Darian's first birthday celebrations have been quite full on, not that he would notice!
On his actual birthday on Tuesday, we took a cake to school, where he's friends and teachers took some out to celebrate his big day. I baked a rainbow cake which the kids really loved supposedly. I went through to the school at afternoon tea time when they sang happy birthday to him and shared some cake. He obviously had no idea what the whole thing was for and just wanted to clap and eat cake!
It's been a rollercoaster of a year and all I can do is give God thanks for this blessing of a child. He is an amazing litle boy and I'm so blessed to be his mummy.
We've been planning Darian's first birthday for weeks and decided a few weeks ago that we would do a Jungle Safari Theme. We found some designs on Etsy (thanks to my gorgeous friend Veryll for helping me out) and after weeks of searching for a venue managed to book a beautiful church hall at Te Atatu Baptist Church, on Te Atatu Road, 5 minutes from home. We had his birthday party on Saturday 20th April and invited a few of our closest friends and family in NZ. Bradley and Shamini arrived the day before his party so we were so happy he got to celebrated his day with family.
You can find all the birthday pictures on my Facebook page, so I won't upload all, but here are a few shots of the day.
The cake was the highlight for me so we managed to make it the centrepiece on all the pics. I absolutely loved the lady who put it together for us. All I did was find a pic of what I wanted online and sent it to her and she created something so much better than what I had imagined. I was very impressed and she is now my go to baker fo all and any occassions. You can find Maria's details here.
We didn't have much time to set up the church cos we had booked and paid for a few hours only, so I was slightly disappointed with the look of the room, but it was an amazing party, all the kids loved it, the food was amazing (thanks to everyone who contributed) and my boy had a blast, and that's all that matters.All the late nights putting decorations and party packs and organising and such was all worth it.
Shamini was the lucky one who got to entertain the kids and she thoroughly enjoyed it, I don't know who enjoyed it more, her or the kids but she did so well. We had a little play area set up for the kids, with a colouring in station and games like "pin the tail on the donkey" and such. She managed to keep them entertained quite well and they all had such a blast!
We didn't do a full on meal but had nibbles like samoosa's, spring rolls, pies, fairy bread, etc (thanks to aunty Lallie, aunty Rekha & Sash for the yummy samoosa's) and I had made toffee apples (a bit nostalgic) which was a HUGE hit with kids and adults alike! Most of which asked me for the recipe which I was quite chuffed over.
Ella did an amazing job on the photo's as well, although I was slightly sad that she didn't capture the photo collage I'd made of Darian over his first 12 months, but that's a small hiccup in the greater scheme of things.
The weather wasn't great unfortunately, typical Auckland weather. The sun wasn't sure whether or not to come out at all and just as we got into the hall to set up there was a huge downpour. But when it cleared Ella grabbed us and did a few family shots outside. Darian loved the camera and the pics she took were incredible.
After all the partying we headed home and a few of our friends came over so mummy & daddy could also celebrate surviving the first 12 months! Darian was so exhausted with all the excitement going on around him, although he slept from about 5pm, he was wide awake at about midnight. Thankfully his uncle & aunty were there to tire him out so he fell asleep again about an hour later.
I'm so grateful to everyone who helped us out on the day with setting up, clearing up, catering and everything else. The day would not have been such a success without any of you.
I cannot believe how fast the year has gone. When I think that it was just the other day we brought this little bundle home and had no idea what to do with him but knew that we would love him unconditionally and with our whole hearts for the rest of our lives.
Darian you are such a wonderful little boy and such a blessing to us. Mummy & daddy love you lots and Thank God every day that He chose us to be your parents. Love you my baby, to the moon and back!
