Birthday party day!!!

(I've posted a lot of pictures for out-of-town family to enjoy. If you want to see them larger, simply double-click on a picture. Thanks for enduring!)

Saturday was the big party, and the day got off to a great start. Clay popped in a James Taylor cd and danced with his girl. It became a family affair as the boy didn't want to be left out. I had a few flashes of the potential future as Clay danced with the girl and I danced with the boy. Mind you, the boy was more interested in spinning circles than anything else. Much to his dismay, Mommy can't go round and round as often as he would like without falling down!

One of those small moments that burn into your brain and you hold close to your heart. Can't you see how much she loves her daddy?

Due to crazy nap schedules, the party was held after dinner. Of course I had to take some pictures of the family before people began arriving. Can you read her shirt? It says, "My heart belongs to Daddy." And the boy is showing off his new jumping skills - as he does ALL the time right now. I was trying to take a picture and he wouldn't stand still! You can't tell, but he is mid-air. And can't you see how much the girl loves her brother? I LOVE IT!








Grannylou, Pop, Uncle Eric, Aunt Kristi, Kadyn and Dylan arrived early to eat dinner and visit before the insanity began. It had been a while since we have all been together so it was a nice prelude to the party. The boys play well together now, and it is so much fun to watch. The birthday girl showed off her walking skills and took an interest in the pictures Kadyn wanted to show Pop. Friends began arriving right on time and the chaos began. We only invited 4 other families (outside of my birth family), but that totaled 14 adults and 10 kids!!! The kids ranged from 11 months to 6 1/2 years old. Our house was full and the carpet was not to be seen. It was great to have so many people we love here, but we wish others could have been here too - although we would have had to change locations because our house was packed! It was hard to capture the kids on camera, but here are some of the adults enjoying each other's company.








Once everyone arrived, we opened presents. The birthday girl was much more interested in this than I thought she would be. She didn't really help unwrap, but she hung close to get a glimpse of her new toys. A fun book, shoes, a doll with buttons and sounds, a stroller, a sippy cup with her name on it, and a personalized hat were all big hits.










On to the cake...it was really a cupcake. She was quite amazed at everyone singing to her, and we expected her to dive right in. She is such a messy eater that we expected cake to be everwhere. She was much more hesitant and never really took a bite. She just examined it - even picked the whole thing up - and then began to let us know she was done. The last picture shows what was left...and shows just how uninterested she was!
It was a wonderful way to cap off the celebration of the blessing this little girl is. I was overwhelmed by the realization of how blessed our little family is with family nearby, so many friends, and so many people to walk along this road of parenthood. What we have here is rare, and we know it. I am humbled by the shower of blessings God continues to give.

Celebrating

Before I get to the festivities, I wanted to share the moments before we left the house. While I was gathering our stuff to head out for the celebration, the kids watched a little Diego. The girl surprised me by joining in and making a shell just like Diego told her to. I caught it on camera followed by the boy making a shell for her. Too cute! Then the girl kept reaching toward Diego doing her "I want" sign. Again, too cute!











Our evening was full of adventure celebrating the girl's big day. The kids and I picked up Grannylou and headed to see Pop who had to work. The girl enjoyed snuggling with her Pop while the boy ran up and down the sidewalk, ramp and stairs. He didn't want to leave! Then we headed to the mall to meet Clay for dinner and play time. The boy did a great job singing "Happy Birthday" and watching the girl open a gift. Grannylou couldn't stand not to give the girl her gift on her actual birthday since we were together. The girl did not disappoint with her excitement over the adorable heart-filled pjs and Granny's Purse book. While she won't be able to play with it for another year or so, it is an adorable girly gift with lots of things to do. She wasn't too fond of the sunglasses though! After dinner, we headed to Build-A-Bear. The girl was most interested in the machine that stuffs the animals - everything else was lost on her - but she sure does love her polar bear (appropriately named Valerie since it was Valentine's Day)! Then it was off to join Grannylou and the boy at the play area. We just went a few weeks ago, and she wasn't all that impressed; but last night was a different story. We could hardly keep up with the two kids. Everyone seemed to have a great time. It was a wonderful way to celebrate a very special day!

















And one last thing (to explain the last 2 pictures that don't seem to fit) - the girl climbed up on the step to our tub today. She was so proud of herself - as was her brother. It all came to a screeching halt when she failed to realize she had to step down and took a good tumble - fortunately into the carpeted closet! Our adventurous one didn't stop for long though before going right back. Something tells me the small bruise above her right eye from yesterday's fall will not be the last!

Guess what today is...

It's her birthday! Crown her Miss Valentine! I can hardly believe it's been a year since she made her dramatic entrance into this world. (To read the story, click here.) She has been a whirlwind in our lives, and something tells me that is how she is going to approach life. It seems like she does something new each day. Even this morning she stopped nursing and made the sign for eat. I asked if she wanted to eat and she did it again...so off to the highchair we went. She just beamed as the boy and I sang to her this morning (hearing him wish her a happy birthday melted my heart). She seems to know it's her special day. She loves drinking from her sippy cup, she loves eating whatever her brother is having (or anyone else for that matter), she's pointing, she has 5 teeth, she's practicing walking alone, she's a cuddler, she loves giving kisses, she has learned a fake cry and how to throw temper tantrums - feet kicking and all, she loves baths and doesn't care if you pour water on her face, she hates having her teeth brushed, and she is totally captivated by her brother. I could go on and on, but I'll spare you except for one last thing. My absolute favorite thing she does is that the first thing she does in the high chair is put her hands together for us to pray. She picked it up from her brother, and it warms my heart each time I see it. My love for her is intense...and my heart's desire is that she falls in love with Jesus early in life and totally abandons herself to Him.

Here are a few pictures from this morning. Don't you think she knows it's her special day? Then she's enjoying her Valentine's/Birthday card from Mimi, Granddaddy, and Auntie Claire!












Being sentimental, I took pictures of her bath last night so I could capture her last moments awake as an infant. Two things she loves - her brother and baths!












I caught her practicing her spoon skills on Tuesday. She is so proud of herself you can see it all over her body!

A miracle and a blessing

I've discovered a new trend in my life: I get really (I mean really) reflective around my children's first birthdays. Mind you, I've only had 2, but the same thing has happened both times about a month before the big day. In some ways I think I am finally coming out of the fog of the last year and can begin to see how this new little one so dramatically changed life and me. Part of me says I am just highly over-analytical and rarely content with things as they are. There is always room to improve, right? (Pause here to say that I am learning to enjoy today and to relax. It's a work in progress!) In other ways I think I am simply a silly girl who is sentimental to her core and relates so well to the verse that describes Mary treasuring all these things in heart. God uses these times of reflection to show me many things: how I've grown, where I need to grow, the blessings He's given, and most importantly how He's been there every step of the way even when I didn't pay attention.

Already being in this mindset, I was overwhelmed by a song a friend posted on her blog. You can see the video here. It is a wonderful song about the road of infertility. It took me down memory lane of our road which was really not as treacherous of a journey as it could have been. God kindly spared us a lot of the heartache and pain others experience. I am in certainly no way making light of our journey. It was hard. It was lonely. We didn't know how it would end. Unlike Job, I often blamed God asking why He didn't trust me with one of His children. I found myself angry and bitter toward others who got pregnant easily. I questioned God's plan when I found out the teenage son of a friend was about to be a dad. I tried to make deals. I begged, pleaded and cried until I had nothing else in me. Amazingly, the strain was minimal on our marriage. While not quite as dramatic as me, Clay longed and hurt too. We found comfort in each other instead of pushing each other away. While we felt many others couldn't understand, we knew each other did. God grew us during those years - through waiting, through testing, through results, through trusting.

As I worked on separating the kids into two rooms in January, two picture frames jumped out at me. For the first time, I realized how true the words are about our kids. My sister gave me the first one for the boy's sonogram picture that uses the word 'miracle'. The frame I bought for the girl's sonogram picture calls her 'our little blessing'. Our boy is our miracle baby. We had less than a 5% chance of getting pregnant without a medical procedure. Ferility drugs wouldn't help our situation. We were waiting on timing to begin our first procedure when we found out we were pregnant. MIRACLE! What we thought might never happen did through the hand of God. Then a few weeks before his first birthday (and about 9 months of not being very careful), God took my breath away when we found out we were pregnant again. Not only had He given us the desire of our hearts with one child, He chose to give us a blessing with a second. I was speechless - and that's a big deal for me. God reminded me He was MUCH bigger than the box I often try to fit Him in.

Sadly, there are times I forget the miracle and blessing these two are. I get selfish and tired and frustrated. I raise my voice. I complain. I whine. I cry. And I wouldn't trade any of it for the world. I'd rather lose sleep every night than not know the joy of comforting my child. I would rather sound like a broken record than never hear, "I love you, Mommy." I would rather feel unseen and unappreciated than never watch my kids faces light up when I enter a room. I'd rather be the woman I am today than never know the highs and lows of the road we walked. And I'd rather die than do any of this life without God.