It has been quite a busy past year, in part due to growing my photography business but also because of the arrival of this little nugget. Our daughter, Eleanor, turned 1 in February and I’m just getting around to sharing some of these highlights. It’s been an amazing year being parents and it has made me appreciate the gift of photography all the more. If you follow me on Instagram, you probably have already met our sweet Elle. As a wedding and lifestyle photographer in Seattle, I feel so fortunate to be able to document her milestones and well as the regular day-to-day events in her life. Now that she’s one, I look back at these photos of her as an itty bitty newborn and realize just how far she’s come as well as all the growth and adventures she will have in her lifetime. Here is just a snippet of some of my favorites.

Eleanor makes her appearance on Feb 11, 2015 at 8 lbs 6 ozHer birth announcement photos – those are daddy’s hands holding her up!
Tiny baby toes (Age: 1 month)
We call her our Little Bear, so this Gap hat is basically perfect (Age: 2 months)My husband is a big Batman fan so this teddy bear was a must (Age: 3 months)Elle’s first trip to the beach! Also, another bear photo…(Age: 5 months)Elle’s first pumpkin patch trip! Here is she with us and her friend Olivia (Age: 8 months)Halloween: Elle as a Baby Bear (Age: 8 months)

Lastly, we celebrated the conclusion of her first year with a birthday party! It was also a great excuse for me to do some crafting and DIY, which I love! I spent evenings after Elle’s bedtime making paper garlands which we hung along the walls.
I also debuted her monthly photos hung along a garland with tissue tassels. Our guests really had fun seeing these and giggling at her chubbiness. I’ll share her monthly photos in the next blog post!
We are big fans of Rachel’s Ginger Beer so we had two drinks options, plus mixers for people who wanted to spice things up! I also did the calligraphy on the sign myself (yes, another one of my hobbies!)
We got the lovely cakes from Cakes of Paradise, which specializes in Hawaiian cakes. Guava and coconut haupia are our favorites! Elle got her own smash cake to play with!
Just look at that face! She had a bunch of fun at her party. It was so bittersweet for us as parents, as it really does mean that she’s no longer a baby technically, but she will always be our little girl!

And just in case you are curious, here’s a list of all the decorations- Garlands: DIY with supplies from Papersource \\  Gold letter Balloons: Bargain Balloons \\ Gold Letter Mug: Anthropologie \\ Gold striped straws: BHLDN \\ Sign stand: Ikea Tolsby spray painted gold \\ Beverages: Rachel’s Ginger Beer \\ Cakes: Cakes of Paradise \\ Mint Milk Glass Cake Stands: Bellacor \\ “One” Cake topper: BLHDN \\ Elle’s top: Baby Gap \\ Elle’s jeggings: Old Navy \\ Elle’s High-chair: Stokke Tripp Trapp