It’s one thing to be pregnant at the same time as your closest friend, but it’s another thing to give birth within 3 weeks of each other with children who both have chromosomal birth defects--Cannon with Menkes, and Lilly with Down Syndrome. 

Their imperfect little bodies make them oh so perfectly PERFECT.  And I’ll speak for both of us when I say, it is extremely overwhelming as a parent to take on this huge responsibility and wonder why Heavenly Father entrusted us with such amazing little souls to care for.

Natalie didn’t know right away how unique Cannon was.  He was the most cuddly, sweet baby who slept like an angel and hardly ever made a peep.  Natalie cherished these moments, drinking in all that this wonderful little person had to offer.  But it wasn’t until a few months later, when she and her husband started seeing delays in his physical and mental development.  Like all good parents should, they started asking questions...but no doctor could answer them.  Thanks to the internet and online medical journals, Natalie and Kent were able to discover the diagnosis themselves;  a very rare chromosome mutation on the x-gene called “Menkes”.

There was no question that Cannon was Natalie’s little piece of sunshine in this crazy world.  And for his first birthday, the song “You are my Sunshine” was the main theme of the party.  Not only does it depict how wonderful Cannon is, but it is also one of the only songs that he calms down to when sung to him.  As a gift to Natalie, I went to a recording studio and recorded this song for her.  I changed the words a little because I wanted it to be specific to who Cannon was.  I also had her older children, Ethan and Ella--and their grandmother, Brenda, sing part of the song as a special tribute to their brother and grandson.  Natalie had no idea!  Click on the “play” button to the right to hear the song.

The party:  the whole community was practically invited to come pay tribute to Cannon.  Party goers arrived, wrote a wish to Cannon, ate cupcakes and mingled. Then all went outside and let off floating paper lanterns into the sky on Cannon’s behalf.  The paper lanterns will be a tradition held every year in his honor.

It was an emotional and beautiful night.  The sight of 50+ paper lanterns floating in the sky was breathtaking.  It was hard to hold back the tears.  Our hearts were so full of love for this beautiful boy and his amazing family.

Now on to Lilly’s special day.  Her little ladybug garden party!

Around our house, Lilly has affectionately become known our little “Lillybug”.  She is sooooo tiny, but sooooo active too.  And I wanted her party theme to be all about ladybugs. 

I found a poem that makes me think of Lilly and designed a little hanging canvas display, then had my mom’s vinyl company print it onto canvas.  It’s hard to read in the picture, so here’s how it goes: 

“How brave a ladybug must be. 

Each drop of rain is as big as she.

Can you imagine what you would do,

if raindrops fell as big as you?”

Joreen from Bon Vino’s Bistro and Bakery made Lilly’s cake (as well as Cannon’s sunshine cake).  She does such an amazing job!  She also made Lilly’s tinier cake gluten-free and dairy-free!  Lilly is having food sensitivity issues, so we’re just keeping her off certain foods for awhile. But aren’t the ladybugs just darling?  And on the cake it says “Lillybug” in whimsical lettering.

Ooops.  mommy’s over-large belly got caught in the shot.  I was actually trying to suck-in while Natalie took the picture.

A big thank you to all the wonderful help I got in pulling this all together.  I couldn’t have done it without Liz who juggled watching my kids while cooking over 2 dozen scrambled eggs. Or for my Mother-in-Law, Katie, who sewed all the table cloths, covers for the cranberry drinks, and Lilly’s cute little polka dot apron dress.  For Natalie who up until the very last minute scrambled with me in setting up the food and decor, and taking all the wonderful pictures you see here, then staying later to clean up.  And lastly for Jory and Kathy who so willingly gave us their beautiful house to play host for Lilly’s special day.  Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.

My son!  He never ceases to crack me up.  What a ham!  And yes, he is this cute ALL the time!  He’s my little red-headed leprechaun.

Lilly was all smiles when it came time to devour her cake.  She loved it when everyone sang “Happy Birthday” to her. 

No holding back!  Lilly dove right in!

Oh the boogers in the nose!  It was a crisp spring morning, but that didn’t stop Lilly from enjoying her cake, even though her tiny body was shivering and her hands were ice cold.  We eventually let her finish it inside where it was warmer.  

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I’m ONE!!!!

It’s almost like Lilly is shocked at how good the cake was!  Who would’ve thought that gluten-free & dairy-free could taste so good.  What a face!  YUM!

I don’t know if the little googly-eyed ladybug can say the same.  It looks like it’s seen better days!

Afterward, all the kids got to take home a butterfly catcher with goodies inside such as ladybug bubbles, chocolate bug lollies, magnifying glasses, and tiny lady bug chocolates.

And we, of course, are grateful to celebrate Lilly’s first year with our closest friends and family here in Sunnyside.  Our blessings are so great at this time.  We love you, our little Lillybug!

Above:  The 4 ft by 4 ft canvas over the table was designed by Natalie.  Both she and I painted it yellow and the sun white, while my mother cut the words out of vinyl lettering.  It turned out really nice, I must say so myself.