Claire's Birthday

I'm still having a hard time reconciling the thought that on November 5th, it was 6 years ago that I became a mother for the first time. Some days it feels like it was just yesterday, and then there are other days when it feels like it was a million years ago. But, I do remember that day very well. It felt so surreal until the pain got to be really intense, and then it was a bunch of moaning and groaning and puking. It's funny that we celebrate birthdays with cake and presents when the first birthdays are so very, very different. And so very, very messy. (ew!)

And then I got an epidural. Bliss, and then it seemed like we did so much waiting for her to finally make her arrival. She finally did; we were overjoyed, and then I passed out.


But that's another story. :-)

I'm also resisting the very real temptation to get all teary and emotional and expound on how much I love this kid, how much she has added to our family and how much she, as her name suggests, brings light to our lives.

I could go on and on, but I won't. For your sakes, and because I really would get all weepy, and a weepy lady sitting at a computer desk while typing is just weird.


Anyway, my firstborn had a long list of things she wanted for her birthday. The list included this:

Flying Tinkerbell. Can you tell she is excited?

(She's either excited or imitating what her face would like if she hung it out the window while we were driving down the highway. )

And, just to prove that fairies do indeed exist and that they do indeed fly, I present the following video evidence:

Claire also needed a new winter coat. Here's hoping it actually gets cold enough for her to wear it some other time other than the week we will be in Ohio.

She also asked for this cake.

Or, rather, she asked for a doll cake and was mildly disappointed with my dressing of the cake. Not that I blame her. What can I say? My fashion sense isn't really up to date these days.

Blowing out the candles, or, actually, this picture is totally staged. She blew out the candles before I could snap the picture, so we had to have a "do over."


Ben was more that a little wigged out by the doll cake. I don't think he could grasp how we were going to eat it and not eat the doll. It made much more sense to him after I pulled out the top.

The picture that I failed to snap in time occurred about 5 seconds after I took this one. It involved a little boy, a tongue, and the icing coated boobs of a barbie doll.

Just use your imaginations.