Luna is one year old!

On March 11th Luna turned one year old. It was a really lovely day. Well, the weather was crummy, cold, windy and raw, which is completely normal for mid-march in New Hampshire. But the day itself, in a word, was peaceful. The girls were at daycare (an in-house daycare with all of 6 kids, two of whom are our girls), so I had plenty of time to clean, bake cupcakes (chocolate with homemade butter frosting) and do some last minute shopping. I cooked a simple dinner, one that my mother made often growing up. I can't remember if it ever had a name, but basically it's chicken thighs baked with Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup served over rice. Everyone likes it, and it's so easy. It's good, cozy food.

After dinner, Sienna couldn't wait even a minute for our meals to digest, so we dove right into the festivities starting with our cupcakes. I dimmed the lights and carried one cupcake, plucked with the single, polka-dot candle over to Luna. She wriggled and clapped as we all sang 'Happy Birthday'. The tiny glow of the candle illuminated her face, her cheeks glowed like perfect rosy apples.

Luna was so completely content with her cupcake that she didn't seem to notice Sienna had opened all her presents. After the kids OD'ed on their cakes (quite literally, the effects of the sugar and chocolate settled-in resulting in two very silly little girls) we took the party to the living room where they played with their new Thomas the Train ride toy, Melissa & Doug clock and birthday cake and some Barbies that Sienna brought in to share the fun.

The events of the past year seemed decades old as I watched our girls-two perfectly happy and healthy little girls-play sweetly with their new toys.