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Yesterday was a special day in our home.

February 25th is not a date we celebrate annually, but in the year 2012, it was a day we celebrated our oldest daughter Kirsten.

It was a day that she has been waiting for—quite literally—for years.

It was her first, real, official, honest-to-goodness birthday party! (And it was to celebrate the completion of her 8th circuit around the sun!)

What bad parents!!! Who doesn’t give their daughter a birthday party until they turn eight??? Well, probably a fair question. And, really, I don’t have any single particularly satisfying answer. Somehow, it’s just worked out that way.

But after a tiny bit of convincing required by Dad and Kirsten to win over the Mom (it really didn’t take much …) we scheduled, schemed, invited. Then we shopped, cleaned, decorated, prepared… and partied!

As I mentioned, for a few different reasons, Kirsten has managed to avoid having her own party over the years. She’s even managed to avoid going to others’ parties. A big part is just that she is pretty young, but somehow it’s just never worked out. Another big factor in her own lack of birthday parties is that we often combine her celebration with that of her two sisters whose birthdays are 11 and 13 days later. It makes for a big fun party, but not one for just Kirstie.

Yesterday, she finally got her wish! 🙂

She was all smiles for days before, most all day today, and I got one of the biggest smiles of all time from her as I was saying goodnight to her in her bed, and I asked if she had a good day. (I already knew the answer, but it was nice to see it shine through in her beautiful smile.)

Eight years ago this Tuesday we were blessed with our first little girl. She is beautiful, caring, sensitive, bright, aware, tender, fun, clever, curious, and incredibly precious. My life would definitely not be the same without her in it.

It was a great day, celebrating our little girl. I am thinking it will be remembered for many days to come. (Days going on years.) And I’m guessing she’s going to want to do this again. 🙂

I already can’t wait!