Happy First Birthday Adeline!!

I thought today would be so much more emotional and difficult to get through, but I did it! My baby turned ONE today! I only cried once and that was out of frustration of raising a 3 1/2 year old...not even the sadness of my baby getting so big! Addie had a fun birthday! She LOVED the little hat I got her. She would take it off and then immediately try to get it back on her head! So cute!
We spent our morning at a park. She went on the slide a couple times (not the whole thing, I just put her on where I could reach...TALL slide!) But her absolute favorite part of any park is the swings! She could swing for an hour and still not want to get off. When we go to a busy park and we have to get off to give other kids a turn, she always cries and makes a scene about getting out of the swing!

For dinner we had spaghetti. As you can tell, I'm not brave enough to give her "real" spaghetti...she gets noodles and meat! I guess if I was a professional carpet cleaner then I would give her real spaghetti to eat on Michele's nearly WHITE carpet! I just don't have the time of day to clean like that, so she gets it plain! Oh, and she is telling you, "I'm ONE!"

She was crying until everyone started singing...then she got very quiet! I think she was trying to figure out what was going on. We made giant chocolate cupcakes and she got one pink candle in the top. She didn't know how to blow it out and so before she just grabbed it with her little fingers, I blew it out! She loved the cake and aside from being too tired at the end of the day, she had a great first birthday.

To My Dearest Addie,

When I look at you I see endless possibilities for you. You are bright, beautiful and engaging. In your young life, you already have a way about you that demands attention and makes people smile. I look forward to seeing how you use that gift to make this world a better place. You are loving, playful and daring...I only hope I can keep up with you as a teenager! I might be in trouble. I love you with all my heart Addie. I am blessed that God has chosen you to be my daughter. Words are failing me right now, I feel like I'm not expressing my joy, love and excitement that I feel when I look at you and hold you in my arms. All I can say is, I love you. One day, when you are a mother, you will understand the magnitude of that statement. I know I didn't understand it fully until I held you and Tucker in my arms. The love of a mother is like none other and I don't expect you to understand how deeply I feel for you until you hold your son or daughter for the first time. Then, and only then, will you understand how very, very much I love you. Happy First Birthday, my Adeline. All my love, Mommy