Happy Birthday Lily Baker!

It's official. When referring to Lily's age, I can no longer speak in terms of months. As in, "She's 23-months-old."

Lily is two-years-old.

I can't believe it. Seriously. This one is tough.

I've blogged about this before, but it's hard when your youngest child starts growing up. You just see those baby years fleeting away and it's hard on a mommy. Even so, I'm just so grateful she's healthy and she's here.

Lily had a great birthday. I'm so late blogging about it, because I'm still recovering from the festivities :)

Chris took Friday off and the four of us spent the day together. We started doing this on Ann Catherine's first birthday, mainly because the three of us just needed to be together since it was also the anniversary of Melissa's death. For Ann Catherine's birthday, we always go to the park because her birthday is in June and the weather is so nice.

For Lily's birthday, we were stumped. We had to pick an indoor place. So guess what? We went to Chuckie Cheese.

The girls, of course, were thrilled! We had lunch and let the girls play. The four of us had so much fun.

Lily's favorite part wasn't actually playing a game. Instead, she loved taking the tickets that came out when we won a game, and trying to put them back into the machine. (It's really the little things that make Lily happy!)



Ann Catherine, on the other hand, would spend five seconds on one game, and then run to another one. She could not have been happier!



Look at this adorable picture of Lily! She was watching the Chuckie Cheese band. Isn't that the sweetest face?



That evening, after Lily's nap, we had a small family party with Chris' parents and my parents. Chris, Ann Catherine and I got her a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, which she loved! Lily loves watching "Mickey Mouse Clubhouse" on TV and Chris and I knew she would love this gift. She and Ann Catherine have both had so much fun playing with it.




I would have to say her other favorite was this Elmo backpack that her Uncle Geoff, Aunt Lisa and cousin Ella gave her. She has worn it all weekend! It makes me so sad because she looks like such a big girl with it on. She'll bring it to us and say, "Elmo backpack on!" and we'll put it on her. She really loves it.



Lily is just the most amazing little girl. She has the sweetest smile that just melts your heart. I just love to snuggle and cuddle with her.

Lily just saved our family when she came into our lives. After Melissa died, Chris, Ann Catherine and I just had this huge hole in our hearts. When Lily came into the world, she helped heal that gaping hole. She gave us so much love and so much hope. She's my rainbow - God's way of telling our family it was all going to be okay.

I am so incredibly grateful for Lily. Each night at bedtime, I pray for Lily as I hold her in my arms. I thank God for her and thank him for sending her to us.

I often say, "Melissa saved Ann Catherine's life, and Ann Catherine saved ours." It's true. But, Lily also saved us. She is living proof that something beautiful can come out of something so tragic.

And that makes her birthday even sweeter. Happy Birthday, my sweet Lily!