Blessings, Bliss, and Bailey: My Cup Runneth Over

Wow! It is hard to believe that 2011 is over - and we Coopers did it BIG! Our holiday season began with Bailey's first charity event. Yes - I said charity event. Christian and I felt that this time last year we were simply overcome with joy with our little miracle and decided to dedicate Bailey's first birthday to helping someone else have a little miracle.
I invited all of our friends and their kids over for a little holiday party in her honor. In lieu of gifts for Bailey, everyone brought gifts for Children's Hospital of Atlanta. It was AMAZING! I collected over 300 toys and it really warmed our hearts to know that on Christmas morning, the faces of a couple hundred kids at the hospital would be lit up when Santa came in to deliver their gifts! It was really awesome and I think it help set the tone for what the holidays would mean for us this year.
Following that was visiting family in North Carolina. We first went to Charlotte where my sister threw an official birthday party for Bailey with just our family. It was FAB! When we were all growing up and our birthday's came around, my mom made her signature chocolate cake with white frosting. We all got the same cake, and only once a year. My sister has continued that tradition with her kids, so we had to pass it down to Bailey. Interestingly enough, for the first time in 12 years, my sister had a cake "stick" - needless to say, it wasn't pretty, but it tasted great and the memories - and laughs - were priceless!
Bailey got some cute gifts and it was on to Winston Salem to visit Christian's family.
We had an awesome Christmas day there and that night Bailey got once again - another birthday party! This time she got a gorgeous cake from a bakery and lots of fun toys and fashions! And to think, I was worried that with a Christmas birthday, it would be forgotten... I was WRONG!
We had no more returned to Atlanta when we were packing again for the mountains. I had organized a trip with a group of eight close friends and neighbors in North Georgia.
We had a BLAST! I honestly laughed so hard that I cried and I nearly peed my pants a few others. So many great memories were made and I can't imagine a better way to ring in a new year.
Looking back, doing a little reflecting, I have come to realize that I truly am lucky. I serve an awesome God, have a great husband who I find myself falling in love with over and over, fabulous friends that make me laugh, and a beautiful little girl named Bailey. My cup truly runneth over :)

Here's to another year -