Lil Miss's 2nd Birthday!

Today we celebrated Lil Miss’s 2^nd Birthday. We had a great time. It is days like today that I am truly, truly grateful for my family and friends. My family from Tulsa came down before lunch, Tony’s family came around lunch time, and we had some friends from here join us for the party. Tinkerbell 2011 was a success! I sat down at 7:30 after everyone had gone, and realized all I had eaten all day was part of a hamburger, a piece of cake, and a half a dozen little smokies.

We tried to encourage less gifts for this birthday. She has more toys and clothes than she needs and it is more important and awesome to be able to spend time with friends and family. Thank you to all for what she did get today. She got her more loving family rooms for her dollhouse (which she already loves), a Little Mommy doll (which Megan said was on clearance… and I understand why…it talks every time it moves..lol. It says cute things like “I want to play with Mama.”), a Build-A-Bear gift certificate (I think she will really like doing that…2 is going to be so much fun), a Princess CD player, a talking horsey that she can ride on (the kind with the springs), a cool Elmo that you build out of blocks, some Tinkerbell odds and ins… and a Ford F150 Power Wheels (which was a joint gift from many family members). I think she had a good time. My mom later told me that she looked like she was in awe the whole time... that made me feel good. :) More than anything, I just want to make these memories happy for her. That is the important thing. Happy memories, security, love, and space to learn and grow.

I have never really thrown a birthday party before today. Last year, when she turned one, we did more of a family dinner with cake and presents. We had 6 little guests under the age of 3, 4 more under the age of 12, and my teenage nephew (any more I count him as one

of the adults). We would have had four more kids at the party, but they had to cancel at the last minute. I feel very blessed for Dani that she has so many cousins her age and that we have some friends who have kids her age. I love getting them all together to play, and I know it will be more important to continue that as they get older.

It has been a crazy two years. Dani has come a long way, and I think she is an amazing, happy, well-rounded, and intelligent little girl. I am beyond blessed to have the responsibility and opportunity to be her parent. God has entrusted us with one of His most precious. I pray for strength and wisdom to teach her and help her grow!