Magnolia Claire is 1!

Maggie's first birthday was a long anticipated occasion for our family.   When she was born unexpectedly five weeks early and then seemed to spend forever in the NICU, we just hoped and prayed to reach this milestone.  As Maggie grew and thrived through her first year, we looked at this occasion with hope and joy.  So many "risks" lessen when babies reach their first year.  Of course, we knew the one year mark for Maggie would also put us closer to some pending medical and surgical experiences, but we celebrated this day as a true reward at the end of a long and emotional journey.  I guess the journey started over six years ago when we had hoped to be celebrating her sister's first birthday.  I know that Maggie has had a very special guardian angel watching over her throughout her first year of life and that she will continue to do so for all of her life.  We love both of our baby girls with all of our hearts and will enjoy all of one's milestones while remembering and honoring the other one.   For Maggie's special day, I really just kept things simple.  Our families could not join us because it was so close to when we had just returned from our family vacation after Christmas.  Maggie celebrated the day with her mom, dad, and big brothers, and she felt very loved.  I made her birthday shirt and tutu and her homemade strawberry cake.  I wanted the cake to be soft and easy for her to manage without any teeth and with her mild cleft palate.  Evan gives my strawberry cake an almost perfect score, and I think Maggie agreed. 

First, we had to do a first birthday photo session in her little birthday outfit.

Yes, she did want to eat her tutu! 

Maggie is ready for her first taste of cake.  

Yes, we went shirtless for the cake eating.  So much easier to clean up.  After years of doing birthday parties for my kids, I finally discovered something amazing.  I have spent so much money on getting balloons filled at the store with helium only for them to deflate in just hours.  I blew these balloons up with just my breathe and tied them together, and they lasted over a month!  I loved having some colorful balloons to keep up for the whole month in celebration of Maggie.  

I love my beautiful baby girl! 

Her brothers adore her! 

Right here was the proof that she is her big brother Evan's real twin.  As soon as she saw her cake, she had to have it.  We could barely blow out the candle before she grabbed it.  

I had to pull the cake back to keep her from burning her fingers.  

Evan was my best cake eating baby as he dived right in with no hesitation.  Now, Maggie gave him some competition.  She couldn't pick up her larger cake, but she improvised nicely.  

She just put her face into the cake and started gnawing.  It was so cute! 

She was not giving up on her cake. 

Big brothers liked watching her make a mess. 

The brothers also enjoyed the cupcakes.  I think Mattox stole 3 while we were watching Maggie. 

She definitely ate a decent amount before we took it away. 

A cute pink mess! 

The birthday party attendees had fun. 

Presents!  Maggie was interested in her bag. 

Maggie got a new friend.  Her brothers have the boy version of this dog so she got the girl version.  It talks to her and lights up. 

She also got a classic popper toy to encourage her to start walking. 

I love this sweet little princess! 

Big brother Evan really loves her too. 

But I am pretty sure she is on her way to being a daddy's girl!