July 19

Happy first birthday, Lily Clare!

You know how they always say that babies grow up so quickly? I say, not so much. I have felt every day of this year, and enjoyed most of them. The one cliche I will claim for Lily's first year is that I can't imagine our family without her. She is such a perfect addition to our (not-so-)little family, and she is just the right complement to Caleb's ying and Daisy's yang. I'm so excited for this next year, as she becomes more mobile, independent, and able to interact with her siblings on her own terms!

I spent all morning and part of the afternoon at a MOPS meeting, so I missed most of Lily's special day. Before I left, though, I showed Lily's birthday video to Caleb and Daisy. They were transfixed, and giggled at all of the silly (and some of the not-so-silly) pictures. Want to see it? It's just over eight minutes long, but I think it's really fun. Granted, she's my baby and I took all the pictures, so of course I love it.

After they watched that, they watched Daisy's first year video. That one is twice as long, so I won't bother sharing it here. But here's a picture of Chris and the kids watching Daisy's video:

It was cute to see how engaged they were!

After naps and dinner, we headed out to find one birthday cake for Lily's first birthday.

The Holocaust Museum was the closest cake, but Chris was concerned that it was a bit morbid or disrespectful to visit that cake for our daughter's birthday. Practicality ruled, though, because it was getting close to bedtime and we needed our outing to be short. Holocaust Museum, it was.

Yep - the kids were all in their jammies. Also, because it was so close to bedtime, they were pretty uncooperative. So it goes.

I love this one of Lily trying to remove the birthday crown that Daisy made for her, while Caleb and Daisy tussle for the top of the cake in the background.

And then, once we were done with the cake pictures and getting back in the car, then Caleb and Daisy decided to be cooperative. Those children.