Party, Party, Lily has a Party!

Sunday afternoon we celebrated Lily's birthday with a party and a few friends over at the house. The weather was overcast and very breezy but no rain fell and the bounce house held.

Here is Lily a few hours before the party admiring her cake. The ladybug on top is a match to the ladybug on her party dress hanging on the chair.

My friend, Valorie, made this cake for Lily. Didn't she do an awesome job?! Everyone at the party just raved about the cake. Thanks so much Valorie!  

Lily with her friends, Estella, Ryan, and Caden. Here is a rare shot of all the kids looking.  We had a hard time keeping the plates on the table.  Just a few seconds more and a big wind came by and blew them all over the front yard. Gotta love those trade winds. Even with the wind the big brothers and the little kids had fun with the bounce house, the trampoline, the slide and bubbles.

Here is our little princess ready to dig into her layer of the cake~the whole ladybug. Of course, our little lady requested a fork so as not to get her fingers dirty. Lily had been practicing blowing out her candles;  she was successful at her party. Once we put the ice cream in front of her she was using both spoon and fork to get all the yummy desserts in her mouth at the same time.

Everyone had a great time (I think!) and we feel so blessed to have friends here to help us celebrate our sweet baby girl's birthday.

A Special Birthday Present

Lily is certainly making up this year for not celebrating her first birthday last year. We went out to eat on her actual birthday ~ January 8th. Birthday presents have been trickling in via the postman this past week. Lily has received some really great gifts ~ THANK YOU everyone!

One special gift that she received was a signed copy of the book Made in China A Story of Adoption. It was written and illustrated by a mother and her daughter (who are from my home state of Ohio!). The illustrator has personally adopted from China herself. Yes, I admit, reading the story made me cry. What a wonderful gift from Lily's Aunt Amy and Uncle Mark. Thank you so much Amy and Mark!!!

For anyone who is curious, this is the book cover. It was written by Vanita Oelschlager and illustrated by Kristin Blackwood.
Stay tuned for more birthday photos and video. We are having a little party on Sunday for Lily, complete with bounce house, a few friends, and a special ladybug cake.

Our sweet baby girl turns 2!

Our precious sweet girl...

brings so much joy to our lives!

Happy 2nd Birthday Lily! We love you!