For a Season: Happy Birthday Two You

Happy Birthday times Two! Earlier this month, on the 9th, we celebrated two big birthdays in our house - birthday number 1 for M and number 30 for Chad!! Picture this - burlap tableclothes (okay, so maybe pink burlap), pretty pink flowers and lots of uber-girliness for a birthday party (yes, I know it was a joint party but when planning I couldn't help myself!). All that planning and buying for a party That.Never.Happened.
Here's our birthday girl on her actual birthday:

Strep throat and a nasty ear infection - the second one in 2 weeks :(. Baby girl was not in the partying mood.

So we cancelled the party. But we still gave M one of her daddy's carrot cake cupcakes at lunch time and celebrated.

Then we opened gifts. M really racked up...a lot of cute smocked dresses, a new Pottery Barn chair, tons of girly accessories, a scrapbook of her first year, and a new princess riding toy.

Chad had a very manly birthday - leather, liquor and a firearm

Yes, the gun was his favorite. A new Benelli to celebrate a big birthday!

Don't worry - sister got in on the action too!

The next night M was finally feeling a little better so we gave her the smash cake I made with love...but she didn't really want to smash it. She loved the white chocolate heart though!

To our sweet little M -

When I say you are little, I mean it! At your one year check-up you weighed a whopping 18 lbs., 11 oz which put you in the 10th-25th percentile! You were long though - 30 inches, so looks like you might just have a petite frame. You might be tiny but your personality is not. You are so sweet and love to cuddle and it makes my heart melt every time you give me a hug or coming crawling over to be held. Another part of your big personality is your temper. Wowser. We're hoping it gets better with age, and also once you stop having those nasty ear infections which literally plague you every other week (you're getting tubes tomorrow though - yay!). I am astounded at how fast this year has gone by. I really haven't stopped to think about it because we've been going 90 to nothing since you came into the picture. You started walking 2 weeks before your birthday and have already gotten it down. You adore your sister and think she's hilarious - she can always make you laugh, even if it's just talking some jibberish that none of us understand! Your pretty blue-grey eyes and your sweet smile get us through the tired days from the nights of little sleep. But they are all worth it for you our special little girl! You enrich our lives so much and we love watching you grow and learn new things each day. We love you to the moon and back! Love, Mommy (and Daddy)

And now a look back at your first year :)