Ellie dances '80s-style at Mama's birthday party

Ellie's '80s dance moves from Amy W-P on Vimeo.

A gift from Ellie's godparents

Ellie's godparents gave her a gorgeous charm bracelet for her baptism, and for her first birthday they sent her the first charm for it! It's a teeny tiny silver birthday cake with one candle on top. Thank you to Trista and Russ for such a sweet gift!

Ellie's birthday celebration at child care

Thank you, cousins!

My cousin Lori and her wonderful kids made this super sweet video for Ellie. She loves it--thanks again for such a kind message to her!

And PS--A big Happy Birthday! to my cousin Stephanie--she shares a birthday with Ellie, as well as a big Congratulations! to Larisa and Eric--they were married a year ago yesterday!

A mellow evening

After all the festivities this weekend, we just relaxed tonight. Gotta get ready for her birthday party with her child care friends tomorrow morning!

Ellie's first birthday party!

Today was Ellie's first birthday party! Due to many last-minute cancellations, the get-together was much smaller than we'd anticipated. This had the happy benefit of allowing her to spend more QT with the guests who were able to be here. The highlight: As you can see, Ellie fell asleep during her first cake tasting! Many thanks to those who celebrated with us today, as well as to those who wanted to be here. She had a great day!

Ellie loves her khee caah!

We got her this kitty cat (pron. "khee caah") as a birthday gift. She fell asleep holding it on Saturday night.

Birthday playdate

Our family participates in an LGBT adoptive families group, and yesterday happened to be our January brunch date. Ellie got to see all of her friends on her birthday! On our way home from the playdate, we saw this rainbow.

Ellie's first birthday

We had a small birthday celebration for Ellie on her actual birthday, January 12. The day started with balloons and a rose and ended with her first cupcake. She had a lovely day!

We want to take a moment to say thank you to all of the Adventures with Ellie readers for helping us celebrate Ellie's presence in our lives. We love you!

Happy First Birthday, Ellie!

We love you!

Preparing for Ellie's first birthday

Capricorns are supposed to be frugal, right?

Ellie thanks her Great Aunt Donna for such a kind and generous gift!