Mom essentially lived in the kitchen for several nights baking goodies and testing just under one thousand different icings. Dad lost 20% of his remaining brain cells trying to manually blow up around a hundred balloons. And baby Mia turned 1!

Thanks to many supportive friends, the party turned out to be a blast (even if the dumb string-pull piñata didn't open until Dad tore it apart). And also thanks to our many guests, we got some great photos to mark the occasion- hardly any of these were actually taken by us.


After the sugar-highs had worn off several hours post-celebration, we realized Mia seemed to have amassed enough gifts for a small army (which means to make it all fit in the apartment more of Daddy's stuff is destined for Salvation Army or the dumpster).

We're still in a bit of denial that she is actually a one-year-old. It's not until we look back at photos that we realize just how much she has grown.