A pizza, a pinata, and a pool party!

My sweet baby turned 1 today!  I know it's so cliche, but babies really do grow up so fast and I can't believe a year has already gone by! 

We had a small party to celebrate, with the few close friends we've made in the short time we've lived here.  Emi Lou LOVES the water, so we figured it was only appropriate to celebrate the big day at the pool...

After a couple of hours at the pool, we were ready for some pizza... (I know Emi Lou looks a bit precarious sitting there, but I'm actually standing right next to her with my arms out, ready to catch her... I've just cropped myself out :)

Once we had some food in our bellies, it was time for the pinata.  Unfortunately, I didn't get any good pictures of the pinata or any action shots of the kids hitting the pinata, but I learned an important lesson:  50 mm lenses are great for portraits, but not so much for parties. The focus was just too narrow. I knew I should have brought our bigger lens, but I didn't want to bring our big camera bag... oh well, lesson learned! (And I think we still got a few decent shots anyway :)

We finished the party with presents and cake...

(Another reason I wish we would have had our wider-angle lens... I wish you could see the pretty present Emi is opening!  She loved all the curly ribbons!!)

Emi, of course, scored lots of great gifts, and she and Gigi had lots of fun playing with them tonight!

I feel so lucky to have Emi Lou in our family.  She's so sweet and friendly, so fun and so funny!  She brings a smile to the face of everyone she meets.  We love her so much and look forward to celebrating many more birthdays with our wonderful little angel :)