Happy Birthday, Abigail!

Okay, what kind of mother blogs about another child’s birthday before her own? Pretty lousy, I know. For all of our curious family members, yes, we did celebrate Abby’s birthday. It’s hard to believe she’s two. I had a sad realization the day of her birthday that this was the first birthday for a child that we have ever celebrated without any friends or family. Even last year amidst a snowstorm our dear friends, Elder and Sister Owens, braved their way to come party with us and Abby. They are natives of the White Mountains of Arizona and a little Ohio snow didn’t ever scare them…kind of like Coloradoans. So I concluded that our family is now large enough in number and love to make up for any missing bodies. We ordered pizza (Abby’s favorite food…one of only a few that she eats) from Papa Johns. For those of you wondering, yes, they have the major pizza eateries here. We have tried Little Caesars, Papa Johns, Pizza Hut, and have yet to try Dominoes. Two funny things about the pizza places: first, they don’t refer to it as carry-out, they call it take-away pizza; second, they usually throw in an order of some kind of potato side like Texas fries or tator tots. Not usually what you think of accompanying pizza. Anyhow, after scarfing down three pieces of pizza (when it comes to good pizza that girl can eat) it was time for cake. Abby had helped mix up her cake, as I really can’t do anything without her. She helped with the cleanup, too.

I was a little sad as we went to the store in preparation for the cake and couldn’t find any marshmallows to make the fondant. Apparently they have marshmallows sometimes in certain stores. There are marshmallows similar to those circus peanuts, if you know what I’m talking about …eewww. So, the fondant was not happening. Plan B. I have never been able to get my turquoise/aqua just right and will just have to keep trying. But, it turned out cute and Abby loved it. It tasted really good, too. This is what happens when you clear someone’s plate before they have eaten every crumb and licked every streak of yummy frosting off the plate. We were just trying to get to the gifts. The other sad part about the cake was since we had only been in the country for a few weeks and I had only been to the store a couple of times I was not familiar with the stores. We could not find a number 2 candle anywhere. I was beginning to wonder if they only celebrated birthdays after year 2. (I think I failed to mention the candles on Abdulaziz’s cake were giant sparklers similar to fireworks that would violate fire codes in most buildings!) We had to give up looking and hope she wouldn’t notice. (I have since found where they stock the candles...by the paper products. Why didn't I think to look there?!! We did buy some candles and put them on a leftover piece of cake and sang again:) )

All three of our other children are summer babies, born in non-holiday seasons when I have plenty of time to dream up cakes and gifts. Knowing we were moving and with the bustle of Christmas I went ahead and bought Abby’s birthday gifts when I was buying Christmas gifts…and I can tell you exactly where they are sitting on the shelf in my closet …in Ohio. I even had them in my hot little hands during the packing process. Somehow they just didn’t make it into any of our luggage. So, the night before her birthday we put the kids to bed (thank goodness for an eleven-year-old!) and went out in search of the perfect gifts. Fortunately, for a two-year-old anything is perfect. We did find some fun ones for her, her very own jump rope (you should see her try to jump with her sisters-hilariously spastic), a wooden shape-sorter box, maracas, harmonica, wooden stacking shapes, large ABC magnets, and some little candy gifts from her sisters. As we sang “Happy Birthday” to her, she sang along with us. It was very funny. She still has a hard time remembering she’s two. That’s actually a difficult concept. Why would you be one one day and two the next? Not only that but it’s much easier to hold up one finger than to hold up two…or should I say hold down two with your thumb…and keep your tongue in your mouth at the same time. Too bad I haven’t gotten a picture of that! We are looking forward with great anticipation to see what this year holds for Abby. Hopefully lots more smiles like she has already brought us.