duck, duck, goose!

one day amori started saying "quack, quack, quack" when she saw the rubber ducky in the tub, and the stuffed ducky she had in her crib. which qualifies as the very first sound/name-connection she made. thus, the rubber ducky theme.

papa made her invitation



and thank you cards... he even included the lyrics to ernie's "rubber ducky" song hehehe.



i made the cake... well at least half of it. i got a sheet cake and placed the duck on it, frosted it to make it look like a duck, and squiggled the "happy 1st birthday amori". oh and put the candle on it too. LOL.



we spent a good 3 hours at Michael's putting together a perfect loot bucket - and happily found squeaky rubber duckies, ducky soaps, and a wooden basket to make up a bath bucket.

we had the party at amori's godparents' backyard. they had maya's wading pool set-up, and we brought the giant rubber ducky.





we had burgers hot off the grill, salad, pasta, booze, chips, and a bucket full of drinks. too bad we all forgot to take photos of the food, drinks, and decorations!

it sort of felt like our wedding - it was over before we knew it! after the cake was sliced and eaten, and 3 other kids had blown the candle - everyone started saying bye-bye.







and then there we were, all the important people in amori's happy and eventful life.





the wading pool, the sun, and the giant ducky were too much to resist for amori and maya so in they went.... which later on, became bath time! we dunked them into the pool - clothes, diapers, and all... and they had the best time ever.







to be honest, before the party i was feeling kind of low because amori wasn't having a grand 1st birthday celebration that's the norm in manila. i had no hundred-people-to-invite list, no caterer that needed to be hired, or a dozen tables of 10 to worry about.

in the end - celebrating with everyone that mattered, decorating and deciding on details, and painstakingly making my daughter's own birthday cake (never in a million years would i have thought i'd make half a cake!) - are apparently all it takes to celebrate a year of parenthood! thank God we didn't have an en grande party - imagine all the loot buckets i would have had to make! LOL.

complete party photos are here.