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Monday, September 17, 2012

Rafael's First Birthday Party!












Thank you all so much for your lovely birthday greetings! 

We celebrated on Sunday, with Raffi's friends and family members. It was gorgeous weather....sunny and crisp. Perfect! The theme for the party was woodland animals and autumn. There was chocolate cake (and a little smash cake for Rafael that he loved), a blow up pool with colorful balls to play with, thoughtful gifts, party favors tucked into handmade acorns and moss, and poached apples for the babies to enjoy. Sunflowers, pumpkins, wreaths of dried flowers, and benches on the terrace made comfy with pillows and quilts. 

I had planned on serving cream of mushroom soup and warm roast vegetable salad, but learned the hard way that you can't plan much when you have a toddler. He screamed and cried all morning, while I tried to clean and decorate. I almost cancelled the whole thing. But as soon as the first guests arrived, he turned into a cheerful, sunny boy. Thank goodness!

Nights have been rough, and the days are a mix of clapping and calling out 'BRAVO!' when Rafael stands on his own, and pure exhaustion because Raffi refuses to nap. But Ramon and I agree that he has never been as fun as he is now! He says so many things: 'hat,' 'up,' 'nein' ('no'), 'auto' ('car'), 'Papa,' 'Mama,' 'Oma' ('grandma'); and a bunch of animal sounds; and the most exciting thing is, if you ask him 'Where is Rafael,' he points at himself! 

I know I should do a proper update, and I will soon. But I am so incredibly tired right now.....I'm headed off to bed!

Thanks again for all of your sweet words!

xoxo

21 comments:

  1. I knew you would have a wonderful gathering for Raffi! Too bad about the sleepless nights.:( He really is young to begin to skip napping, though. I send along hopes and wishes that things will ease over for you soon! Again, happy birthday to Raffi!

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  2. Wow, everything looks wonderful for Raffi's first birthday.

    I love the photo of the three of you.

    Love and hugs ~ FlowerLady

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  3. Everything looks lovely!! Adore the smash cake, we do the same in our family for 1st birthdays. I just realized that not only do you love fall, Raffi was born in the fall. Worked out perfect!:)

    My niece stopped napping early too. Seemed like she never lost her energy. LOL:( Maybe you could have a high school student come in the afternoons, as a break?

    Thanks for the pictures, he is a precocious little boy!
    Elise

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  4. My bad spelling caught me again!! I meant "precious".

    Oh, well,
    Elise

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  5. Hi !!!Dawn thanks for sharing Raffi's first birthday picture. everything looks cute and nice.

    Nice to see pictures of your family

    Have a Great Day Mary CHICAGO IL

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  6. Happy, happy birthday to sweet little Rafael! It sounds like a wonderful day filled with lots of wonderful memories.
    xoTrina

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  7. What a lovely party, it all looked so charming. I loved seeing the picture of the three of you, so very sweet. Glad his day went well.

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  8. Lovely family. I know you will have more wonderful birthdays ahead!!!

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  9. what a lovely celebration! love all the happiness here and that picture of your charming family. god bless you for all the hardwork and love you've showered over raffi's first birthday, making it so homemade and special.

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  10. Despite the fact that you had a difficult time planning, it looks like a great party with so much attention to detail! Well done! I love the theme you chose and the cake looks yummy!The photo of the family is realy nice- lovely memories for you all!
    I wish happy birthday to Raphael!

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  11. Adorable! What an amazing party you put together. Everything looks perfect. Well done!!
    Claudia

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  12. All those beautiful details! You did a wonderful job, and I can imagine how much work and love went into it. Well done!

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  13. How lovely! I love the simply-designed cakes--pure loveliness. ♥ Happy birthday to your baby, and congrats to you all on a sweet first year. :)

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  14. Oh Dawn, the details of his party are just amazing! What did you give that inside the acorns? Little animals?
    Just beautiful! xox

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  15. Dawn, everything looks just lovely, from the tiniest of details....you did an incredible job and he'll have wonderful photographs of this amazing day!!! Happy Birthday to Raffi and good job Mom on a wonderful first year!!

    xoxo

    Joann in CO

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  16. Dawn,
    I have been following your blog for quite some time now, and I must admit that I teared up a bit when I saw this latest post! What a blessing Raffi has been to your life! Happy Birthday darling boy.

    Love,

    Emily from rural Iowa

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  17. Happy happy birthday to your fantastic boy! and a lot of congratulations to you and your husband!!
    Carla

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  18. Glorious photos of a lovely, lovely celebration. You are such a handsome family. Oh that Raffi, he will be a heart breaker. So gorgeous.

    Sending love across the miles,

    Sharon

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  19. The picture with you, Raffi and Ramon is so beautiful -- you're positively glowing. Happy First Birthday Raffi! And congrats mamma for a successful first birthday party!

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  20. Belated birthday wishes to your cute little boy, dear Dawn. The party looks so lovely and I really like the family photo. Thank you for sharing!

    Hugs, Nadine

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  21. All those food are surely mouth-watering! Here's to hoping that Rafael would be able to live a healthy, fun-filled life!

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