The Sweetest Year

my favorite baby cake recipe, a go-to party playlist, and the first year as a family of 4

This past week, my second baby turned one.

To celebrate the sweetest (and somehow fastest) year, we kept things simple: a little DIY berry-themed birthday party in our dining room with a handful of family members who have loved Evvie Lou since the very beginning.

There’s something fitting about celebrating a milestone this big in the room where so much ordinary life happens. It’s where we eat breakfast in pajamas, plan the days over coffee, build puzzles and towers, wipe tomato-sauce covered hands, and always end up sitting for longer than planned. It felt like the right place to celebrate a year built on some of life’s most precious tiny moments.

But a baby’s first birthday is about so much more than just turning one.

The first two weeks of Evvie’s life were spent in the hospital. I remember wondering if we’d ever get to the “normal” part of bringing home a baby. NICU time feels 20x longer than real life time. The day that we finally did get to take her home will forever be one of the best days of my life… an experience that taught me so much about what matters most, and changed me in the process. I tihnk that’s why this birthday felt so emotional. It wasn’t just about celebrating her first year but about celebrating our first year as a family of four. Our health! Our village. Our first year learning how to divide our attention as parents without dividing the love that our kids feel. Watching Brooks become the sweetest big brother. Learning that your heart really does grow bigger, even when you cannot imagine how on earth that’s possible.

What I didn’t expect was how much having a second baby would push me deeper into the motherhood role itself. TJ and I fell into a divide-and-conquer rhythm almost without realizing it. He’d scoop up Brooks for the park or bath time and I’d be with Evvie for long stretches alone. I didn’t anticipate how much one-on-one time that would mean but I think that’s exactly what let me settle so fully into being her mom this year. And because it’s my second time around, the confidence also let me enjoy being a mom so much more deeply.

The Little Details

If you’ve followed along for any amount of time over the past 12 years, you know that I love homemade details. This summery berry theme ended up being one of my favorites because it was cheerful, inexpensive, and surprisingly easy to pull together:

• Vines from the porch, mixed with biodegradable balloons I found from a small business on Etsy.

• White “seed” spots hand-drawn onto the balloons

• Our DIY “restaurant” built for Brooks a while back that we repurposed as the drink station w/ this triple beverage dispenser

• Hydrangeas cut from the front yard for a simple centerpiece

• Gingham tablecloths and a really great birthday playlist

Together, the natural decor from the yard and the small handmade touches made our dining room feel like a berry farm stand.

Some of the pieces we used, linked below if you’re planning something similar:

• Balloon Kit

• Gingham Ribbon

• Gingham Tablecloth

• “1” Balloon

• Air Pump

• Helium Tank

• Happy Birthday Felt Garland (for the drink station)

• Triple Beverage Dispenser

• High Chair Garland

• Custom Baby Birthday Hat

• Birthday Hats for Guests

• Paper Strawberry Plates

  
  

  

  The Homemade Smash Cake

I wanted Evvie’s first birthday cake to be something she could enjoy without too much sugar (I know, I know… I’m that mom)… the homemade buttercream frosting was a different story. So, I made her a banana birthday cake. I didn’t have mini pans, so I used a 10 inch pan and a wide-mouthed mason jar to cut 4 small circles and layer them.

Banana Smash Cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour

• 2 tsp baking powder

• 1/2 cup whole milk

• 2 ripe bananas, mashed

• 1/4 cup melted butter

• 2 eggs

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 2 tsp maple syrup (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 10-in round baking pan (you’ll cut this into 4 small layers later)

2. Whisk flour and baking powder together in a large mixing bowl.

3. Add mashed bananas, eggs, melted butter, milk, and vanilla.

4. Combine all ingredients (I used a stand mixer) and pour into the baking pan.

5. Bake for 30 minutes (or until toothpick is clean after sticking in cake).

For icing, go as sweet as you’d like: Buttercream (sweetest), Greek yogurt based (lightest), or a cream cheese frosting (somewhere in the middle).

I ended up making this cake 3 times because Pearl, our Newfoundland, snuck into the kitchen gates (yes, we have to gate our kitchen because of her) while it was cooling and ate the entire thing 45 minutes before guests arrived.

For everyone else, we ordered a cake from Sugar Euphoria and it was a 10/10.

The No-Skip Party Playlist

I put together 4 hours of music you simply cannot go wrong with… birthday parties, Sunday dinners, cooking in the kitchen. It’s a great soundtrack for making memories.

A Home Design Thought

I’m often asked about how I decorate our home… and lately, I find myself coming back to two things:

1. Making sure the space evolves to meet our family where we are. (ex: our former formal sitting room now acts as a playroom)

2. Making rooms built for memories - the backdrop for family dinners, birthday candles, enjoying music, baking a cake for the 2nd time because the dog ate the first one. These are the things I hope my kids remember and this is quickly becoming the foundation of how I decorate and design our home.

This year has truly felt like the sweetest one yet, despite sleeping through the night maybe 3 times in 365 days and surviving three cases of mastitis among other infections that popped up scar-related. I couldn’t imagine life with Evvie before her and now I cannot imagine life without her. It’s wild how much personality can be packed into a 1 year old baby who was born 6 weeks early. This year has also reminded me that the seasons we wish would slow down never really do so sometimes the best we can do is make them feel worth remembering.

Cheers to many, many years of birthday candles!