Happy Independence Day!

Wow! It's hard to believe that exactly one year ago my mother and I were in Tver and my mom hadn't yet met Alivia. She would meet her on her birthday--which is tomorrow! Alivia is turning 2! Hurray! In honor of her second birthday I took Alivia to get some more photos made--and we finally did a family portrait, too!

Livi will be getting lots of presents, but the most special one, in my mind, is her brand new big-girl bed! No photos yet, but she loves it. The first night she just went right to sleep with no fuss and when she woke up she just played quietly in her bed until I came to get her. Last night she again went to bed with no fuss, but when she awoke this morning she realized she could get out of bed by herself and play. She played quietly in her room for an hour or so while I dozed a little longer. Happy day!

This afternoon was her first time to nap in her new bed and it was a bit of a challenge. She kept wanting to get out of bed and play instead of nap. I finally had to sit there with her and rub her back for about 10 minutes until she fell asleep. Same thing this evening at bedtime. I had to put her back in her bed several times and the last time was preceeded with a light smack on the bum. She did stay in bed that time, though, and was asleep in just a few minutes.

Tomorrow for her birthday we are going to play at home in the morning and then go to Gran's house in the afternoon. We're going to have an ice cream cake and a special dinner and then open a few presents. We're going to be holding a birthday party for her on Saturday (which also happens to be our court date anniversary and Gotcha Day) with a few friends and their kids. I probably went overboard with the party plans (Little Mermaid everything...) but it's my first time, so everyone will just have to forgive me. Yes, my Little Bit is probably becoming a tad bit spoiled, but I think she deserves all the spoiling she can get.

This last photo is from our trip to Toronto in early June. Our whole group got together for a photo in front of The Old Mill during our furst day of locations touring. It's a beautiful inn and restaurant in Toronto that has been used in many films and television shows, including La Femme Nikita, the show we were all fans of. They do a fabulous lunch buffet if you are ever in Toronto.

~ Jeana