The day before Mirei’s actual birthday, we threw a small, intimate birthday party to celebrate the milestone of her turning one! We were admittedly feeling a little overwhelmed (and a little lazy) about doing a big celebration, but we kept the guest list short and decided we’d just do what we could and that helped ease the pressure and stress on us parents. 😉 My brother Ted and his wife Elisa were gracious enough to reserve the party room at their condo for the celebration. Unfortunately, it snowed the morning of the party and some of our guests couldn’t make it because of the weather, but we still had fun with those who were able to make it, and we stayed warm and cozy as the flurries swirled outside!
First year poster for Mirei
Birthday cake for Mirei… intended to be smashed later in the party.
A tower of birthday cupcakes
Dan and I made these cake toppers — both the “one” atop the cupcakes and the one with her name on the smashcake.
hydrangea cupcakes
The items for erabitori
Cookies to be taken home as party favors.
lollipop party favors
First birthday sugar cookies
Don’t look too closely… it was my first time using gold dusting powder on sugar cookies!
Special thanks to Miwa, Hyo, and Elisa who all helped with getting the party decorations up!
Everyone crowding around the birthday girl!
The adorable kids arriving
The aunties
Cutiepies Mirei and Cara
So glad Nancy and her girls could make it! Welcome back to the States!
The birthday girl walking around
Pat and I with our baby girls. Thanks so much for coming! ♥
Mio with her aunties, posing for our makeshift photobooth.
We had set up our own little “photobooth” with an iPad app, and the kids had so much fun with it! It was really fun to see the collection of pictures at the end of the party:
We felt so blessed to be able to celebrate Mirei’s first birthday with such loving family and friends, and are so thankful that she is such a happy and healthy one year old! More posts to follow with the first birthday activities from the party — stay tuned!
It’s been so cold lately that I dread taking the girls outside! On days that Mio doesn’t have preschool, she tends to get cabin fever because we stay cooped up indoors. Here are some photos I snapped last Thursday afternoon, when the sunlight poured through the windows despite the wintry temperatures, illuminating Mio’s room where the girls were playing.
Can’t believe this little cutie is going to turn one soon!
Puckering up for the camera!
Mirei pulling hairclips out of Mio’s hair.
Mio loves these animal pop-ons from her grandparents in California, and plays with them all the time, even nearly two years later.
We got some beautiful surprise packages in the mail this week from our dear friend Megumi! There was one small package for Mio, and a larger one addressed to me. We were so excited to open them!
Mio’s package contained an adorable little purple penguin (handmade by My Dear Darling!) and a card with a question…
Mio’s first time being asked to be a flower girl!
I think her face says it all… the answer is a resounding “YES!!!”
The package for Mio was amazing enough, so I couldn’t imagine what could be in the larger package for me…
She sure knows how to pop the question! I feel so honored and excited to have been asked to be a part of this dearest friend’s wedding. Love you Megumi! ♥
We loved all the amazing gifts in the package, and can’t wait until Megumi & Daniel’s big day! Looks like our family is definitely headed to Los Angeles in May for the wedding of the year! 🙂
We got our first true snowfall of the winter on January 6th! The girls awoke to a world blanketed in white, which they admired from the window.
This reminds me of how much it snowed last winter, and how we were constantly stressed about me possibly going into labor during a blizzard. The snow is beautiful, but hopefully we won’t get as many snow days this year!
On Saturday morning, we decided to all go ice skating! I’m not very good at ice skating, so I stayed outside the rink with Mirei, but it was Mio’s first time skating on the ice and she seemed to enjoy it! Dan and his siblings did a great job of holding her hands and keeping her safe as she skated.
Dan putting ice skates on Mio
Mio and Mirei at Fairfax Ice Arena
Mio’s first time ice skating!
After half an hour, Mio got tired and wanted to take a break so she watched with me from outside the rink.
Mirei got to skate a lap with Daddy, before he was told that it wasn’t allowed for her to skate strapped to him.
M&M playing by the lockers while everyone else skated
After ice skating, we stopped by the Snocream Shavery bus to have some Taiwanese shaved ice!
Almond and milk tea snow and macaron
Later in the afternoon, we headed over to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, which is the National Air and Space Museum annex in Chantilly.
Mio taking a break in her stroller at the museum.
Mio loving the attention from Ted and Jackie!
Our family in front of the Discovery space shuttle
Lunch on Sunday at YeChon before seeing everyone off.
It was a short visit, but we had a lot of fun spending time together! It can be difficult for us to travel with two young kids, so we really appreciate whenever Dan’s family can come to us to visit. We look forward to the next time we’ll get to see each other again, and hopefully we can visit California in the new year!
