Tessa Kate Turns One

Last year when I found out that my due date with Tessa was July 28 I knew our birthdays would be close and there was a chance we could even share a birthday, but I never thought that would really happen.  Well, when I woke up last year on July 19th having contractions, I soon realized that this third daughter was going to be born on my birthday.  When Kyla was born two days before Troy's birthday we thought that was close.  Apparently, we like sharing birthdays in our family :). On the day she was born I wasn't sure what to think....I am a birthday fanatic and love to have everyone have their own special day.  But, as I am learning more and more, God specializes in giving us gifts better than we could ever imagine to even ask for ourselves.  I think this sharing birthday thing is going to be one of those kinds of gifts.....the kind only God can give because they are just that good. 

And, oh Tessa Kate, how we have fallen in love with this baby over this year.

The birthday girls were ready to celebrate!

All smiles.....the brand new one year old.

However, it is her party and she can cry if she wants to.

Tessa and I both felt the love with sweet cards and gifts.

A year of memories....Tessa's month by month pictures.

Time for some cake! This teddy bear cake is a tradition......I have made it for each of our girls on their first birthdays.

Tessa wasn't really sure what to think of the cake at first so we took a break and came back to it later.  We enjoyed some time outside on an unseasonably cool day in mid July.

After that, Tessa was ready for some cake.....

We had a wonderful day celebrating our first birthday together and a year of loving a baby girl that we just adore.  Happy 1st Birthday, Tessa Kate.

A Day At The Zoo

A couple of weeks ago we got back from a vacation in Florida that I have been wanting to blog about but the truth is.....I have three kids and we are going all day long and by the time they are in bed the idea of forming sentences and typing them out seems like more than I have energy for.  Plus we have hundreds of pictures from our vacation and the idea of trying to sort through them to pick which ones to include......again, by the end of the day, it is more than my brain can handle.  But I really want to chronicle our families memories.  So for today I will write about a very fun day we had in Indy and soon I will tackle the vacation blog :)

Today the weather was beautiful and we decided it would be a perfect day to spend in Indy at the zoo.  A lot of other people thought that same thing because it was very crowded, but we did have a really fun day.  I still get just as excited as a child about seeing the animals and I love seeing the excitement of our kids. 

 

Tessa Kate enjoyed her first visit to the zoo and was very content be in her stroller taking it all in.

After we were done at the zoo we decided to stay in downtown Indy for dinner.  We tried a new restaurant called Bru Burger on Mass Ave. and we thought it was delicious.

These are my favorite kind of days, being together as a family.  Great day in Indy today!

Ashlyn turns 5

I am not sure there has ever been anyone as excited about their birthday coming up, as Ashlyn was for her hers.  In the weeks leading up to her fifth birthday she would tell anyone who would listen that she was almost five.  She talked about it at home, at church, at school, in the line at Meijer.....anywhere and everywhere.  She felt the world needed to know.  So, when it was time for her birthday party, the excitement was high.  We celebrated her birthday with family the weekend before her birthday and she loved every minute of it.

I wish this picture wasn't blurry, because this is her face seeing the presents and balloons at her party for the first time. Her mind was blown :)

Taking it all in!  We had a Doc McStuffins theme, which is one of her very favorites right now.

Waving to the balloons, which included a life size Doc McStuffins balloon. When a girl is this excited for her birthday, you might as well go all out.  

She loved opening her gifts.....

Have you ever seen a cuter waitress?  Her Aunt Heidi got her this darling costume so she can play restaurant.

I loved making this cake for Ashlyn and I knew she was going to be excited to eat it.  Starting about five days before her party she would ask many times through the day if it was time to eat cake.

One of the very best things about being at a birthday party for Ashlyn is watching her reaction to the cake coming out with the candle on it.......pure joy.

And she adores it when everyone sings Happy Birthday to her.  She loves music, so everyone singing to her makes her little heart so happy. And she thinks the lit candle on the cake is the coolest thing ever.

Make a wish!

And these next few pictures are what we call, "Ashlyn eating cake like it is her job".......

The day of her birthday party was a beautiful one, so we were able to go to the park for a little bit.....

Ashlyn loved celebrating at her birthday party and the fun didn't end then since the actual day was still coming.  In our house, on the night before someone's birthday, at prayer time before bed that person gets in the middle of the circle and everyone takes turns looking the birthday person in the eye telling them things they love about them.  After that everyone in the family prays for that person.

On the morning of April 30th we were so happy to greet Ashlyn in the morning and tell her she is finally 5!!!

The day of her birthday was full of love and evidence of what a loved girl Ashlyn is.  In the morning, we got a video from her Sunday School teacher and our dear friend, Heather, letting Ashlyn know how much she loves her. I cried watching it and Ashlyn smiled huge.

Then around noon our doorbell rang and it was Ashlyn's speech therapist, Mandi.  She said she just had to see Ashlyn on her birthday.  Mandi has been with Ashlyn since she was one and is much more than a speech therapist but a dear friend to our family and someone who Ashlyn loves deeply.

Ashlyn loved looking at birthday cards, including this hand written note from our sweet friend, Alyssa.

And at 6:26 p.m. on that day, the time Ashlyn was born five years ago, I had to pull her close.  With all of my kids, there is something about that minute they were born that I just have to hold them.  I was the first arms that ever held them.  And for Ashlyn, five years ago at that time, I was holding her and doctors were saying they thought she had Down Syndrome and my head was spinning and at that time I was begging for it not to be true.  Five years later at that birth minute, I needed to hold her close and tell her I am so glad she is here and I am so glad God put her in our family.  I remember the minutes and days when I would have given anything for it not to be true and now we celebrate her on her birthday and we would not want things any other way.

Thank you, God, for Ashlyn.  For five years of loving this gift that you gave us.