Hope's Birthday

We celebrated another birthday around here! July 30th, Hope Bezualem Shaul turned 2, and what a joy it was to celebrate her. It was fun thinking about decorating for a girl, and I had to add some pink streamers to our stash. :) My parents were coming into town the Friday following her birthday, and we were planning a small family party for Saturday, so on her actual day we went to the zoo! She loves animals, and we tried to see the animals we feel like she especially loves, or at least can say and/or make the sound. :) Those included giraffes, lions, tigers, monkeys and the petting zoo. We also rode the carousel, which she loved until the end. After dinner we went as a family to Jones Bros Cupcakes, which I think may need to be a tradition. I went there last year with some friends to celebrate her 1st birthday, and it was really special to take her this year. We were there all of about 20 minutes, the boys INHALED their cupcakes (theirs were mini ones), and it is really just better for us not to linger too long at restaurants. She loves, loves sweets, so hers was gone fast too! Then we went to a park across the street and played for a bit before coming home.

I was actually surprised at the mix of emotions I felt on her birthday. Everything from joy and thankfulness to sadness and sort of melancholy. I thought so much about her birth mom leading up to her birthday, and just wishing we knew more about her. Wishing I could give her a hug, thank her for giving Hope life, and assuring her how much we treasure and love our sweet girl. I can't begin to imagine her life, but we are forever connected, and she will never be forgotten.

Hope is really such a joy, she is absolutely her own little person, and she handles her brothers with both sweetness and sass! Her vocabulary has really started to take off, and my current favorite word of hers is flip-flops. I also love how she says each of the boys' names: I-I (Eli), Nehneh (Micah), and Isey or Iee (Isaac).

Some of Hope's loves:
-her blankie (kie-kie)
-milk
-yogurt
-any dessert!
-animals
-books
-being outside
-going new places
-mom :)
-songs/music
-Elmo