Lauren's 1st Bday

I can't believe that Lauren is already 1. She has had so many struggles throughout her first year of life and yet she is all smiles and is rarely anything but happy. What a road it has been. We had a birthday party at our house since Keith and Rushell are still looking for a house and are currently living in an apartment. They were going to keep things small but I insisted that we needed to celebrate the momentous occasion of Lauren's 1st birthday.
I can't help but think back to Emma turning 1....it seems like it was yesterday. Then I think back to Sam and Ty turning 1. In the moment you don't feel like it's going by that fast but then you turn around and they are turning 14. I am trying very hard these days to stay in the moment and appreciate every little bit of my kids even if it is the teenage "I know everything" moment or the elementary school "Who, What, Where, When, Why and How...I must know everything about everything" moments or the preschooler who is 4 going on 13 and wants to be a part of every "adult" moment possible. It can be exhausting but the most satisfying thing I have done in my life. I am so excited for Keith and Rushell to have the same adventures with Lauren.

Her birthday was so much fun. She was dressed in the cutest outfit with black and white polka dots, lady bug shoes and a lady bug sweater. It is quite fitting that Keith and Rushell call her "Bug" because she is quite the little cutie bug . She had fun sitting on her dad's lap playing with his cell phone. She is on the path to becoming Emma (the most proficient 4 year old IPhone user going....far better at using it than I am) Rushell stripped Lauren down for the tradition of the 1 year old cake dive. We all sang happy birthday to her and then sat her on the floor to blow out her candles and dive into her cake. Everyone crowded around in anticipation of the event but as with any 1 year old with a mind of her own, she would have nothing to do with it. She just sat there looking at the cake like "What am I supposed to do with this?" Rushell tried getting her started but she just gave her a dirty look and wanted to be done. It was funny!

The craziest thing happened at the end of the party. Everything was winding down and we looked up to see a bug crawling on the ceiling in my kitchen. We could not believe it, it was a lady bug. How weird that on "BUG's" birthday there would be a lady bug on my ceiling. I have never seen lady bugs in the middle of winter but there it was right before our eyes. Maybe just a coincidence or maybe some strange aligning of the universe...either way it was pretty cool! Happy Birthday Lauren!