2 ½ weeks have gone by since we celebrated our Little Miss’ 1st birthday and I’m only able to sit down and properly write a post about it now. About anything for that matter – but the party in this case. I have no excuse, other than real life has completely taken over my time. You understand, we’ve all been there, right? No? Just me? Ok.

Due to the infamous Filipino sense (or lack thereof) of time traffic conditions that is pretty much a given here in Manila plus the heavy rain that poured that afternoon, the party started just a tad late. All in all though, it went off perfectly.

Once we got there, My Man and I were thrilled to see how the hall looked. Our decision to celebrate at the Big Red Barn was met with success. Upon arriving at the venue, the guests were greeted to this:

The Little Miss woke up at 6am that day; I had to think she was sensing the more-than-the-usual-frenzied energy from the grown-ups surrounding her. And even though she napped for 2 hours before we left, she got a bit sleepy and dozed off again for some time during the party. I think for the most part she was a bit overwhelmed with the number of people who were there, so there were moments where it was hard to get her to look at the camera, let alone crack a smile. Fortunately, after much coaxing by our amazing family friends Dhang, Dennis and (director-by-profession) Mike, we got some great shots of the celebrant. Here are some of them:

A couple with the grandparentals:

With my Dad and Mom

With my Mother-in-Love who flew in from Bahrain just in time for the party

It was a wonder that the kids were able to rein in their excitement and participated in the few parlor games that my sister CJ and cousin Zaida prepared for them because just a few steps from the hall was the indoor playground that beckoned to them.

Below is also a sample of the fun activities the kids joined:

When it was time to blow the candle, the children gathered around us to sing the happy birthday song to our Little Miss.

Days before the party, My Man asked our friend Jennifer to pray before we all started partaking of the feast. And she seriously moved our Little Miss to tears by speaking such beautiful words of blessing and life verses to her. I was surprised to see her turn to me as she was in my Mom’s arms, her bottom lip protruding and eyes all teary!

We had her ladybug costume custom-made and we were just delighted and satisfied with how it turned out. But we were SO tickled when another costume arrived in the mail weeks before the party, courtesy of our generous and loving Godparents Joel and Grace. She was such a sport about the change of costume and had us all in stitches with the face she made while we fussed around her:

The food prepared by Big Red Barn was scrumptious, but for me the highlight was the dessert. I was utterly blown away by the presentation of the cake and cupcakes, the ice cream cart and most especially the chocolate fondue! Wouldn’t you agree?

But the best thing about the party? Was the sheer number of people who took time out of their precious weekend and braved the horrendous traffic to be with us as we gave thanks for the life of our daughter. We were totally bowled over, realizing how much she is loved by so many. We also know that a lot of of our far-flung friends and relatives who couldn’t make it wanted to be there and just the thought that you have her all in your prayers is enough for us. YOU ALL ROCK. And we love you dearly!

One of the things I was looking forward to seeing was the AVP prepared, once again by our dear director-friend Mike and my cousin Zaida. My Man and I specifically chose this song because of the message it conveys and I hope you will love this as much as we did.