life, the journey: recollection of little nadia nasira’s 1st. birthday

in february, my sis in law asked my husband and I, what was little nasira’s birthday plans. my husband and i decided that we wanted a “kenduri arwah and doa selamat” cum birthday party. it was then decided that we will have a recital of prayers for little naida nasira's late great grandfathers and great grandmothers, grandfather, grand uncles as well as the recital of our thanks giving to the almighty allah who blessed us with little nadia nasira....

it was already mid-february and we needed to do quite a lot of things. while we planned the party (my first event planning) with some help from my sis in law, we realised that there was a lot of things to be taken into consideration.. setting the house, who to invite, what food to order, which caterer, the birthday cake, decorations, canopy, party pack, birthday dress etc….

one of the most interesting thing about her birthday to me, was her birthday cake, which my husband and i take pride in as we both designed it. the inspiration for the design is my little nasira’s favourite things… fish and bear… she can even say both words (ish… bear) instead of mummy and daddy!!!

then came the choice of birthday dress…. we shopped and shopped and finally found a dress for her at mothercare…. a long dress with a top. though i wanted a princess looking dress, we couldn’t find one that we liked despite going to party princess and etc. we did find one at lovely lace but it was too small… i was sad about it… nevertheless, on her birthday, she wore 3 dresses… one my husband bought for her from london, her birthday dress and finally, a traditional dress that my mum tailored for her (her first tailored outfit). as for the decorations, i liked the banner a lot… my husband and i had the design in mind… thanks to my sis in law who took care of the decorations…

finally came the big day….it was the first big event we were hosting, we were so clumsy looking at the final preparation, i did not even pick an outfit for myself… the cake has not arrived yet, some technical issues on the decoration to be settled, did not greet our families and guests properly, camera had settings problem, didn’t assign anyone to take pictures of our guests (a friend of mine managed to capture some at last), didn’t hand out party packs to the children properly, not sure all the guests had a piece of the birthday cake, not sure the guests have a hearty lunch, didn’t spend much time with my family and the list goes on…. despite everything, i am thankful that it all turned out to be wonderful with families and friends, those who mattered to us most came to bless her on her special day. she was showered with lots of presents too…. there was a mystery gift as well… a heart-shaped pendant. we have checked out all the guests and could not point at anyone….sigh….

with this event, we learnt a lot about hosting events…hopefully, the next time around, events would be smooth sailing…

as what my friend, khine said to me… first birthdays are always fun for the parents…. very true… my husband and I had fun the entire time celebrating our first born’s first birthday, thankful that she came into our lives giving us the experience as a mother and father together with all the joy and happiness that a first born gives parents….