August 19: Aida turns 1!

Happy Birthday to our beautiful daughter! Every 1 year old needs three parties, don't you think! We had a little family celebration for Aida on her actual birthday with a nice dinner, a few presents and of course a homemade cake. Since before she was born I had my heart set on making all of her birthday cakes, and not just some square cake with a quick spread of frosting. No! Something fun and exciting! I really had no idea what I was getting myself into...it took me three hours to bake, cut and frost the cake! In the end it was totally worth it though! Aida ate a little cake, but by this point she was much more interested in playing with her balloons Aunt Paula bought her and all of her new toys!

We would like to thank each and everyone one of our families and friends for riding this wonderful journey we have joined called parenthood with us! Without the help and guidance of so many people this past year could have been a lot tougher, but we made it and I feel it is just as much an accomplishment for us as it is for Aida. We have watched our daughter grow from this tiny, sweet, bundled up ball of joy to a still tiny, still sweet, but very active and much too smart little person. We are so excited that God entrusted us to be the parents of such a wonderful child! A parents love is not explained in words...it has no boundaries and would go to the end of the Earth to make sure our little princess is safe and happy! Each night that we tuck her into bed we thank God for the best blessing ever!

Happy 1st Birthday Aida Joy!




Listening to Aida laugh can make anyone's day!


Notice the "ooooh" face! This ball pit, tent and tunnel are awesome!


The recipe for this cake came from a cake cookbook that has been passed down to me from Aida's Great Grandma Keitha. For generations my family has been making birthday cakes from it and one day I will pass it on to Aida!





Aida & I celebrated her birthday by going to a bouncy house. She had so much fun and had no problem keeping up with the older kids climbing, jumping and even sliding by herself (feet first, on her belly). Mommy was just was exhausted as Aida afterwords, but we had lots of fun!


She may be little, but look out! She figured out how to climb this with very little help!