Week 52: A Pirate Looks at 1

It is hard to believe that one year ago today Lily was born. While the summer heat certainly brings flashbacks of hiding out in the air conditioning of the maternity ward, so much has happened during the past 52 weeks that it has merited some reflection. Fortunately, thanks to the advice given by many of our family and friends, a detailed narrative of Lily's first year exists right here on our web page. So to be sure this milestone was celebrated appropriately, we had family and friends visiting from all over the eastern seaboard.

In an attempt to accommodate as many people as possible, we transformed Lily's nursery into a 3rd bedroom by moving her crib, changing table and rocking chair into our room. In doing so, both my parents and Chip, Ashley and Jersey were able to stay with us. With such a full house, a celebration of the 4th was in order. We were able to watch the fireworks from the backyard again this year, though we had to walk to the corner of the yard to get a good angle. My hopes that an errant roman candle would ignite the eyesore that was built on the lot behind our house remain unfulfilled. Nevertheless, we enjoyed the fireworks after cooking up some huge ribeyes, chicken breasts and corn on the cob on the grill out back.

On Saturday, we celebrated Lily's birthday with all the fanfare such an occasion deserved. We had chicken nuggets and chicken salad sandwiches from Chick-Fil-A; as well as homemade baked beans, home fries, and cole slaw. Lily's cake was special ordered from a confectioner in Knoxville and was delicious...even now I am munching on one of the few remaining leftovers from it.

But most importantly, Lily had friends and family there to share her day. Sam, Anna and Mary Hudson drove over from Ashville, while Erin and Chase were able to come up from Knoxville for the day. Uncle Jonathan also came up for the day from Knoxville, and Chris and Dena made the drive from Atlanta. Of course, Lynn, Donna, Carrie and Kevin were all here for the party, and so was cousin Beth.



















And finally, for all our friends with children approaching their first birthday...a heads up: watch out for the diaper after your child's first encounter with cake and icing....wow.