The Party

We held D's birthday party today. I'd purposefully kept everything pretty low-key so as to be low-stress, but of course I still found myself stressing out in the hours before the party as I worried about getting things ready, if we had enough food and drinks, how the cake would turn out, etc. The stressing was all for naught, though, as everything went great. We had 6 kids in total, ranging from about 6 months to 2.5 years, and they all seemed to have a blast. It was also great to see our friends again, though the downside of seeing everyone in a big gathering like this is it's hard to really talk to anyone for a significant period. But, it's these sorts of events that then motivate me to make a better effort to make plans with people. We'll see how that goes... ; )

There was a moment in the middle of the party when I looked around and was struck with gratitude at all of these people in our lives, at everyone (present today, and far away) who have shared in this adventure with us and who are here to support us as a family, who share with genuine joy in this milestone as our firstborn turns a year old. It's heartwarming.

I hardly picked up the camera today, but others certainly picked up the slack-- Cyrus got tons of great shots of D eating his cake, and I asked Benjamin to be a sort of semi-official photographer for the party (knowing I'd probably be too busy to take many photos myself, and would want to enjoy moments like the cake eating without having to view them through a viewfinder) and I can't wait to see the photos he took. So, many many photos are still to come... but I couldn't resist sharing just a few tonight: