Nellie's 1st Birthday Party

Happy birthday to our little love! We hope you had a great birthday, and I think you really did. I went with  a rainbow theme because you are our little ray of sunshine and the day couldn't have been better.  You absolutely loved the cake and didn't waste a second devouring it.

Nana, Papa, Aunt Sissy and Uncle Bret weren't able to make it to the party because baby William was being born but they had a special celebration planned for you when we arrived just a few days later.

Kansas & William Davis Brown

My sister gave birth to William Davis Brown on December 17th and I couldn't handle even waiting nine days to meet him....it was too long!  We left California at 6pm on Christmas evening (well we were supposed to leave at 6pm but we were delayed awhile) and ended up landing in Kansas City around 1am on the 26th.

William and family came over early the next morning and it was love at first site.  Mila had a little cough but there was no keeping her away from this little man. She was instantly smitten and wanted to hold him all of the time.

The weather was "nice" (if 30s-40s is your thing) the first day and then it dumped snow all of over the city, which made it FREEZING and hard to get around.

That didn't stop us from getting out and about after being trapped inside for the morning.

Robert and I took Mila to Fritz's, a hamburger restaurant where you order via telephone at your table and then your food is delivered by a toy train.

Mila was amazed by the whole thing and had a great time.

Lots of our days were spent catching up on our sleep (Nellie slept until 8am every day in Kansas!), being lazy around the house, watching Netflix, or snugging this cute little thing.

Although Robert and I had to leave the house at least once a day before we went stir crazy!  We took the girls to the aquarium, had more barbecue in one week than most people eat in at least a month and we went over to Susan's for dinner one night before the boys left for Peru.  I started nannying for these three boys when they were nine and seven (and continued for five years!) and they and their mom, Susan, have been such an important part of my life sense..  We realized at dinner that we all hadn't been together since the day of my wedding!  

This isn't even when I first started...they are in like 7th and 9th grade here!  Look how young we all look!

I took advantage of the cold weather and dressed Nellie is some of her warm, cute frocks, although she had no time for pictures.

And then we spent some more time loving on this little guy

We celebrated New Year's Eve with the girls at 7pm (thanks Netflix!) and Robert and I snuck away for some drinks and a quick dinner (more barbecue!) before coming home and ringing in the New Year with the East Coast before heading to bed.

It was a nice long trip where we had the luxury of doing whatever we wanted (or not) and, before we knew it, it was time to go home.  

We flew back to California on New Year's day, headed home to catch some football and spend the weekend with our little family of four.  Shortly after arriving home Mila started breastfeeding all of our animals/dolls again,  it's comforting to know some things never change :)