I Can't Believe I'm 31!

Yesterday was my 31st birthday and my first with Daniel. I have always loved celebrating my birthday but this year, I really did not feel like doing anything - I guess mainly because of the business and exhaustion of having a small baby. But on Friday, we decided that it would be nice to have some friends over to celebrate and though it was very last minute, it ended up being a special day. It was also my dad's last full day with us so it was good to do something special.

The day started with a big surprise: the two "siblings" officially became friends! Buffy for the first time felt comfortable lying next to Daniel and we got some cute pictures:

(Just in case anyone is worried about this, we are very careful to make sure that Buffy and Daniel are never alone together. :-))

It was special for me to take lots of pictures with my most precious gift of the past year: our son Daniel Peter who is 16 weeks today!

When singing happy birthday with friends and blowing out the candles, I wanted to make sure I was holding Daniel! It was fun! But I decided that this would be the last birthday in which the candles would explicitly tell my age. :-) It's just hard to believe I'm 31 and I think it's now time to stop counting!

What was really cute is that Daniel got to sit and hold hands with his friend Ella (2 1/2 years old) whilst her dad read them a book!

Thanks for all those who called, e-mailed and sent cards! Sorry it's still so hard to actually speak to me on the phone. Here is a cute picture I received from Tia Fafa and Tio Juju - a special birthday kiss!

The other big thing that's been happening around here is that we've had to get the external part of our house ready for the housing association's inspection. So my dad and Jonny power-washed and stained our deck and did a great job! I thought my dad had had a lot of practice in painting considering his long years of life but it was the first time he ever did it and he really enjoyed it! Here is a photo of them hard at work:

So my dear Daddy returned back to Brazil today and I'm feeling very sad... We had such a nice time together and it was great to have him around. I miss you already Daddy! Thank you so much for coming and all that you have done for us, we love you! Here are some photos we took this morning... next time you see Daniel again he will be a lot bigger!