Linna's 1st birthday party.

Mama, Linna, and Papa after Linna's "smash cake".

Today, we had 80 (yes 80) of our closest family and friends over to the house to celebrate Linna's 1st birthday! There was pink cake (an amazing cake), pink lemonade, pink balloons, pink outfits, pink presents... LOTS of pink (and giraffe print)!

Pink, pink, and more PINK... and giraffe print.

Front of the house. Linna is ONE!

Linna got to eat her first piece of cake, opened lots of presents, played games... and finally CRASHED around 2 p.m. I had high hopes for Linna today. She went down for a nap around 10 a.m., and she normally sleeps for 1.5-2 hours in the morning, which would have been perfect timing as her party started at noon. Nope, Linna decided to poop in her diaper and wake up a half-hour after she went down for a nap. This meant, by 2 p.m., she was wiped out and ready for her afternoon nap! She made it all the way through her birthday song, cake, games, and presents... then fell asleep. Such a big day for a little girl!

Out of all the amazing gifts, Linna says, "Look mom, a leaf!"

One of the highlights of the party was the homemade cake, made by my brother Scotty and his girlfriend Holly. This cake was unreal. They offered to make the cake, because I had seen an "Angry Birds" cake they made for a friend. All I did was tell them the "theme" of the party (pink and giraffe print), and they did their thing. The cake was delicious and it was even pink and brown on the inside. They do make cakes for parties, so if you're interested, email my brother for more info (s1specken@yahoo.com). My cousin Bridget made cupcakes too and they were gobbled up by the end of the party! Thank you all for making Linna's first birthday so special!

Scotty and Holly's masterpiece!

We had sandwiches and salads catered by Be'Wiched Deli in Minneapolis, and everyone raved about how good they were! They made three or four kinds of both of the sandwiches and salads, and I can't tell you which ones I liked the best because they were all SO good. The also make peanut butter and jelly, peanut butter and honey, etc. sandwiches for the kids! It was nice to have the "main" part of the food done by professionals, and then we had other side-dishes made by family. My mom made a chicken salad, Aunt Sue made a taco salad, Aunt Julie made calico beans, my mother-in-law made a fruit tray and dip, I made salsa and hummus, etc.  I made little hot pink name cards by each one of the foods that people brought, to make it a little more special.

Linna playing the ball toss game, while grandpa dresses up
in one of the bubble bumper balls.

Birthday lawn bowling.

I LOVE SUGAR!

We had kid's games set up in the back yard, including a ball toss, yard bowling, etc. If the kids played all the games, they got to go home with a fun present (A Hopkins Fire Dept. hat, badge, stickers, fruit roll-up, crayons, etc.). Thanks dad for all the goodie bags! The buddy bumper balls were quite a hit, and even the adults put them on and played like the kids! My sister and her high school friends were on hand to help out with the kid's games, and to hand out the goodie bags. Thanks girls for helping out!

I had Linna's newborn photo blown up
and put her monthly photos around it.

Birthday party helpers (AKA, my sister and her friends).

Linna received so many cute outfits, games, books, toys, accessories... you name it, she got it. She now has so many cute summer outfits to wear in Singapore (it's so hot there), and so many fun toys to play with on the plane. Some people gave us really creative gifts, like a gift certificate to The Little Gym (we love that place), and a year membership to the Minnesota Zoo. My husband's grandma and grandpa made Linna a framed photo of Linna's namesake (Linna was named after my husband's great grandma) and Linna, with their birth dates in the center. It will be so nice for Linna to see where she got her name, when we hang it in her room!

Linna's gift from her Great-Grandma and Grandpa Pollard.

My favorite part of the day was watching Linna's reaction when everyone sang "Happy Birthday" to her, and when she took her first taste of birthday cake (she's really never had sugar like that before). She thought it was pretty cool to have everyone singing her name (imagine 80 people singing a song just for you)! And the way she "gently" ate her birthday cake was pretty darn cute. It was almost like we were catching her doing something "naughty"... she didn't know what to think!

So right now, Mama Saigh is having a glass of wine after a crazy, but fun day! I am so thankful to have such a beautiful, happy, and healthy one-year-old, and she is so lucky to have so many people who love her! This day could NOT have been possible without the help and support of our family and friends. Thank you everyone for celebrating Linna's special day today. I can't believe she'll be ONE on Wednesday!

Love her.

This photo says it all.