Little Cupcake

We celebrated Laina's 1st birthday on Saturday with a cupcake party. Michela and I spent the better part of the day baking and frosting three different kinds of cupcakes. We made Banana Chocolate Chip, Orange Creamsicle, and Strawberry Cheesecake.

I got some recipes from a cupcake cookbook (101 Gourmet Cupcakes in 10 Minutes) I bought a year ago, tweaked them a bit, got a few ideas from some cupcakes I saw on Pinterest, and used my Mom's yummy Banana cake recipe for the Banana Cupcakes. We had cupcakes coming out of our ears, but it was so much fun doing them and even more fun eating them!

For decorations Michela and I made some cute cupcake liner pompoms.

I love the white and pink one the best.

I also made a birthday picture banner with pictures of her from every month.

I loved looking at her cute face and seeing how she has grown.

We had dinner with the family and had a relaxing evening hanging out together. We even saw the jets fly over us on their way to Stadium of Fire.

When it was time for cupcakes we sang Happy Birthday to Laina and served her first.

She wanted to grab the candle so bad.

Everyone watched her for the first five minutes or so, but they eventually all drifted off, except for me and my sister Tiffany. We sat there and watched her for over a 1/2 an hour as she slowly picked away at the cupcake.

She LOVED the frosting.

I love this picture of her with her fingers coated in crumbs and frosting.

She eventually started picking pieces of the cupcake up and throwing them on the ground. And finally she gave it a few good whacks to finish it off.

She wasn't too sure about opening presents. She liked ripping the wrapping paper off, put she didn't like the tissue paper in the bags. Michela made her a cute cupcake pillow.

She came up with the design all on her own and sewed it all together herself. Laina loved it and hugs it whenever she sees it. Grandma Hunt gave her lots of fun books.

One of Laina's favorite things to do is turn pages. Grandpa and Grandma Staker gave her this cute little piggy bank.

Laina was so excited to get it.

Laina is the sweetest little girl and we all just love her so very much.

What a joy and blessing she is in our family. She is a petite little thing, she was 29" and just barely under 20 lbs. at her check up. She is getting into everything and crawls at lightning speed. She is cruising around the furniture, making kissing noises, waving, likes to empty the dryer, climb on the dishwasher when its open, and has the cutest little voice. She likes to shake her booty when the music comes on and even sings to us. She still only has two little teeth, but acts as if more are coming any day now. She loves to give hugs and snuggle with you. It's been a fun first year and I can't wait to see what the next one brings.