Airdrie's 1st Birthday

Let me tell you about a miracle that took place last month:

Airdrie Abileen Anderson turned one year old. 

The baby, who at 20 weeks gestation was found to have a brain deformity causing a heartless perinatologist to say, "Something is really wrong with this child", celebrated one year of living, loving, and thriving. 

God is good, indeed. 

If you're just joining us and would like to read the entire story you can start here and work your way through by newer posts.

So it is with profound joy that I can share with you the details of our precious baby's first birthday. If you've been along on this journey with us for the past 18 months, weeping, praying, and rejoicing with us, thank you. 

Enjoy this glimpse into the celebration of our God's great love and mercy.

Birthday Eve!

Smash cake

Top layer

Finally done!

Birthday eve means Mark and I stay up to all kinds of hideous hours and make cakes, wrap presents, and decorate.

He's a winner, winner chicken dinner for helping me out.
Even if he gripes a teensy bit about "waiting until the last minute"

Airdrie's birthday cake is a combination of some of my favourite cakes on Pinterest.

Some valuable lessons I've learned:

- Pinterest is a fairytale world where nail polish pretends to swirl on your nails, 

Jell-O worms can be made from straws, 

and lovely cake designs looks super simple

Fairytales and lies, smoke and mirrors people.

- despite what we learned in kindergarten red and blue gel colouring do not make a pretty shade of purple

- The further along in a project I get the more fed up I get and the sloppier I work

I actually already knew that last one, I just refuse to learn from it.

1 o'clock in the morning and we've finally finished our parently duties.

Fast forward 5 hours and we bring the birthday girl down to see her surprises!

Her view...

And that's where it stops.

I forgot to take pictures of Airdrie's face and her enjoyment.

I never claimed to be good at this.

I never claimed to be a professional.

Sorry.

Ok and fast forward again to the party!

Miss Airdrie Bear is enjoying some pizza.

Fun Fact: she's wearing the same outfit her older sisters wore on their first birthdays

Party table

I attempted sugar cookies.

Once again, Pinterest feeds foolish notions into my head.

These notions say something along the lines of,

"I SO can make cookies that look professional.

Those are NOT hard.

Sheesh, how simple can these get!?

Easy peasy."

I'm living a fairytale here.

And enough with the close-ups, 

my crooked royal frosting lines look a lot better from a distance.

We had lots of friends to celebrate with us.

Aw, and they showered our sweet girl with gifts.

Panorama of the church hall.

(see if you can spot Mya as she walked with the panoramic shot. 

She really is a precious girl, and contrary to the picture has only two eyes.)

My sweet friends, Louise and Cheryl with their littles.

Partying it up.

My other friends, Hazel, Andrea, and Sharon.

Hello lovely ladies

Willie does this kind of thing on a regular basis.

Why it wasn't last week we were telling him to take off the baby's cardigan.

Preachers...

Some of the kids from our high school youth group. 

I like to laugh with these kids and let them educate me on proper texting lingo.

("bae" is "Before Anything Else" according to these uber hip girlies

and LMK is "Let's Make Knots" 

that's uhh...according to me)

Party food.

A nod to both American and Scottish cultures, 

we have pizza in there and also sausage rolls.

Singing to the birthday girl.

She's precious.

Also, look at those itty bitty wellies, 

LOVE.

And then the fun part:

the smash cake! 

Airdrie was TOTALLY all in.

It was fun because this is not something done in Scotland 

 so it was a great introduction into American tradition.

The aftermath

It's a mess.

But that's OK, because it was wonderful to see.

And my Scottish washing machine, 

while it chews holes at navel level in my shirts, 

is awesome at removing stains.

Another American tradition of opening gifts at the party...

Airdrie shares her toys with her friend, Mabel.

It's a precious little tea party.

A cuppa with a friend:

the perfect way to end the evening.

Airdrie Abileen,

Precious baby,

We love you so.