On October 26th my baby girl turned ONE. Insert ugly mom tears here. How?! HOW?! How did a year go by so quickly? I don't even know where to begin honestly, because it's been hands-down, one hundred percent the absolute best year of my life. Maybe one of the most challenging as I learned so many new things every day, but certainly the most earth-shattering, fulfilling and rewarding.

Because of these two - Luna and Ben - I smile more in a day than I ever thought possible. They are my entire world. And I worked so dang hard for Luna for so many bleak and treacherous years, my love and appreciation for her is indescribable. So you better believe that I was excited to celebrate Luna and her incredible first year of life with a party for the books (literally, it's going in her baby book haha).

I chose Luna's birthday theme before she was even born. (Yes, when you've done IVF for as long as I have, you have lots and lots of time to think about these things haha). The dreaming, the planning, and the love that went into this party was more than I could explain. I mean, I bought her birthday outfit when she was only a few weeks old.

How I Chose the Theme: Rainbows and Unicorns

I chose the theme rainbows and unicorns because Luna is our double rainbow baby. The beaming light after many many storms. The rainbow after five and a half years of down-pour and loss.

Our two miscarriages of our two sets of twins were, and still are, so hard to think about, let alone talk about. But Luna is our shining gift from God, our beacon of hope, love and recovery. Our beaming rainbow. It's only fitting that a double rainbow signifies transformation, because this girl has transformed our lives. She is the bridge between the ones we've lost - the ones we will always miss - all that we had yearned for for so many years and what she has given us: the gift of being parents. Finally.

She is our unicorn. Our miracle. Our fairytale. Unicorns are said to be uncatchable. But we knew nothing is impossible, so we kept pushing and fighting and working towards her and we finally got her. And she is even more than we could have ever imagined.

About the Party

Venue

The first step was venue. Most all of Luna's friends are her age so I knew I needed to pick a space that was fun for young littles but also easy for parents (aka a safe environment where babies could walk or crawl around and parents can sit next to them while also being able to chat with others and eat, baby willing haha).

I chose Mini Social, which is in Old Town Scottsdale and it honestly was perfect. Parents could come in and let their babes play with the millions of toys and other babies while getting to chat and hang with friends.

If you haven't been, definitely go check it out.

The Party Planners

Having never thrown a kids birthday party in my entire life, I honestly didn't know where to start (or really all that goes into a birthday party haha). So I connected with my friends at Outstanding Occasions and they could not have been more knowledgeable or helpful. They knew all the vendors around town that could be helpful and applicable, and they had so many ideas as well that made such a fun, thoughtful touch to the party.

I honestly have never worked with a party planner in my life, not even for our wedding haha, but I knew I would be so busy just being a mom every day that I didn't want to feel stressed or take away precious time I get with the birthday girl to be running around town doing errands etc. Rachel and her team at Outstanding Occasions just helped streamline every thing so we could just show up and celebrate! So so so worth it in my opinion, especially for the first birthday. Which to me, was a very big deal.

The Flowers

Now, originally I wasn't sure if I should have flowers at a one-year-olds birthday party. But this party was partly for us: to celebrate not only having made it a year as parents... but also celebrating the fact that we ARE parents. The first real chance we have had to be able to do that. So I knew I wanted it to be extra special. I also knew that I wanted to cherish and remember these beautiful photos forever - framed throughout our house and also in her baby book.

I really am so glad we chose to do flowers because they were just that added special touch that I think takes a party to a whole other level. And I love how the colors really played off the them of her pastel rainbow.

I hired my friend Malori at Form Floral to make the arrangements and while I always knew how talented she was - she blew me away with her rainbow floral backdrop! I mean, I still dream of it haha. It turned out better than I had even imagined. And, believe me, I put A LOT of thought into this party haha. So, thank you, Malori, for making our first birthday party dreams come true.

The Cakes and Treats

Ummm, did you guys see that rainbow cake? DEAD. So good. And it honestly tasted better than it looked, if that's even possible. I STILL get comments from friends about how yummy it was.

And Luna's darling little unicorn cake? SO CUTE! Obsessed. She made it egg-free too for her which was so amazing (and by the way, it too was just as delicious).

And are you kidding me with those gorgeous cloud macarons and unicorn horn and rainbow cookies?! I took what remained home and literally devoured the rest.

Everything was from A Bake Shop, who also did my baby shower. She's a wizard.

The Party Favors

Since this was a first birthday party, I knew I wanted to send guests home with a little something for baby, and a little something for mama. For the babes, I ordered these really cute unicorn bath squirties and rainbow musical bells and put them in these really cute pastel rainbow colored bags. For the parents, we added in pastel rainbow jelly beans as well as unicorn and rainbow marshmallows and chocolates from one of my super sweet readers, Trays of Treats. She's located in Arizona and makes bespoke artisan decorated chocolate and favors for all occasions and is so so talented. Everyone raved about the chocolates haha.