The weekend after Avienne's first birthday, we celebrated with a party at our house with friends and family. Our place is pretty small, so I was a little worried about how everyone would fit and if anyone would be uncomfortable celebrating in our cramped quarters. It was definitely cozy, but we managed to fit in and enjoy the company of friends and family all at once.

I started planning Avienne's birthday about a month in advance. I'm not really good at picking themes, so we thought it would be nice to have folks over for our favorite mealtime - brunch. I dusted off all of my crafting supplies and rediscovered my creative side when I set to work on the party invitations. I had so much fun making them, I even started daydreaming about having a greeting card business. (Maybe someday!)  We invited a handful of friends over who have babies, too, so we figured having a party at 11:00 versus later in the afternoon would suit their weekend schedules better.  In the end, I think it worked out pretty well for everyone.

I mixed up some fruit, bought a few Mexican pastries, croissants and beverages, but the breakfast tacos that my amazing mom whipped up earlier in the day were hands-down the highlight of our brunch spread.  You really can't beat homemade breakfast tacos in the morning.  After a grueling week of cake taste-testing, I settled on a vanilla and strawberry cake from Capital City Bakery.  It was pretty delicious, but next time, I'll order a much smaller one - we have so much cake stuffed into our freezer right now! Avienne had her own smash cake, too, but she hardly smashed any of it.  I think she may have had her fill of cake a few days before when she had her first cupcake.

It was a fun time, and I'm glad so many of our closest friends and family were able to spend some time celebrating for Avienne's first birthday.  Next year, though, I'm designating someone else photographer! These were the only decent pictures I was able to snap during the party.