Birthday Celebration

My heart {and my wine rack!} is full. I am so very blessed!

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Day 731

Happy Birthday, Jessica Fae!

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A Letter to My Jessie on the Eve of Her 2nd Birthday

My dear sweet Jessie, can it truly be 2 years?  You were my much anticipated baby.  I prayed for you long before I knew I wanted you.  You are such a cautiously adventurous child!  You make me laugh as you climb over the couch, on top of the toilet, on top of the play kitchen, yet look for reassurance that Mommy or Daddy will be there to help you down the stairs.  You have always wanted to be on the go, hitting all those milestones earlier than I would have liked, all the while watching your big Sissy, wanting to be like her.  I am so pleased that you have Maggie to look up to.  She will not steer you wrong!

The last 2 years feel like a blur.  You have gone from teeny baby wanting to nurse all the time to long, lean toddler wanting to nurse all the time.  I love to hear your little voice delightfully yell "Mommy" when I come home from work.  I love to hear your laugh, loud and boisterous.  I love that your favorite game is for us to hide under the blanket and wait for Daddy to scare us as you scream delightfully as the blanket flies off.  I love to watch you play with your babies, shushing them and patting their backs to get them to go to sleep.  I love that all scary animals are "Yi-s", cats are "Ma-ows", horses are "Neighs."  I love when you jabber at me in your own language and look expectedly at me as I'm supposed to know exactly what you said and how to respond.  Your beautiful hazel eyes show so much excitement for each day.

Yet, even as you are adventerous, you love your routine and are not pleased when I break from it, especially when it comes to nursing.  I know our time there is fleeting.  I do enjoy snuggling with you [for the most part, except when you think it's time to play].  You give such wonderful hugs and kisses.

I so look forward to watching you grow up and watching you become the girl and woman God has meant  you to be.  I have no plans for you, other than to teach you what I can, help you when I should, and be the mother God has chosen me to be. 

Happy birthday, Jessie.

Colossians 1:9-12 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you & asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualifies you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

Now that I am 6 …

Due to a “miscommunication,” Maggie & I did not go horseback riding the weekend we went to Luccock. Needless to say, Maggie was extremely disappointed. Fortunately, one of the women I work with has horses and she was eagerly allowed us to bring Maggie over to ride Roxy, her 5 year old mare.  I’m not sure that Maggie really believed us when we first told her, but when we missed the turn and had to turn around, she was very worried that we weren’t going to see the horses.

Charlotte had Roxy all ready to go and walked Maggie around several times.  Maggie had a big grin on her face the whole time.  We also got to pet baby Mocha and the other 2 horses, who Maggie enjoyed picking grass for while we were there.

    

We were there about 45 minutes and then headed to Applebee’s, which Maggie had selected for her birthday lunch.  They even sang to her and brought her a birthday sundae!

It was a quiet birthday, but I think it’s what Maggie wanted.  Grandpa Mike & Grandma Bonnie are here to help celebrate.  She got a Barbie Vet kit, Smurf Dance Party game for the Wii, a Dr. Suess book “If I Ran the Zoo”, and lots of great presents from her grandparents, including Princess sheets, blankets & curtains for her “new” room!  She took cupcakes to school yesterday and they sang to her.  A little later tonight, we’ll all have cupcakes and get some candles out for her.

Happy Birthday Baby Cakes!

We celebrated Jessie’s birthday after the baptism by having some friends from church over for hot dogs and hamburgers and, of course, cake!  It was a beautiful afternoon (maybe a little hot, even).  The kids played outside enjoying the sun with bubbles, the hula hoop and a ball toss game that Grandma Alana brought.  After enjoying lunch it was time for cake.  We were hoping Jessie would dig into her pink bear cake, but she was a little more dainty than her big sister was, just poking at the frosting and then sharing with me.

 

She got lots of nice presents and had help opening them from Maggie & Caleb.

 

We are so blessed to have this great group of friends from church and some family to be with us as we celebrated this milestone in Jessie’s life.  Thank you all for coming!!

Maggie turns 5!

Some highlights from Maggie’s 5th birthday:

Playing at Saturday Live with Caleb & Olivia:

Happy 4th Birthday Maggie!! (now with link to pictures!)

Maggie is 4 years old! She had a nice birthday: took treats to preschool, got to open a box from Grandma Alana with lots of great stuff and got a pop-up play house from Mommy and Daddy. She really had a lot of fun with that (and Wiconi likes it too!)

The biggest part of her birthday, however, was the birthday party at ZooMontana. We had the party at the Living Wall, which Maggie and her little friends just loved. We had cupcakes and Maggie opened presents. Then we had an animal encounter with the Flemish Giant Rabbit and then we went to see Bruno the Bear. The kids had a lot of fun watching Bruno play in the water.

8 of Maggie friends came to her party: Alex and his baby sister, Madison and Keiko, Jade, Lucius, Stephanie and Trevor. Everyone had a really nice time and I bet most of the kids ended up as Maggie did: asleep on the way home.

I've uploaded pictures to Facebook and you can see them here, even without a Facebook account!

Happy Birthday Sweet Pea!

My little sweet pea is 3 years old. She is getting tall and leggy and I'm not exactly sure where that's coming from. Maybe some recessive gene that I get to carry, but no benefit from.

She really had fun on her birthday. She took treats into day care and had to carry them in herself. She was very proud! Rocky took her by the pet store on their way home and bought her a fish, which she promptly named "Fish the cat" and then changed to "Orange the fish." She was very disappointed that Orange is not allowed out of his bowl and onto her bed. She got to carry his bag into the house and just loves to watch him "simming!" She would feed him constantly if allowed. We had a bit of a fish theme with a fish shaped cake and a fish balloon as well. Maggie had to blow out her candles several times and was very meticulous, blowing out one at a time. She also received "Lyle the Kindly Viking" DVD and a board game based on "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See?" She likes to "play" it, or pick up the cards and name the animals. We have also watched "Lyle" many many many times. She was familiar with the songs from a CD we have, but now seems to know the entire thing.


She received two birthday "crowns": one from day care and one from preschool. She really enjoys preschool. She remembers what crafts she did when and will tell you "I made that in Pwe-school!" They have 2 field trips coming up: to a fire station and the pumpkin patch. I'm hoping to chaperon the pumpkin patch, but the fire station would be fun as well -- especially if they put the kids in the helmets! I'm just excited that she's getting the chance to do these kind of things. I'm not sure how much she'll remember, but at least we'll have the stories to tell her.