Lilah turns ONE!

Happy Birthday Little L!

I've heard the saying many times, 'the days are long but the years are short', but I really never understood it until becoming a parent.  These little humans who you love more than you ever thought possible and who provide so much joy in your life, also suck up so much of your time, energy, and patience on a daily basis.  I look into Lilah's big brown eyes and am overcome with the amount I adore her; and then she screams for no reason and slaps me in the face.  Each day is a whirlwind of playing, diapers, cleaning up the food she's thrown on the floor (I swear only like 1% of what I feed her makes it to her stomach), reading, figuring out activities so she won't be bored and so she and I get out of the house for a good chunk of time, and repeat. By the end of each day, I am totally exhausted and feel like that day took it out of me.  So how has it already been a whole year?

I definitely didn't think I'd ever be a stay-at-home-mom (and still, I like to refer to myself as a 'stay-abroad-mom'), but I feel incredibly lucky to have the opportunity to spend Lilah's first years at home with her.  She is a wonderful little girl, full of light and life, curious about the world around her, cuddly and loving, a really great traveler, and very kind-hearted.  She loves dogs (her first word was dog-dog), other kids, scooting around on her butt, going for walks with her Dada, and snuggling with us pretty much any time of the day (unless there's a dog or she'd rather be scooting).  Her smile lights up a room, and we are pretty proud to be her parents.

The birthday girl in all her glory

We threw Lilah's first birthday party at the Versailles Chateau Gardens, because you know, if you're going to turn 1 in Versailles, you should probably have a princess party at a real castle.  Her friend Audrey turned 1 in August as well, so we joined forces with the Gambey family for the girls' party.  It was a great afternoon hanging out with some of our favorite families we've met in Versailles.  And to make it even more special, our good pals Ann and Mart (who just moved to Zurich, yippee!) came in for the weekend!

Here are some pictures from the party!

We set up the party along the main branch of the Grand Canal

Cupcake tower.  Sugar-free for the kiddos, sugar-ry for the adults!

Pawing that cupcake and licking off the frosting.  That's my girl.

Why walk when you can fly?

Kimmy, Lilah, Katie, and Audrey

Birthday girls in their matching outfits

Seattle meets Riverside meets Europe.

This baby loves the water. She demanded dipping her toes in the canal.