The first...

Today is the day. One year ago was one of the most surreal, yet amazing days of my life. One year ago today Little Girl was born!

I cannot believe it has been a year already! It has been a whirl-wind, with so much learning, love and growth - both for Little Girl and for her parents!! I am thankful every day for the amazing, healthy, funny, beautiful, intelligent, happy girl who joined our family on May 26, 2009. I love her every moment of every day, and I can't wait to watch her continue to grow!

Being that it is Little Girl's first birthday, many people have been asking what we are doing to celebrate. Well, I am not a big believer in throwing a huge party. The kid doesn't know the difference, right? I am also a firm believer in celebrating birthdays for extended periods of time - not just on the day itself! So tonight we will have a mini-party with just the family. Mommy, Daddy, Little Girl and Mommy's best friend (really, a part of the family) will have dinner and cake, sharing the singing with all four grandparents via phone and Skype. We will then celebrate again with Hubby's family over the weekend at our family's annual Memorial Day weekend gathering. We will then celebrate again in a couple of weeks when Little Girl and I go back to Florida to visit my parents!!

We are also starting a tradition with this birthday. As much as I love giving and receiving gifts, I really don't want to make birthdays and holidays turn into events that are solely about the presents. No, I do not think that giving (or receiving) presents is a materialistic, evil thing. Not at all! I love to give gifts!! But I want Little Girl to grow up knowing that it is the love and the thought that people give her that are truly important and special. So instead of getting her lots and lots of gifts every year, we will be spreading the "wealth." Little Girl will get a gift to unwrap from Mommy and Daddy, something relatively small and (hopefully) meaningful. Money will also be set aside for her education. In addition to that, money will be donated in Little Girl's honor. As she grows up, she will be able to choose where she would like the money to go. This year, though, she is a little too young to tell us. So we chose the Alex's Lemonade Stand Foundation. This is an amazing organization raising money and awareness to help cure childhood cancer. The foundation is located close to where we live, so Little Girl was able to make the donation in person, even handing the check to the friendly woman there herself! It was so great to see her having fun giving the check, even if she doesn't yet understand how amazing that was. (Unfortunately, I hadn't yet gotten the camera out, but it was a sight that would make anyone smile!)

So in honor of Little Girl, here's hoping that someday soon all children will be able to celebrate their birthdays happily, healthily, and surrounded by love!!