First Birthday.

Rachel turned 1 on Saturday. With several friends whose kids also turned one this year and made the cutest cakes on record, the bar was raised. And I gave into the pressure (not that any was given) to prepare an elaborate cake only to let Rachel destroy it within minutes of blowing out her candle.

Remarkably, the cake really didn't take that much more time than the cake mix variety I usually go for. And, I got to involve Anna and Lily in the decorating so I can write the whole project off as "family together time".

Here's the cake before:

And after:

Here's what everyone else got to eat. It tasted much better than it looks, I assure you.

And here's the birthday girl, wasting away. Perhaps we should schedule a few un-birthday parties for her really soon in the hopes that the cake could help her pack on a few more pounds.

Speaking of unbirthday parties, you've really got to see this one.