Happy 5th Birthday, Mary!

Today our first daughter Mary Genevieve turned five years old! She has been eagerly counting down the days for some time now.

Breakfast of strawberry pancakes and bacon

Daddy had to leave for his long day of business meetings by 7:30 a.m. and wouldn't be rejoining us for dinner, so I planned a birthday breakfast that started early. We had eaten and Mary had finished opening her gifts by the time Chris had to leave--phew!

A little funny bit about our girl: Unlike me, she is not a morning person. I've long known that when she straggles downstairs, I shouldn't start cheerfully jabbering at her (like I do with #1 and #3) nor, in fact, should I even make eye contact with her. I am not kidding. She warms up within about a half an hour. I thought her birthday morning would be different since she has been talking about her birthday continually for a week. But, no! I wished her a happy birthday and her response quickly revealed that this morning was no different, she needed her "warm-up time."

Delighted girl opening her gifts

"How old are you, Mary?"  "Five!"

For her birthday dinner, Mary asked me to make Italian sausage, fettuccine with vodka sauce (known as "pink sauce" around here), and green salad.

I was particularly tickled with Mary's request for her dessert: baked pears with homemade whipped cream and chocolate sauce. Elegant and delicious!