Time to Celebrate!

I love birthdays and I love birthday parties. With Charlie turning one (today!) and Talya turning 2 (Sunday) I was in all-out planning mode to give them special days.

Then the insecurities started to surface. For some reason, one of my biggest insecurities is that I would make too big of a deal out of something. It's kind of ironic, I guess, that I am insecure about that, since I'm so dramatic, but it's true. I'm always afraid people are going to think that I'm over-dressed, over-thinking, over-working... Why? There are worse things in the world, but I've decided to obsess about this one.

Anyway, so as I planning a special party for my kids, I started to get anxious that I was going to seem like one of those crazy "party moms" who makes a huge competition out of planning the perfect party. The kind who eventually raise kids featured on "My Super Sweet Sixteen."

And then I thought about it for a second.

There is reason - incredible reason - to celebrate! Two of my kids have reached a milestone. They have changed dramatically, grown up magically, and I am so, so proud of how they've weathered this past year.

Talya returned from her first international trip, survived a summer on the road with her family, and got thrust into being a middle child. She's learning to talk. She's grown hair. SHE'S GROWN HAIR! Now that's a big deal!  She melts me every day. She fascinates me. She drives me crazy because she spends an hour with her hair box trying to pick out just the right pony tail holder or clippy, but then I remind myself, SHE'S GROWN HAIR - Enjoy the accessory drama!

Charlie... where do I begin? He made it through whatever circumstances brought him to Home of Hope, and he kept his thrilling smile. His heart remained open and soft to a family's love, and he has gone from having zero muscle tone to practically doing gymnastics in his attempts to get into everything. He loves electrical cords (we're working on that) and is obsessed with pulling his sister's hair. And, his favorite thing to do is lead his brother and sister in an impossibly joyful screaming match.



We have reason to celebrate these wonders. To invite their friends and our friends to cram into our small house to sing happy birthday and eat farm animal cupcakes. To remind them - our two little babies - how special they are and how we would give them the world every day if we could, and all the plastic noisy toys that they could ever want. (But we'll probably sneak them off to Goodwill as soon as the batteries run out.)

I can hardly wait til September when it's Simon's turn.

I love birthdays.