A Thorn Among Roses

i have never had a kid more in love with mickey mouse in my entire life... sofia literally sees those stinking ears in the world all around! so it was only natural that she would BEG for a mickey mouse birthday celebration... and then the flu hit this house.  and hit again and again.  but the birthday must go on...and on before nana and papa head to the sunshine-y place for a smidge.  so on the party went...or the dinner with dq ice cream cake, fun plates and napkins. the great thing about sofia is that she has hubs attitude on most things...so merely having anything at all with mickey mouse on it, well, that made it the most perfect party ever. add the nana and papa factor in and well, life was more than complete for sof.  everyone knows when nana is coming there are gifts not far behind...usually in papa's arms! i guess you can see by the face...she was delighted! in absolute awe of the mickey cake...and to think i was going to put effort in making her a cake in ...

where has all the time gone??  i mean, we started this blog when sofia was in utero to keep everyone updated on her progress...and mine.  how in the world has that been three years ago?? well, it has...and our sweet little 3 pounder has grown up to be a spunky, smart, chatty, ever moving 21 pounder at 3 years old. how do they go from this... to this full grown little tidbit of full blown energy?? the Lord has certainly blessed us with way more than we could ever have imagined...sofia in and of herself was a pure miracle. {infertile...i scoff at your "infertile" words...at almost 40, pre-menopausal and very, very surprised} so happy bday {like a week or more late} sofia...you are treasured, you are loved...and your mom has too much on her plate and you being the 4th kiddo get all the cuddles right now, but the late birthday post on the blog!

hum along... ...and these are a few of her fav bday things! bounce houses and friends and silly nilly faces opening presents and sitting together! hitting pinata's and beating it to death... these are a few of her fav bday things! {i know, it's a stretch, but i couldn't get it out of my head} as for me, brooke's bday was a multi day event...she had a fam party and a friends party and one at school too! but of all of them, my fav thing...def the beheading of the "horse" pinata! the kids were totally undaunted by the actual be-heading...they just dove in and jabbed their hands int he body of the horse and went after the candy... ryan, of course, offered his expertise...offering his golf club to hit it across the yard and spew candy all over...he didn't win, btw. in the end, the best part was seeing my precious b getting bigger and bigger and more beautiful every day. for now, i will have to accept that my babies are growing up...but no one can ever take awa...

my #2 girlie pie, brooke, is 6 years old today...wow. i remember talking wtih brit, her birthmom, for the very first time...it was fathers day 2003. and like any normal person, we took a picture of it!! since b was adopted, the adoption agency did not allow anyone, other than ryan and i to be with or see brooke...so this is paige's first time ever seeing her. look at the excitement. i have proof that paige loved b! she had waited years to be sister and brooke was her dream come true...until she could talk and get into her stuff! paige would come home from school and do all her reading assignments aloud to brooke. to think, we thought this was our final fam. oh, but god had way more in store for us. we were still pretty cute, though! and how that precious girl has changed our lives..and how she has changed too! brooke is beautiful inside and out...and absolute walking comic book wtih one liners to spare. she has a heart of gold...the wit of an irishman...and the wisdom beyond he...

i have one niece...and she just turned 4!! so a birthday party-ing we went. princess shelby's party was...well, interesting...and very 4 years old. it all started with shelby as a princess... ...then spongebob entered. seems an interesting combo to me, but all the kids were really jacked up about it. and of all the gifts she got, her fav was a spongebob blanket...in june! isn't my bro a kick??? he's had that smile since he was a kid...and that's his "smile". i love him. {{he's so proud of his daughter...and that makes me more proud of him.}} then it was pool time...cousin style. diving for rings in 3 inches of water is, well, boring, so brooke made up the "find the rings with your foot" game for entertainment. jada doesn't do the "sitting in the pool thing", but she does take a great picture! shelby was uber safe in her swimming vest suit...it is 3 inches of water you know! {{we bought her a non swim vest suit that is gorgeous.....

seriously, i think i'm getting old, because i don't know where this last year has gone. sofia is 1 year old today...and although this was a very exciting day, it was a very scary day for all of us. i was diabetic, pre-eclamptic, hypertensive, "advanced age", high proteins, and on and on. sofia was IUGR and very small, and premature. it was time for her to be born...and no one really knew what that would mean until she was here. well, all 3 lbs made it... she was sooo tiny and precious...still is, actually. her little head was the size of a baseball...and much smaller than this 10" softball... but we were so thankful and delighted when we knew her health was good... it was not so good for me, so we just will not talk about that...we will however, talk about how stinking cute my littlest treasure is today!!! so happy bday sofia...you get to always be mommy and daddy's little baby. one year old...14 lbs. and 26 inches...and still not on the preemie growth chart....