Happy Birthday Eveley Joy! -- Updated.

Today is Eveley's one year birthday. What a special day.

Little Eveley is a gift from God. She was sent to us at the perfect time with an incredible mission -- to remind us of our JOY. "Though sorrow may last for the night, Joy comes in the morning."

Eveley was the only member of our family who was unaware of the tremendous sorrow we were experiencing and the sadness weighing on our hearts. Yet she was intimately involved.



Eveley Joy is fulfilling her mission quite well. She is an angel baby (you can read more about there here) and is becoming a sweet little girl. In many ways, she is very much like her brother. They both were curious as little babies, not content to be still for very long, and eager to see (and chew on) new things. But the one HUGE difference between Eveley and Robbie is best seen in the bed.

As soon as Robbie's eyelids cracked open, he was yelling for us to come get him. I had to rock him to sleep for his naps and ease him ever so gently into the bed. Eveley Joy loves her bed. When she starts to get a little whiny, I'll take her into the nursery intending to rock her for a little while. She pushes away from me and almost dives into her bed. The thumb goes into the mouth, and she is sound asleep. In the mornings, she will play in her bed, talking to the sheep on the wall until she is ready for mama. And we know that she is ready when she begins vigorously shaking her crib. (By the way, I'm typing this at 9:15 a.m. and the princess is still sleeping!)

Eveley knows who Robbie is - she recognizes pictures on the wall and the refrigerator. And I let her watch one of our home videos of Robbie with me the other night. She giggled and pointed at him through the entire thing.

Eveley, your daddy and mama love you more than you could ever know. We are so thankful for your sweet spirit and your peaceful face. You have brought us great JOY and are a gift from the Lord.

Happy Birthday, beautiful girl!

Now for the party ...

Even though a one-year old doesn't really understand the concept of a birthday party, I was determined to celebrate anyhow. We had a small party for Robbie on his first birthday, and we're so glad that we did.

So, we invited a few friends to a nearby playground for swinging, sliding, and, of course, cupcakes! The kids seemed to have a nice time and really enjoyed the cupcakes. (Note to self: Next year, just order cupcakes. It's simpler and you really are not a cake decorator no matter how hard you desire to be.) But, I will say that the cupcakes were pretty humorous and the kids didn't laugh too hard at them.

Eveley got the most beautiful gifts from her (and my) thoughtful friends. I'll post more on that later. For now, I'm plum tuckered out. So, enjoy the great slideshow of pictures taken by my friend, Kim.