jumping for joy

lena turned 6 on 12.12.12.
if you know her story, you know that it was a miracle day. no small frail baby-sized 6 year old in a lonely crib on the other side of the world, but a tall strong 6 year old with a toothless grin. waking up in a warm bed to a family who loves her singing over her.  walking to the breakfast table for banana pancakes with birthday sprinkles.

honestly, I just wasn't sure how it would all go. so much in matt & i's hearts wanted to explode out in celebration...
a child who deserves to have had 6 birthday celebrations & somehow we wanted to cram all 6 that should've been into her 1st one.

her first birthday at home, but would she know that day was about her? how could we do this? celebrate in a way that was about her & still let others join in the miracle of the day without overwhelming our sweet girl?
so all we could do was plan & see how it all went & ...
it went great!
Lena Louise Mooney was all smiles at her birthday party. no big to-do, just a playdate with friends at a local gymnastics place. because she loves to jump & she loves the kid music they played on the loud speaker. she got to be in her own world with the jumping & walking on a bouncy floor & music, while the rest of us orbited her. onlookers to the joy.
our dear friend, blanca, took these pics & well...they speak for themselves.

arriving at her party...decked out in her ralph lauren duds from "uncle josh" (so maybe i'm a little excited to be throwing her a party)

walking from her mom to her grandmother

diving to dad in the foam pit

dad holding her and bouncing her in the foam ball pit

more bouncing with dad

trying it out by herself

everyone loved the foam pit

playing with mom

in dad's arms

walking with mom

walking with her "moo"

walking to dad

got him!

miss independent

a little break for some deep pressure:)

miss amy...lena's speech therapist (& our dear friend).  she was with us in ukraine the moment we first met our daughter & now she came to celebrate lena's birthday with us.  so special. 

so, maybe miss thing wasn't to fond of the group shot:)

faithful, wonderful friends who celebrated this day with us & many others who couldn't come texted & wished her happy birthday...that is one loved little girl!

back to jumping

can you even handle that face?!!  such life, such joy.  so thankful to be with our precious daughter on her 6th birthday!!!

{{that night we had a ukrainian feast, cupcakes & gifts at home...more on that later.}}