Andrew and Kate's birthday ended up being a several day celebration. I mean, you only turn one once and when you have to share your birthday you might as well go big or go home! Also as I love to say to people to justify whatever...these are my last you know. :)
The night before they officially turned one I took a few pictures for the big milestone.
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| My friend Kathleen sent this adorable dress all the way from Chicago for Kate to borrow. How precious is she??? |
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| And of course my little butterball! |
The morning of their birthday I walked in (already feeling emotional) and saw Kate and burst out laughing. I HAD to take her picture- check out that hair!!!
I had plans to take the babies to Greenville to get ready for their party the next day and do a few other things but I knew I wanted the boys to get to celebrate and mark the occasion so I made some chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. The boys did a great job singing Happy Birthday multiple times.
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| The first official taste of chocolate |
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| They went crazy for these muffins! |
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| Kate's face- those lips all puckered up ready for more, lol |
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| My friend Sara sent me these collages of pictures of the babies she had taken throughout the year. I love seeing the progression! |
I knew I wanted to take their birthday to go back down memory lane and revisit some of their beginnings.
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| We stopped by the Ronald McDonald room to drop off supplies they needed from their wish list. This family room is only for parents, grandparents, and siblings of children in the children's hospital and it was so amazing for our family. They provided food, snacks, a place to shower, do laundry, relax and best of all they had a wonderful fully stocked play room for James and Harrison to hang out in and also an outside area with toys. Even a year later both of my boys have very vivid memories of the time we spent together there. |
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| We also stopped to take a picture of the babies in front of their "fish" that was given by Ryan, my parents, and Ryan's parents in honor of them. One of my most favorite and special gifts ever. I think I have blogged about this before but every day I walked into that hospital I would look at all the fish on the wall and would think about how I would one day love to be able to make a donation to the children's hospital in honor of the babies as a thanks for the wonderful care they received. |
We didn't get a picture but one of the highlights of our visit to the hospital was seeing the sweet receptionist who remembered us. She was an amazing example of how anyone in any job can make a difference to people. Both she and the other receptionist at the entrance to the NICU knew us by name within 24 hours of us being at the hospital. That seems like such a little thing but hearing someone say, "Hello Mrs. Holland I am so glad to see you today" actually meant SO much. This lady is a rock solid Christian and she had told me before that she feels like God put her in her position to get to know the families and be able to pray for all the kids that are in that children's hospital. It was amazing to get to see her and tell her how much her kindness had meant to us.
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| We checked out the aquarium in the lobby. |
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| And stopped at the gift shop where we found this ridiculous but oh so adorable and funny hat that my mom decided to get for Kate. |
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| We made a stop at the NICU where they made an announcement to celebrate the babies birthday on the loud speaker |
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| Last but definitely not least we stopped at the Special Care nursery and our favorite nurse happened to be working that day! We love Ashley! |
It was a really wonderful way kick off a weekend of celebrations. More to come!
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