Celebrating Gabriella's 2nd Birthday!

Today we happily celebrated Gabriella's second birthday and her first birthday home!

Gabriella was running a low grade fever last night and her cousin Bella, who she had spent time with over the weekend, was sick, so I was worried about Gabriella being sick for her birthday, but she woke up feeling well with no fever. One dose of Motrin seemed to do the trick, so I was very thankful for that.

First thing this morning, directly after waking up, Gabriella opened a couple small presents from us. Look at the determination in her eyes!:

Throughout the morning we received lots of birthday calls for Gabriella. Lots of family and friends sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She would hold the phone to her ear and listen, but didn't say much. She was probably wondering why so many people were singing to her today!

I had a doctor's appointment in Boston this morning and following the appointment we took Gabriella for lunch at the Rainforest Cafe. Gabriella loves animals, is always imitating monkeys, and is constantly making animal sounds, so I thought this would be a perfect birthday treat. Boy, was I wrong! She hated it! She was scared and didn't want to move from my lap. She didn't eat much, because she was so nervous, but she did manage to eat a bit.:

The wait staff sang "Happy Birthday" to her, but, again, she wasn't too impressed!:

After lunch we went home and napped. After our nap we got ready for dinner with my family.

We eat out frequently and Gabriella recognizes Emma's "big man," as we refer to him, more knowingly than she recognizes Mickey Mouse! She spots him the second we pull into the parking lot and says, "Oooh, man" and instantly knows where we are!:

Each time we eat at Emma's, Gabriella always asks for a dollar to play the claw machine. Since it was her birthday, of course we had to let her play!:

After dinner we went back to our house for cake and presents. We are installing ceramic tile throughout my house, so the house is in complete disarray. But, we managed around the mess and had a fun celebration anyway!

Gabriella's princess cake:

After the candle was blown out, Gabriella kept walking up to the cake and blowing like she was blowing out more candles. It was very cute:

Enjoying cake...well, enjoying frosting actually!:

Opening birthday cards and presents:

Good things come in small packages...:

...and big packages too!:

We then went outside to play with the Step 2 Roller Coaster that Ken and I got her:

To end the fun day, Gabriella and Tita had a great time playing outside!:

This evening we also called Gabriella's foster family in Guatemala. They love Gabriella so much and I knew they would want to speak to her on her birthday. Gabriella and I spoke to Daniel, Sandy, and Alejandra. We also called Norma, but she was not home. Daniel said he was very sad this morning when he woke up because he wouldn't be able to see Gabriella on her birthday. I felt for him because I know how much he loves Gabriella and I remember how I felt when I was missing her first birthday last year while she was still in Guatemala. We also received e-cards from them for Gabriella. They are wonderful people and I am so thankful for the love they gave Gabriella and the love they continue to have for her.

It was a fun day but now we are looking forward to the big birthday party on Saturday!

Happy Birthday Baby Girl! Mommy loves you so much!

Happy 2nd Birthday Baby Girl!

Happy Birthday, Gabriella! Today I am so excited to celebrate YOU! I am more thankful for you than I can express with words. This is your first birthday home with your family and I am so grateful that you are home to celebrate this one with us. I am looking forward to this wonderful year ahead and to witness you continuing to change and grow into a more phenomenal little girl. Today is also a day to celebrate your birth mother and today, more than every other day, she is in my thoughts and prayers. I love you to the moon and back!

Gabriella's School Birthday Party

Today was Gabriella's Elmo themed school birthday party with Gabriella's class. A fun time was had by all.

I had ordered a bakery cake in addition to the one I made because I wasn't sure how mine would come out. It turns out that mine was much cuter than the bakery's! I loved that every kid and teacher in the entire school was able to have a slice of birthday cake because we had so much!

The birthday girl with her party hat:

Ava joined Gabriella's class to celebrate with her. Ava with a frosting nose!:

Getting ready for cake:

Taking a taste!:

While we were singing happy birthday to Gabriella, she acted a bit surprised, like she didn't realize why we were singing to her! It was very cute!:

Ken helping Gabriella blow out her candle:

Digging into the cake!:

Yum!:

Everybody enjoying cake and ice cream:

Ava specially wrapped and decorated a birthday present for Gabriella. It was a Hannah Montana flashlight for our camping trip next week (we are going with Ava's family):

Our two special birthday party helpers, Aunt Kathy and Ken:

After the party Aunt Kathy, Tita Candace, and I took Gabriella and Ava to McDonald's Play Place to release some of the sugar energy!

Gabriella on the McDonald's birthday throne:

Gabriella kissing Tita through the play structure:

The girls loved running around the play structure:

My little loudmouth!:

Ava and Gabriella dancing!:

Tita twirling Gabriella...:

...and Ava!:

Tomorrow is Gabriella's big day, her actual birthday. We are very excited to celebrate the day with her!

The Start of Gabriella's Birthday Week

Tomorrow begins Gabriella's birthday week. Her birthday is on Tuesday, August 4th, but the festivities begin tomorrow. Tomorrow Gabriella is having a birthday party at school. Her school party will be an Elmo theme. This is the cake that I made for her school party. I also ordered a cake from a bakery because I didn't have faith in my cake baking and decorating skills, so I wanted to be on the safe side. The Elmo cake that I made didn't come out too bad, though, especially since it was the first cake I've ever made!:Tuesday is her actual birthday and she will be spending it with me, Ken, and other family. I made this Princess cake for Tuesday's family party. Actually, the Princess looks more like a Hula Dancer with a straw skirt, but again, not too bad for the second cake I've ever made!:Saturday is her big birthday party for her friends and family. That party will be a Princess and Pirate theme.

I keep recalling how I was feeling last year at this time when her foster family was planning her first birthday party. I had expected that she would have been home by her first birthday party and I was so sad that I was not with her for her first birthday. I may be going a bit overboard in celebrating her second birthday, but I don't care! I missed her first birthday and am so excited to have her home with us for this birthday. Stay tuned for lots more photos from the week of celebrations...!

Weekend at the Cape House

Gabriella spent the weekend with Grammy and Grampy again at their Cape house. Mommy did much better this time with the separation! Actually, it was very welcome this weekend to have Gabriella away because we are having ceramic tile installed through most of the house and the house is in complete disarray, so it is not safe to have a toddler running around here. Plus, Gabriella's birthday is on Tuesday, so I was busy with all of the planning for Gabriella's birthday "week"!

These are the photos that my mom took this weekend with her cell phone, so they are not the best quality but, being a photo fanatic, I am happy to have them.