Fiona's First Birthday

Last Saturday we celebrated Fiona’s first birthday with a lunchtime party at our neighborhood park. Thirty friends, family, and kids joined us for the soiree themed around The Very Hungry Caterpillar – one of Fi’s favorite books.

Despite the temperature hovering near 100 degrees and humidity nearly as high, a fun, festive time was had by all – including the birthday girl herself, despite what the above picture might portray!

The homemade menu included food Fiona loves, including:

• Tortellini and Grilled Vegetable Salad with Feta and Balsamic Dressing

• Summer Berry Kabobs

• White Bean Dip with Mixed Veggies and Pita

• Carrot Cake Mini Cupcakes with green & red cream cheese frosting – and shaped like a caterpillar, of course!

In lieu of gifts for Fiona, we asked party guests to bring new school supplies for the kids living at Genesis Home, a shelter for homeless families in downtown Durham where Ryan serves as Executive Director. As new parents, we talk a lot about how to live our values and pass them on to our daughter. For us, this donation strategy is a great way to lay that foundation for Fiona - and to inspire other kids and parents at the party. In fact, several of our friends commented how moved they felt as they shopped and thought about what it must be like to be child starting a new school year without the supplies he or she needs. Thanks to the generosity at Fi’s party, the kids at Genesis Home will have one less thing to worry about this fall.

On the morning of Fi’s actual birthday, we greeted her by singing happy birthday and had a Happy Birthday banner hanging above her high chair in the kitchen. She opened a few presents - including a new push cart / walking toy.

After presents, we set out for a special, pre-work & daycare family breakfast at Elmo’s, a favorite neighborhood restaurant. I love the idea of having some special tradition for our kids on their actual birthdays – maybe hanging the birthday banner and going out to breakfast will be ours!

I’m so grateful for this amazing last year and for the opportunity to be this special gal’s mom. She inspires me to be more joyful, more fun, more appreciative of every tiny moment.