Happy 1st Birthday, Cameron!
Cameron’s early birth one year ago was unexpected and a little chaotic – we weren’t prepared, Johnnie was away on a trip, and nothing went smoothly but somehow everything worked out with the most perfect timing.
The theme for her 1st birthday party was the book, “On the Night You Were Born,” to remember and celebrate the adventure of her birth. It was a small party that included us, our visiting family, and a few neighbors and friends who played a part in her birth story last year.
We decorated our dining room for the party using the fabric from her 52 week photo for the backdrop, balloons, ribbon, and homemade star streamers hanging from the ceiling.
Cameron has never had food with added sugar or artificial colors yet so I didn’t feel comfortable letting her fill her belly with a “normal” birthday cake. Since she doesn’t know what she’s missing yet, I didn’t feel bad making her something healthy! Her favorite food is carrots so I made her a healthy vegan carrot cake. Don’t worry, the bit of icing on the top is a regular sugar-filled buttercream icing so I didn’t totally deprive her of a sweet birthday treat 🙂
The vegan carrot cake only contained whole wheat flour, carrots, water, applesauce, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and baking powder. No oil, eggs, or sugar! It actually wasn’t bad tasting, it just wasn’t sweet. Cameron seemed to enjoy it and ended up eating about half of it.
The original recipe (
found here) also called for currants and salt, both of which I left out. I made the cake in a small 6″ cake pan and then cut it into a star to match her party theme. I painted and bejeweled a cheap birthday candle for the top.
There was no cake smashing – Cameron ate her cake in small bites like a little lady 🙂 The sweet buttercream icing was a new flavor for her and I’m not sure how much she liked it. She ate it while making faces and then drank a ton of water from her sippy cup. I ended up scraping most of it off so that she would continue to eat the cake.
Cameron was lucky to have both grandmas, a grandpa, and an aunt here for her party. The rest of our relatives were certainly in our thoughts that day!
*******
“On the night you were born,
the moon smiled with such wonder
that the stars peeked in to see you
and the night wind whispered
‘Life will never be the same.'”
~Nancy Tillman
Thanks! I actually made the invitations myself by scanning in a page of the book and using Photoshop to expand the photo, rearrange the moon and notes, and add text. I'm sorry I can't sell the invitations because I'm quite sure I could get sued for copyright violation if I ever sold or distributed the file. If you are handy with a computer and scanner (or know someone who is), you could make a similar invitation yourself!
Hello, Your pictures are incredible. I'm thinking of using this theme for my little one's first birthday in February. I'm wondering if you sell the invitations or could share with me where you found them. They are perfect.
Thank you! Jennifer