With my biological niece and nephew thousands of miles away (and teenagers already!), I’ve adopted Kari as my Chicago niece. Seeing as how Kari’s mom, Jayme, has been my husband’s “sister” since college, it all works out in some weird way. Anyway. Last Saturday was Kari’s first birthday party and I volunteered to take photos so Jayme could enjoy the day and the company (don’t worry Jayme, it wasn’t a freebie, one day we’ll have a kid and you can return the favor!).

The party was a big explosion of photos, babies, cake, and pink. In other words, everything it should be!

Happy birthday Kari, and two thumbs up to Jayme and Tim for raising such a fun little girl!

(I’m so jealous, Jayme and Tim have the BEST window light)

(Since Jayme is ultra-mom, she figured out how to bake a cross into Kari’s cake. Amazing.)

(Kari decided to share her cake… with my camera. Don’t worry, I later cleaned off my lens with vodka. Wooo, birthday party!)

(Curly the dog had a cake-filled day too. He practiced his pout beforehand)

(I must admit, I took almost as many pictures of Curly as of Kari… he’s just so cute. I have dog envy)

(Baby Sarah)

PS. Jayme is a wonderful photographer as well as a mommy (hence my comment about her taking pictures for me some day!) – her work is here, and you can see more pictures of Kari there!