Good morning everyone!!! It’s currently 5 AM, and I’m sipping my coffee while Quinn is sleeping soundly. I’ve been waking up around 445/5 AM most days because I relish this bit of quiet time to myself. I usually sneak downstairs, grab a spoonful of peanut butter to tide me over until breakfast & enjoy a frothy cup of jo. I find this time really sets my tone for the day- getting caffeine in my system before Quinn wakes up makes me a much more energetic, upbeat mom from the get!

Today I am eager to share all about our Quinn Rae’s first bday! When we woke up on May 7th, DJ and my fam watched Quinn while I ran to the store to grab some last minute necessities for the party. There are always those last minute things that come up, right?! I also got us all Nervous Dog coffee on the way home.

Welp, I’m only two paragraphs in and it’s time to get another cup! (Decaf this time because still breastfeeding, plus more than one cup makes me way too jittery now. I can’t believe I was at 4 cups a day before pregnancy!).

After getting dressed and ready for the party, Quinn took her first nap of the morning. After she woke up, we drove to the venue around 1030 AM to start setting up.

The party was located at a historical building in Cuyahoga Valley National Park. The venue was able to host 40 guests, which was just about the perfect amount for our close friends and family. We would have hosted at our townhouse, but there just isn’t enough parking here to make that happen.

DJ, my mom, Pete, Halston, Gigi, Gordie, Renee and Chris were majorly helpful in getting the decorations up and everything in its place before the party started! It was a big team effort, but we got it all done just on time 😊.

We opted for a bee themed first birthday. Our last name starts with B, so the birthday girl was the “Quinn B” 👸 🐝 ;).

I put together a little sweets bar with rock candy, peach rings, vegan cupcakes for those who couldn’t have dairy (we had some other kids there with dairy allergies too) and a birthday cake for guests!

For the little honeys, we had a honeycomb game and coloring books.

I also displayed on that table all of Quinn’s month photos since birth 🥹.

We had a projector screen and a slideshow of photos from her first year going on in the background.

Some family pics ❤️.

For the meal, we had Old Carolina BBQ cater, and it was a great experience working with them. The food was delish!!! We had brisket, pulled pork, mac n’ cheese, green beans (cooked in vegan butter) and cornbread.

This was the start of the dairy retrial! We started the first step with baked dairy in the cornbread- and we’ve been upping the dairy intake since. So far, so good! We are in week 4 right now!

Anyway, Quinn was all about the pulled pork and green beans!

Time for the Smash Cake! This vegan creation was made by West Side Bakery, along with the sheet cake.

This girl wanted nothing to do with it 🥲.

I tried to put her on my lap to enjoy some sugary goodness, but even then she wasn’t interested. I think she may have been overwhelmed by all the eyes on her. But even later when at home she didn’t want cake, only tomatoes and black beans LOL.

I took her upstairs and nursed her while the guests helped themselves to cake, and then she was ready to rally a bit longer.

Practicing her walking always puts her in a good mood!

After all the fun & socializing, this girl was ready to conk out.

I’m so very thankful for our “village” who celebrated with us! ❤️.

Thank you also for going through this first year of our girl’s life with us 🥹. Much love to you all.

<3,

Mackenzie