I have so many words.   So many take-note-worthy details piecing together this past month, past year, that I could ramble for days on end.  But I’ll save those scattered thoughts for another day and get right down to the buttercream icing on the cake.  It was a perfectly sunny and unusually cold sunday afternoon and we had a little party.  A much deserved celebration of our girl-turned-one.

It started with just family, then trickled outward to a few close friends, creating this perfectly balanced orb of love surrounding the Isla-girl on her, our, celebration of birth.  A celebration that called for bubbly and craftastic-decorations a la scrapbook papers and washi tape.  Which also called for a pre-party afternoon with her Aunt Shan concocting the perfect peachy-pink bubbly drink–two qualifications it had to have, peachy-pink and bubbly–while working a paper cutter like a Martha Stewart intern.

Note to self: always do a pre-party get-it-together afternoon with beverage concocting.  It works.

The Boozie-Girls Bubbly – 1 bottle grapefruit juice, 1 bottle ginger-ale, 2 bottles rose champagne & a handful of muddled basil leaves.  Trust me on this one, it’s delish!

Her little downturned lip paved the way for tears.  For the record, tears and cake aren’t really an ideal mix.  And then I realized my girl was scared, and her tears, well they were really helpless cries of a girl stuck in cake.  But not too stuck or too upset, mind you, to get a lick in here and there.

I thought my heart was being yanked out of my chest.  No matter how many times I was told not put the camera down, a mamas instinct overrides.  If I had listened, well then you would see the photo of her losing her balance and face planting into the cake.  I’m glad I don’t have that picture.

 

 

Tear, tears, but maybe just one little taste…

Things don’t always go as planned.  And that’s ok.  Sometimes it’s these moments that create the sweetest memories yet.  They make the heart race a little faster, a little stronger.  They make you realize that the present is the best place to be when you choose it right.

These photos still bring tears to my eyes.  Happy sad holy moly I freaking love this child kind of tears.  Becoming one is a pretty big milestone in my book.  But it was then that I realized just how little one really is.  I’ve got a little time.  My girl still needs her mama to rescue her.

Isla ditched the silly crown and we took a better approach.  Cake together.

See the hives on my neck?  A heartbroken mama can’t hide!

You can also check out my website at Laura Gattis Photography.

Suggested Listening:  Heart it Races  |  Dr. Dog