I really can’t believe my baby girl is already one! I mean, didn’t we just bring her home from the hospital? You can read my birth story here. About two months ago I started planning her derby-themed birthday party. What is more fitting than celebrating her actual birthday on derby day?!

The feeling is pretty unreal to have a child, but then even more so to be celebrating her first birthday already. We couldn’t be happier to share this special day with all of Savannah’s closest friends and family. (We are missing baby Lydia in this picture, darn naps!)
So many people came with handmade hats and bows! It made the party so much fun! I sewed and hot glued mine and Savannah’s. We even had matching flowers and feathers. 
And ‘my person’ Kat came from Louisville with her sweet family. This friend traveled the day before to help me with party planning. I love you so much! It is rare to find such great friends like you!What better way to celebrate upcoming Mother’s Day with your own mama who is staying all week after the party! A derby party wouldn’t be complete without betting, right? Well, I bet on Blue and he won our hearts with this adorable little jockey harness. And if Dan and I would have actually stuck with our original horse picks, (his #5, mine #1 for Savannah’s first birthday) we could have been rich! hahaI painted this wooden jockey silk to go with the party and to use each year after when derby rolls around! These hot brown bites were a hit, and approved by my smallest judge! They were super easy to make and a great addition to any Kentucky party! Served with mint julep lemonade, Raising Cane’s chicken fingers, and mint topped fruit salad.

If you are here in Lexington, Ky I would recommend using Ashley with One Smart Cookie! We were so impressed with these adorable custom derby cookies. They were almost too cute to eat, and so delicious! I ended up making the cupcakes and they also turned out great. (Basic yellow cake mix, and this amazing buttercream frosting recipe with added cream cheese) I added a bit of food coloring to achieve the pinkish color and added little blue gemmies.And this big one year old ate the entire cupcake!! Savannah was blessed with lots of fun birthday presents. Some dolls, musical toys, swimsuits, a beach bag for Gamma’s house, jewelry, books, and much more!I was lucky enough to get some snuggles from this little guy! And we were so glad to see some little boys around 🙂Thank you again to all of our family and friends who drove from out of town and spent their day with us. And from those of you celebrating from afar! We love you all so much!

I would love to hear about your derby day! Please share below in the comments!

Thanks for reading,
Kim & Savannah