Happy birthday times three! I'm 22 and my littlest sisters are 6! Where has the time gone?
As per our usual birthday traditions, I chose a special birthday breakfast of chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream with mini M&Ms. And yes, you are seeing that picture correctly... I'm now 22 years old and I still eat ice cream with a baby spoon. It's a habit that I've never been able to break, but hey, we all have our weird quirks!
My mom and I were able to go in to the girls' classroom this afternoon with the cupcakes that I had baked, and they were thrilled to see us! The whole class loved the cupcakes and the girls couldn't stop showing off their friends to my mom and vice versa. It was the first time my mom was able to go in to the classroom, so it was great for her to finally meet the kids that my sisters are always talking about.
The girls made out really well with presents. From new baby dolls, to cute new outfits, the wrapping paper on the floor made it look like Christmas morning instead of just birthdays. They couldn't wait to unwrap plastic pots, pans, and food for their kitchen set, and they were given their very first nightgowns, which they both loved. It was so exciting for the two of them! Plus, with a twin, you always end up with double the presents because you can share!
What the girls didn't know, was that I had baked a cake for each of them for tonight. They knew that I had made the cupcakes for their class, but I was hoping that the cakes would be kept a surprise until we were ready to sit down for dessert, and somehow (seriously, pretty close to a miracle), the cakes were kept secret for over 24 hours. The girls each got their own little cake, one pink and one purple, and then we got an ice cream cake for me. It was really funny because my mom cut all of the cakes into slices, but the girls didn't care... it was a good thing that we had the ice cream cake for the rest of the family to eat, because the twins just took their hands and started scooping off frosting from the tops of their cakes, and taking fistfuls of cake that hadn't even been cut yet. It was hilarious to watch!
Overall, even though I was really missing my friends and family back in New York, it was a really good birthday. I'm so lucky to share such a special day with the two most incredible twinnies in the whole world. It's such a joy to watch my little sisters grow and become their own unique individuals, and to see how far they've come from the tiny premature infants who were placed with us at three months old really is a miracle. That is what foster care and adoption are really all about. It is so amazing to realize what a blessing it was to have been called to take in a child (or two) who then become a permanent member of your family. If anyone else had been called to take in my siblings, I wouldn't have my family today. When we got the call to take in my little sisters, and we were told that they were born on my sixteenth birthday, I knew that it was a sign that we were meant to be family... I could have never imagined back then that six years later we would be celebrating our birthdays together down here in Florida! Life is really incredible sometimes!
A special thank you goes to my parents for such a wonderful birthday, and to my siblings for making me feel special today! Love you all so much!
Thank you so much for your continued support! I look forward to sharing more stories about my experience with foster care, and hopefully hearing from readers who have questions or similar stories to share. I'm always willing to answer questions and hear about other experiences! Please don't forget to like and share my Facebook author page as well!
I’d greatly appreciate it if you would share this blog with friends and family through your favorite social media sites. If you’re sharing on Twitter, don’t forget to tag me (@TayTayK02) and use the hashtag #TaylorTalks.
Thanks!
Taylor