Birthday Girl

Our little girl is one!

Claire’s grandparents and Uncle Adam were in town to help celebrate the big day. She started the day off with her first taste of pancakes and then began preparing for her big celebration. Even an adorable one year old needs time to rest and primp, especially if that one year old’s two boyfriends are coming to her birthday party. I would include photos of them, but quite frankly, you would all fall in love and I won’t have anyone taking my daughter’s boyfriends away. One day, she’ll have to decide between the two of them, but for now, she’s loving the attention from her two suitors.

The party went well. There was singing, lots of presents (and enough new books to warrant a new bookshelf), and naturally, some fabulous cake smashing and plenty of icing in the birthday girl’s hair. We also started a “birthday tablecloth” tradition for Claire. Every year, her guests will sign their names on her tablecloth and we’ll embroider over the names, so one day, she will have a tablecloth that’s been used at every one of her birthday parties and has been signed by all her guests. This year, Claire’s guests weren’t exactly autograph-ready, so we traced their handprints and wrote their names inside the print. It’s going to be so cute in a few years when it’s full of names and handprints.

We’ve known Claire for four months now and only had her home for a little more than two months, but she’s wasted no time becoming the center of our world and we’re so grateful to have her in our lives. And of course, the very reason we’re celebrating today has a lot to do with a woman who lives halfway around the world who made very difficult decision a year ago and gave us the best gift we could ever hope for. I’m sure she’s thinking of Claire today, and we’re certainly thinking of her…and thanking her.