Sticky Fingers and Sweet Cheeks

Personally, I think that the cake eating part of any first birthday is one of the most exciting events of the whole day. I like watching the reactions of the child getting their first taste of something sweet. It's fun to see the look of shock and surprise in their eyes. It's even more entertaining watching them create such a mess!

The cake seems to be the only time that you get much of a reaction from a first timer. Especially, if you have been like I have and held off all year from foods such as these. Vada has never shown much interest in any sort of solid foods. I was hoping that this may have started a revolution of solid food eating on her behalf. It hasnt, but you cant blame me for hoping.

Jasmine went crazy over her first cake. Kiliegh wouldn't touch hers, which left me not knowing what to expect from Vada. Therefore, giving her the cupcake was through the roof exciting for me. I couldn't wait to see what her reaction was.

The girls swiped off the chocolate butterfly wings because clearly that was too much sweets for Vada at one time (their words). Then together we placed the cupcake in front of her. She grabbed right for it.

Then, she stopped as her hand became a gob of goo and processed what she had just done. She did a brief scan of everyone sitting around her. We were all waiting with anticipation.

Every so slowly she brought her yellow fingers to her mouth and licked. More processing was done, you could see it in her eyes, that and the sugar high that was coming on.

We cheered and she repeated with enthusiasm.

I'm not certain if she ever swallowed any of her first sweet treat. Usually, she puts food into her mouth and then spits it out. She was too messy to see if any of it was intentionally coming back out.

She played in the mess for less than five minutes and it seemed that the moment she realized just how messy she had actually gotten...,

she was finished.

What a Birthday

I have been really excited all day. It hit me this morning while I was finishing the mobile that Vada has no clue what today is, not yet anyway. It'll be another couple of years before she realizes what a birthday is and what one means for her. Tonight when she eats cake and ice cream for the first time and when we sing Happy Birthday to her, she wont know why. She may even look at us as if we were all crazy. However, were naturally pretty "kooky" around this house anyway, so she may not.

The first birthday really is more of a celebration for the parents, siblings and loved ones. That's what we wanted today to be. A celebration of her birth, her life and the amazing little girl that she is.

We received approval to start reintroducing Vada back into the general public yesterday, while we were in Peoria. We're still avoiding situations with large groups of children (schools, children targeted restaurants and activities as well as our church daycare) because it is still the "cold season" and as much as we love, love, love the kiddo's in our life... they are still germ caring little boogers. So, for now we will be slowly introducing her to her family and to her hopefully new bestest (yeh, I wrote that) buddies. Her birthday party was very intimate because of this. We invited the great grandmothers and of course The the grandparents. My sister was invited as well, but on short notice (yesterday) and was unable to come due to work.

We had pizza and Vada had the "bones", because she is too darn picky and really wont eat a darn thing..., still.

Vada was cuddled up and loved on by both of her Great Grandmothers. It had been quite sometime since they had seen each other.

The last time that Vada saw G.G. Wilson was during the summer (last year).

G.G. Dhondt's one and only visit was on Mother's Day! Needless to say, there was a lot of hugging to make up for all of that missed time on both ends!

Grandpa and Grandma Wilson had a cold that lasted a couple of weeks, leaving them missing their Vada girl as well, so they were eager to love on her just as much!

Jasmine and Kiliegh helped Vada eat her butterfly wings and they even blew out the candle, which was really a t-light because I forgot to buy birthday candles!


I love, love my little ladies so darn much! I feel guilty that I don't write as often about them as I do about Vada. It's hard though. They are in school five days out of the week and then visiting their dad's every other Friday (or something close to that). Vaders is with me all of the time, so finding things to say about her comes quite a bit easier. I'm going to have to find something special to post of the older two. They really get a kick out of seeing themselves up on Facebook or on the blog. It's kind of funny because they think being on the blog makes them famous.

After pizza, cake...

ice cream... (Grandma was the first to give it to her)

and then a quick spray down in the kitchen sink Vada went with Daddy to the couch and opened her gifts.

Usually, I wouldn't make much of a deal on the gift side of birthdays but this girl made out like a bandit! She received a child like fortune from the GG's and my parents, which has already been put into her very own savings account.

Grandma and Grandpa Wilson bought her a Smart Trike which I cant wait for her to use!

She received a toy that not only entertained her...

... it also entertained her older sisters as well. I think maybe even more so.

She got a pink outdoor swing, a beautiful dress and then, because she is who she is, a Wilson, she received her very first tool bench work station.

She did it! She made it through the first year and all with out needing heart surgery! At one point we were told she would need the surgery as soon as she was born. She showed them! She has fought through the seizures with a minimal amount of hospital visits and she has barely caught any colds.

This girl is as strong as they come and as wonderful. We have been so blessed with her presence over this last year and look forward to the ones ahead. We have all grown because of her. She has taught us about life and its true beauties and because of her we have grown closer to each other and with Christ. Celebrating her, today was another one of my favorite life moments that I will treasure, forever.

We all had a long day, but it was a beautiful one!

Vada's Birthday Cupcake's

I was stuck on butterflies this year and it became the "theme" for Vada's birthday. There were butterfly cupcakes, mobiles, dishes, gift bags, cards and even a Smart Trike (from Grandpa and Grandma Wilson). I like butterflies.., a lot. I think that they are beautiful and I like that they start out as a worm (of sorts) and morph into something fabulous. Still, that's not my reasoning behind the theme. Truth is, I have no reason. It's just how things seemed to work out.

Typically, Justin and his dad are the "cakesters" in the family. Justin's dad has been decorating cakes since Justin and his brother and sister was a baby. Justin started following in his dad's cake decorating footsteps once we became a family. However, I made special cakes for Jasmine and Kiliegh's first birthdays and I wanted to do something special for Vada's as well. I told Justin that I wanted to do cupcakes and that if he still wanted to make a cake that he could and should. It felt a little touchy because he does do such a wonderful job at his cakes and this was Vada first birthday, but I think that he was a bit relieved to not have that kind of pressure on his shoulders. He has been very busy lately and finding the time is not always the easiest thing to do.

I found my inspiration for Vada's cupcakes in a cookbook called Hello Cupcake. It is such a fantastic book that is filled with fun and not so difficult ideas. (I'm doing the corn on the cob cupcakes on April Fools Day for the girl..., to be playful.)

I started the chocolate wings about a week ago and spent two separate nights doing them and then I made the cupcakes themselves, last night. (I used Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix and it was by far the best tasting cake mix that I have ever used!)

Then together, Justin and I assembled the butterfly bodies onto the cupcakes themselves.



They turned out nicely and they tasted delicious!

One-derful

I have learned about a whole new happiness and a whole new pain in being the mother of a child who has intellectual disabilities. Because of my experiences I have grown as a person and I am proud to say that I have lost a lot of who I was in the past. (Before I go any further into this post, I need to say that the pain I am referring to is completely outweighed by the happiness that I experience on a day to day basis. I wouldn't trade this little girl or any of the things that make her who she is for anything!)

Over the last year and a half I have been told of what Vada will do and what she wont. I have been told what her diagnosis means and I have seen what others think of it. I have had many encounters with parents who have children with Down syndrome. Some are positive and hopeful people and some have been lost to the pain that is caused mainly from society and its views. I pray everyday that I wont get lost in that very pain. I thank God that he has blessed me with eyes that sees and feels her smiles and that they shine through others frowns . She is one of the most beautiful people that I have ever been able to see.

I refuse to fall and I refuse to give up. I wont quit dreaming for any of my children especially Vada who has been dealt a more difficult hand. While I will never be a person who lives through my children I will continue to have high hopes and goals for them.

I know in my heart that Vada will grow, play, learn and live like any other child and like any other child she will do it at her own pace and in her own way. She will be amazing because she already is.

She is so strong. She has taught me so much about strength. I am so grateful that God choose me to be her mother. I wouldn't change anything.

I am celebrating more today than just her birthday. I am celebrating life, hers and my new one. When I was given her prenatal diagnosis there was a definite period of grief. It lasted only a moment but has since revisited at different moments. My heart has changed in the most wonderful way and I have her presence to thank for that!

Happy Birthday beautiful baby. You are One-derful!

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Tuesdays' on Wednesday

Ruby Tuesdays is one of my favorite restaurants. I always order the same thing, the salad bar, but its a good spread of veggies that's not duplicated at any other restaurant in our area. Plus, I fill my plate with their croutons, they are the real reason that I like Tuesdays so much.

Justin and I have decided to attempt a yearly tradition of going to Tuesdays every year with Vada the day before her birthday. It marks a special memory for him and I. This year we had to come the day of her birthday because ironically Vada and I were in Peoria yesterday and Justin had to be at work.

One year ago, yesterday, Justin and I had an amniocentesis done to see if Vada's lungs were mature. I had been going into labor constantly and due to her medical issues and the already high risk pregnancy we wanted to make sure that I would deliver her in Peoria. If the test came back that her lungs were mature than we would be inducing labor that day. Our doctor told us that we could go have lunch while we were waiting for the results. Just as we were walking out of the hospital, my phone rang. The results were in and we were told to be back at that hospital at a certain time to start the induction. Our baby would be here soon!

Justin and I went to Tuesdays that day. It was such a enjoyable meal. I had been on bed rest for over twelve weeks and we barely had any time like this together. As we sat in our booth made for two, eating our delicious salads and croutons we kept repeating our baby is coming our baby is coming. It was fun knowing that I was about to be in a labor that wouldn't be stopped. After months of injections, NST's, ECHO's, sonograms, and weekly lab draws I was finally going to meet the little girl who I had been terrified of loosing and the moments of just him and I (when the older girls were at their dad's) would soon be no more. Life as we knew it was about to drastically change..., again. We laughed and cried from the emotions that were pouring over and at that moment I fell in love with my husband all over again.

Today, while we were dining on fresh croutons and oh, vegetables Justin pointed behind him to a corner booth. It was one also made for two and was occupied with a couple a little older than him and I. He asked if I remember sitting in that exact booth. I said that I did and to prove my memory I said "It was when we were deciding baby names. Vada for a girl and Iggy Fynn if it were a boy."

After proving that I remembered the moment he was talking about, I then asked him if he remembered the first time that we brought Vada here. Today, being only Vada's second Tuesdays dining experience. I didn't really give him time to think let alone reply before I answered my own question. It was the day of her baptism. We came with his parents and we had every single one of their flavored lemonades. It was a beautiful day and a fun time overall. That day for me also marks a dark occasion. It is a day forever linked in my vault of memories to her seizures, they started that very next morning.

As we were walking out of Tuesdays today our last trip prior to this one came to mind. It was our first childless date together. Justin's mom watched Vada while we went to lunch and then did a little Christmas shopping together.

I can connect Tuesdays to some very monumental memories over the past two years and I look forward to our newly made tradition of celebrating our last day as Justin and Tara "The Married Couple" to Justin and Tara "Proud Parents of Three".

Celebrating Vada

I had to do it.

I just couldn't wait!

Vada is turning 1 year old in 19 days!

I had planned on changing the blog to celebrate her on March 1st and then having it her all month. I made the header (actually Justin made it) probably a month ago and now as I look at it I realize she has changed so much! So, I had to share this header now and ill change it in March as an updated one of my sweet girl who has been blessing me for 346 days and nights!

Happy soon to be 1st Birthday Vada! Mommy loves you!