not to make her open the presents when she wasn't interested



Playing with some of the toys Grandma got her


We took her on a picnic for lunch at the park and let her play. Here she is with daddy holding her sippy cup (which is a rare occasion these days. She seems to think she's above holding her own cup now that she's one)




Actually the wood chips on the ground were her favorite part

Ta da! Here's the birthday cake I made for her. I used apple juice concentrate instead of sugar and made a carrot cake. It turned out surprisingly well and it's pretty good too.

Kaiya actually tried to blow out her candle, but her little blow wasn't strong enough to make it go out, so we helped her



Yummy!


After the cake we took her in the hot tub to play. She loves to splash around in there!

And for dinner we had Kaiya's favorite food from Japan, Chahan!
We had a really fun day and I know Kaiya loved every minute of it. It's bittersweet to have her turn one; I of course want her to grow up and experience life, but at the same time I can't help wishing she could stay a baby a little longer. At the end of the day we were exhausted, but it was well worth it to see her have so much fun.

7 comments:

Elena said...

Happy First Birthday, Kaiya!! It sounds like you all had a wonderful day together :)

Keri said...

looks like she had fun. its good you centered the day around activities she liked. Knowing how much she loves balls i bet she just had a hay day with the ball pit. good idea. Im on bed rest so i dont even know if we are gonna do a birthday party for trevor. thanks for the email.

Pacers said...

Hooray Kaiya! One Year old!

So, are you for hire? I'd love to have you come plan my next birthday party!!!! :)

Noelle said...

Happy Birthday Kaiya! That is a great idea, to be solely focused on her instead of guests. That's how it should be right?

Chelsea said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KAIYA!!! Sounds like a perfect day. That picture of her in the swing is so flipping cute! And, holy cow this girl is walking. I can't believe it.

Blissful said...

I can't believe that she's already 1 years old! It seems just like yesterday you were all hiking mountains in Japan, and she was so small. She's so beautiful, and I'm truly happy for all of you. I love watching her grow and seeing her smile. Keep up the great posts! I love checking them out. Tell Patrick that I agree with the cardboard box...kids LOVE those! :)

Madame Mauri said...

Kaiya is SO cute!! I love the pigtails! What a fun day! Time goes by so fast. It is fun to see the new stages, but I understand the bittersweet part. She is so beautiful!!