Our girls are 4

November is a busy month for birthdays around our house and the girls celebrated theirs last Friday, the 21st. We had a great day and a very fun party. Keyan was in the Emergency Room for 5 hours the night before and she had to go to two different doctors on her birthday but we were very thankful that she was able to be at home for her special day. We had a slow start to the morning since we had been at the hospital until 3am, but after that the day was full of celebrating. The girls chose to go to Red Robin for lunch and the staff treated them like royalty! We have been going to RR about once every two weeks since it opened about two years ago. The servers all now us, have fries out to us right away, and bring chocolate milk without us asking. As I sat and watched the girls faces as the staff gathered around them to sing, I literally got tears in my eyes because I realized that even people out in the community, who accept our crazy family and do what they can to make it easier on us, play a huge part in who our kids are. There are only certain restaurants that welcome us with open arm...a lot of them would rather us leave, but to those that do, it goes a long way in making us feel normal! (Okay, a lot of rambling..but it really meant something to me!)
It wasn't long before it was time for the party. We had 40-50 people come throughout the night. We served soup, crackers, cheese, fruit, and a lot of cake. Aunt Erin spent 10 hours making each girl their own cake and needless to say the girls were thrilled beyond belief at the individuality. Once again, as I looked around the room while we were singing "Happy Birthday" four times over, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. Each person there represents a piece of who we are as a family. They all play different roles, but we could not give the kids the life we do without each of these special people. From family members, people who have become like family, people we have met just over the last year, to nurses that help us manage the many aspects of Keyan, we hold them all very near to our hearts. It is something that is very hard to explain. All I can hope is that each of you reading this can experience the joy of being surrounded by people who love you through the highs and lows of life. It has been a tumultuous four years, but ones that were filled with a lot of laughs and smiles. Happy Birthday girls! You have all inspired greatness. I can't wait to see what the next year brings!