The Birthday Girl

What a special day it has been today celebrating the most special little lady in my and Darin's life!! Lucy Kiera is one-year-old today!

I'm wiped out after a long day of celebrating, so I think I'll mainly share pictures with you in this post! Enjoy:

Playing the piano with Cousin Savannah as the festivities start:


Let the present-opening begin!


Discovering what surprises Mama Gail and Grandpa sent!


To honor Lucy on her birthday we ALL ate her favorite foods (mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese, yogurt, grapes, lunch meat and cheese!!):

The birthday song:

The very first cupcake is a momentous occasion in a little girl's life!

The birthday girl has happily drifted off to dreamland and all is well. We are so thankful for the wonderful priviledge of being Lucy's parents and for a wonderful first year with her.

Birthday Preparation

Yep, that first picture shows Lucy's birthday presents from Darin and I in with her in plain view.

I'm thinking this is the easiest time I'll ever have preparing for Lucy's birthday. She doesn't have a clue what birthdays are, let alone that she'll be having her first one this Saturday and will be getting lots of presents. This makes birthday present shopping/making/wrapping super easy! I can do all of it right in front of her and there's no need to find hiding places in the house.

The downside of it is that she doesn't really know to be excited about her presents... she'll probably be more enthusiastic about the wrapping paper.

I'm catching on that babies' first birthdays are most fun for parents. I was so delighted to find her this adorable play kitchen and coordinating toy cupcake set at Target (I'm indocrinating her early on all things cupcakes!). She won't even be big enough to enjoy them for several months but I couldn't help myself-they were on sale after Christmas! The little elephant was a sewing project from the book Last-Minute Patchwork + Quilted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson (whose fabric shop I visited in NYC!). I've been eyeing that kitchen and looking for an excuse to sew that adorable elephant for months and Lucy's birthday was the perfect opportunity. It was so relaxing to do accomplish these missions without sneaking around/getting babysitters so I could keep them a surprise. I'm thinking each of Lucy's birthdays from here on out will take a little more planning and require covert operations, but at the same time they will have a whole new element of fun to them!

I can't believe my baby girl is almost one! What a joy she is, and I can't wait to celebrate!

Before parting with you, I have an entirely unreleated question to pose... if you would be so kind to give me your "two cents" on another food dilemma (see earlier post on Hot Dogs ):

Is the wholesome goodness of bran muffins negated when you slather them with butter the way I like to do?

I just wanted to check with you first before I allow myself to get puffed up about being healthy...

Halfway

Two posts in one day! Crazy, huh? Well, now that uploading pictures works for me again, I couldn't help but satisfy my mom and sister's curiosity and share my first "swelly belly" shot:

Pictured with me below are two VERY sweet answers to prayer:

I am now 20 weeks along in the pregnancy and officially at the halfway mark. Praise God that everything has gone smoothly so far and I've had a relatively comfortable experience. I have a feeling, however that the next 20 weeks might go a little slower than the first. : )

Valentine's Day and a Farewell

I'm definitely a little late in posting about our Valentine's Day, but I wanted to wait until I had pictures available to post. We all had a great Valentine's weekend! Even though we missed her very much, Lucy spent the weekend at her Grandma and Grandpa Stevenson's house so that Darin and I could get a little time for the two of us. We firgured that this Valentine's Day won't be one she'll remember so if there's a year to be away from her on such a holiday, this was a good one to choose.

Darin and I had a nice time together and it was nice to give each other some undivided attention. With our sweet Lucy and another on the way, it would be easy right now to put our relationship with each other on the "back burner" and I think most young/new parents could agree. We're doing our best to work on avoiding that and a weekend such as this really helps. Other than sleeping in, checkin ginto a nice hotel on Friday night and several nice meals for the two of us, we also attended a fun "Mystery Valentine's Dinner" hosted by a family in our church whom we look up to. There were eight couples in all, a great meal and a rousing game of the "Newly Wed Game" which, I might add, Darin and I took FIRST PLACE in! Woo hoo!

It sounds like Lucy had a GREAT time with Grandma and Grandpa and we've seen some sweet pictures of her opening her present from Mommy and Daddy while there. Unfortunately I don't have those pics to share, but have some other fun shots of her opening presents from others before and after the weekend :

Opening her gift from Grandma and Grandpa Stevenson

Aunt Dawn spoiling Lucy (she also spoiled us with movie theatre gift cards and an offer of free babysitting!)


Digging into her fun package from Mama Gail and Grandpa Rick!

Being at her grandparents' house must have inspired her because as soon as she got home she started to CRAWL! She's enjoying her newfound mobility, though I'm not having to chase after her as much as I'd expected. She's often happy still sitting and playing with toys in one spot. Such a sweetie!

In other news, we had a difficult farewell yesterday. For the past four and a half years, Darin and I have befriended an international student who attended a nearby university here. We were a part of a program through the school that matches volunteers to international students who indicate interest in being "adopted" by a family here. Rahul has been a part of our family for these past several years and he has now graduated and gotten some valuable work experience. It is now time for him to go back home to Tanzania where he will take a larger role in his family's successful business, enabling his father to retire before too long.

I can't tell you how much this relationship has meant to our entire family and I would encourage you to look into some of the local colleges and universities to see if such a program is offered near you. It is sad to think of how many students come to the U.S. to study and spend their entire time here without having ever been invited into an American home. Since Darin and I have both spent time overseas, we realize how lonely that must be. We've also leanred so much about other parts of the world and other cultures which is always valuable to us.


Yesterday Rahul stopped by to say a final goodbye to Lucy and I before he went to the airport (Darin was able to go to the airport for his "goodbye"). By the time Rahul left the house yesterday, he'd hugged and kissed Lucy so much that she smelled like his cologne! : ) So sweet, but also a bittersweet reminder throughout the day that it will be awhile before we see him again.

Lucy with her "Rahul Uncle"

Opening an early birthday present from Rahul Uncle before saying goodbye yesterday!

We'll always love you and miss you, Rahul!

Glorious

The temperatures here in Des Moines for the past several days have been in the 50's. I don't mean to sound over-dramatic but it's been like a dream come true!! Lucy and I have been enjoying getting out of the house with less hassle and it sure has improved our spirits!

Lucy is experiencing a bit of relief today as one of the four teeth bulging from her top gum broke through during the night. I can't wait to see what her smile will look like with her two front teeth fully in. Her first birthday is just around the corner. It sure is fun to see all that a baby can learn and start doing in only 12 months. She continues to be the cheerful, easy-going girl she's always been.

In other updates, I'm so grateful that my pregnancy has been going very smoothly and so far it's been "pain-free". I'm pretty sure I've started feeling baby dancing around in my belly and it's such a sweet feeling, especially since I used to wonder if I'd ever get to know what that was like!

I'm currently having difficulty uploading pictures onto our computer, so I apologize that it's been awhile since you've seen any pics on here. Hopefully soon.

Well, I think I'll get off of this computer and enjoy a little more free time while Lucy naps. More soon.

I Knew it Would Happen Eventually

When Lucy was around 5 months old I remember her having a couple days of "feeling under the weather". But she has gotten to the age of 11 months without getting truely sick. It was bound to happen and it finally has!

The poor munchkin has been miserable especially during the night. All I can say is that the vaporizer is my our best friend as I am convinced it is the only reason she's slept during the night for four to six hour chunks at a time.

If Lucy could talk, I'm pretty sure she'd tell you that she doesn't consider her mommy to be HER best friend at the moment. If I so much as approach her nose with or without kleenex and nasal aspirator, she cries and thrashes her head. It stinks being the "mean guy" but I always knew it would be part of mothering. I keep telling her that I am sure Mama Gail did the same things to me if I was ever sick as a baby... and that I turned out just fine. She remains unconvinced.

I'm glad these aren't the memories she'll have of me when she is able to look back on being sick as a child. I'm hoping they'll be more along the lines of the memories I have of my mom taking care of me when I was sick at an age that I can remember:

Making me chicken soup from scratch and letting me pick the shape of noodle that went in. Renting me lots of movies to watch from my sick post on the sofa. Running me warm baths. Taking my temperature and feeling sorry for me...

The fact that I too am currently sick with the same bug that Lucy has also makes me wonder how many times my mom took care of me while she was sick at the same time... I am sure it happened plenty of times and I was never the wiser.

Mom, thanks for being such a great mother and teaching me how to mother my own children!

Mitten Mission Accomplished

We've been without internet access on our home computer during the last few days, so I haven't been able to keep up with my blog as well as I'd like. Darin has been kindly bringing home his laptop from work in the evenings so I can keep up with e-mails and such. That's been nice.

I can't upload pictures using his computer very well so I can't show you my finished mitten, but I can TELL you how pleased I am to have a completed pair. On to Lucy's matching set... congratulations to me! : )

I'm also sad to report that there will be PLENTY of opportunities for both of us to wear our warm woolen mittens yet this winter. I'm dreaming of spring and praying that the next two to three months pass quickly.