We have a few birthday traditions for our kids.. ones that we started with Reese.  I picked ones that seemed intentionally sustainable for any future hooligans we would add to our crew.

Here we are… somehow this is our third round of a first birthday… how!?

Our traditions include —

• Being awoken on their “birthday” with a balloon of their age.
• Because of our jobs, Morgan and I have never been super specific about celebrating birthdays on the day.  With his shifts and my wedding schedule it’s something we had to let go of a bit.  But the perk? We just always celebrate the kids’ birthdays on the day of their party.  Some of our friends think it’s crazy, but I think it’s pretty great that our kids always spend their “birthdays” with the people they love most AND have a fun party.  What more could you want?  Plus, none of them know how to really read a calendar yet.
• I document some of their day as a day-in-the-life.  It’s a fun and managable tradition for me… one that I cherish.

Quinn’s bright and bold one year old birthday was no exception.

Her Party

I didn’t take many, but I snapped a few photos for Quinn Everly’s non-existent baby book.  This will just have to do kiddo ;)

For the party, I found the cutest Meri Meri Paper Co streamers and decided that since our worlds have only gotten brighter with her in it, the “theme” felt fitting.  I also made her a cute little birthday stacked cake all to herself because #germs.  She devoured that thing.  Is it because I finally cracked the code on the perfect buttercream? Or did she just get it from her mama?

We were so grateful for the friends and family that came to celebrate our little girl (though we were missing a few of our favs!).  Parenting is something that has taught me very quickly about the importance of surrounding your people with good people.  I couldn’t be more thankful for our support system that we get to raise these kids with.

One Year of Quinn

The last first birthday tradition we do is a cute little display of all the monthly photos I’ve taken all year long.  Last time we did this we snuck in a little surprise announcement, so our families were busy searching to make sure they didn’t miss something this time. LOL.

Consider this a virtual peek at the same display.

A few more photos —

You know I couldn’t help but add in a *few* more photos from my “real” camera to commemorate our fiesty sweet gal.

full family photos courtesy of Courtney Dueppengiesser

Quinny, “Gogo,” your family adores you.  You are such a perfect addition to our family and you have been an utmost joy (most of the time).  You are a mama’s girl through and through.  You are sweet, sassy, small-but-mighty, and only ours. You have been the best part of a very hard year! Quinn Everly, you are a gift to our family and you make it easy to celebrate you! xoxo!