Lil*y's Birthday

 

An amazing milestone happened in our house last Saturday. L*ily turned 2. At 2, she is all toddler all the time - she has started to walk, she climbs the stairs (and knows when someone forgets to shut the gate), gets into everything, makes us laugh, whines and tantrums when she doesn't get her way, jabbers with gestures, points her finger at you, reads books and plays with toys, has preferences, laughs, cries, sings, yells, and sometimes screams, kisses, and claps for herself. We spent her birthday with family and a few of Li*ly's close friends doing what you would imagine doing for a toddler's birthday...

 

 

 

... smashing cupcakes full of way too much sugar in our faces!
Opening presents and carrying as many as possible around, forgetting that there are several more waiting...


 
 
Opening more presents (and actually reading the card first!)...


...Getting excited about baby dolls...


Getting excited about our cousin's or sister's presents...

Helping each other out...

And even losing our shoes! 

Its really hard to imagine what life would be like without L*ily and yet still hard (and fresh) to think about all the struggles we had in pregnancy before we even knew her. Its not really possible to put into words the emotions we have as we balance celebrating her young life full of promise with the limitations - known and unknown - that her special needs will give her. Some days I wish it was different - for her sake, not mine. Yet we are so grateful for the family and the community we have  - she has - that have, along with our faith in God, carried us through the joys and challenges of having a child with special needs thus far. 

Happy Birthday, L*ily! You are a beautiful girl full of personality and determination, and we love you! 

Boo Zoo

This year, we took the girls to the Boo Zoo at Co*mo Zo*o. It was great fun although for Z*oe, the best part was that the carousel was running (with lots of great Hall*oween music like the Ad*ams family and M*onster Mash).

She also loved the beauty from beauty and the beast...

As did L*ily...

And the tea party...

After that, it was a bit down hill for Z*oe because the rest was walking through the zoo in the dark waving to a bunch of strangers dressed up in costumes like various animals. If you know Z at all, you know that waving or worse, talking to people we don't know is not her idea of fun and she's not going to do it. Period. She apparently will, however, stick her head in the mouth of a lion...

Da*ve agreed that maybe this one was appropriate for him!

L*ily loved waving at everyone, but her favorite part was probably just crawling around in the building at the end!

Forty

October is my favorite month of the year - I love fall and I love the swings in temperature - warm days and cool nights, beautiful colors, and selfishly, my own birthday (although this gets less and less exciting). This year, however, was an especially interesting October for me especially as I hit that milestone, 40. Its a weird number really - big but not so big, old but in a weird way old. Your past the point of adjusting to things 10 years ago feeling so close and yet you begin to realize that you may have more past than future. Its that number that definitely sounded big at 10 and boring at 20. You know, old. And if you are anything like me, you anticipate and think a lot, and muse and worry, and then by the time you hit it, its not that big of a deal. So what better way to bring in the next decade than with a party. With chili. Except that its October, so it might be 80 degrees. Oh well - a very fun party and a nice way to ring in the old anyway.

Memorial Day at Jo*hn and Sh*aron's

Z learned to fly a kite with her daddy.

























Z and her second cousin, St*arr, worked hard to clear a bit of seaweed from the shore.

Zoe's 4th birthday party

Getting ready...

L*ily and Un*cle Ph*il

Aunt*ie Mea*gan brings balloons...

L*ily with Grand*ma J*udy

Aunt*ie E*mily with L*ily...

L*ily and Grand*pa M*ike...

Blowing out Birthday Candles...

Opening presents...

Getting a closer look...

Friends (Z*oe, Char*lotte, Au*gust, Mar*ina)

Thanks for a great Birthday!