Monkey Molly Turns TWO!

Of all my kids, Molly has the most "monkey" in her!  She is a climber which has earned her the nickname of "Monkey Molly".  Not only is SHE a little monkey, but she has a love for sock monkeys too.  She calls them her "monks"!  So it was only appropriate that on her 2nd birthday, she be treated to a sock monkey birthday party!


My talented and dear friend made her a special sock monkey top to wear on her special day.  She ADORED it and danced around modeling it as though she were runway trained!

Because most of Molly's "friends" are really her older siblings friends, we decided to just have a small family party at home.  My dad grilled hamburgers and we enjoyed a delicious meal surrounded by grandparents, and aunts and uncles.  

The main decoration was the dessert table which I thought turned out really cute!  I wanted more balloons, but apparently there is a helium shortage in Wichita and they would only blow up 12 balloons for me!  Vance wanted to teach them a lesson in supply & demand principles, but he acquiesced and came home with a few less balloons that I would have liked.  Even with less balloons, the table was pretty darn cute!

Molly loved the table too... everything except the sock monkey's hanging from the lighting!  She kept pointing at them saying "monk down"... either she wanted to play with them or she was scared for them!

I covered the table with layers of brown burlap and used some brightly colored striped fabric as a table runner.  I found the cute bright pink buttons at Hobby Lobby and added those for some additional sock monkeyish fun!

I made a quick rag garland with some additional fabric I purchased and used it as a place to hang the Happy Birthday banner.

I found some sock monkey Easter Baskets at Walgreens that were perfect for holding the yummy monkey pops!

And of course, there were cupcakes too!

And just for fun, I added some other monkey-inspired treats to the dessert table too.

A few other fun decor details included hurricanes filled with tootsie rolls and a monkey to anchor the balloons...

and banana centerpieces to anchor more balloons on the eating table!  Yes, a few bananas had to be sacrificed in the process of making these centerpieces!

My sweet sister-in-law-to-be made a table runner rag garland for the main table!

The bright colors and fun printables carried over to the paper products too.

Molly had to prove she was, indeed, TWO and give us a few spot on "Terrible TWO" moments...

All of her fussing ended when we gave her a cupcake though!  She successfully blew out her own candles...

And she managed to get sufficiently messy with her hands free approach to eating her pink cupcake!

And she was pretty tickled by the presents too!

All in all, it was a super fun, super cute party for our 

super sweet (most of the time!) 2 year old monkey!  

Happy 2nd Birthday Molly Clare!

We love you, little monkey!

Daddy

Like he does every night, Vance walked in the back door from work last night.  Upon hearing the door open, three little people jumped up, ran to the door, and squealed in unison...


"Daddy!"


And in that moment, my heart was crushed and I broke into tears for the zillionth time that day.


It's such a simple thing.  One I take for granted, I suppose.  Hearing my children greet their Daddy when he comes home from work.  I expect it to happen.  In fact, I generally count down the minutes waiting for Vance to open the back door and for the kids to greet him with an excited...


"Daddy!"


But yesterday, I heard it with different ears.  And I realized, perhaps for the very first time, that moments like those should not and cannot be taken for granted.  Because I know a sweet, good, wonderful, faith-filled mother who will never again have the pleasure of hearing that kind of "welcome home" again.  


And it is crushing my heart.


In the early hours of this morning, Matt Nagel was welcomed home.  But it wasn't with a squealing "Daddy" by his six year old daughter, Harper.  It was by his heavenly Father who I am certain welcomed him home with open arms and the words we all hope to one day hear:  


"Well done, good and faithful servant."


Matt was a good and faithful servant.  His faith inspired and touched thousands of people that followed he and Molly's heartbreaking journey to adopt their daughter, Waverley.  His love for God was evident.  And now he is in the eternal presence of his heavenly Father.


And Harper has lost her earthly Daddy.


And that is crushing my heart.


Because when it comes to earthly Daddy's, Matt was a good one.


A really good one.


Molly recently wrote about what a great Daddy Matt was.  She even said that it is her hope that every child could have a Daddy like Matt.  Pretty high praise!


Tonight, I was rereading many of Molly's posts; pouring over the many family pictures in which Matt had his signature happy smile.  But there was one picture that was different and it struck me.

I noticed how Matt has his arm gently wrapped around Harper's back as they eat their dinner in the basement (a reward for Harps good behavior).  It is such a simple and unexpected gesture of love while doing something as ordinary as eating dinner.


I think that picture and gesture kind of sums up what kind of Daddy Matt was...


gentle
caring
kind
fun
protective
delighted in the ordinary things


And it crushes my heart to know that Harper will not have the privilege of enjoying many more meals with her Daddy's arm wrapped around her.  


And so I pray that her heavenly Father will take his place; wrapping HIS loving arms gently around her... just like her Daddy did.


If you have grown to care for his family, please join me in that prayer tonight, tomorrow, and in the weeks and months to come.  


Because a sweet and wonderful little girl has lost a really, really good Daddy.


And it is crushing my heart.

URGENT Prayer Request!

I am posting this in hopes of reaching as many praying friends as possible.  If you read this blog, you may have followed the failed adoption journey of Matt & Molly.  If you prayed for them before, please know that they need your prayers again... this time more than ever!


This morning, Matt suffered a major stroke.  He has had a portion of his skull removed to accommodate the swelling in his brain.  Many prayers are needed... please visit the CaringBridge site below and storm the gates of Heaven on Matt and Molly's behalf.  I simply can't begin to imagine how or why something like this could happen to a family that has already suffered so much pain.  Please, please... pray for them.


Thank you!


CaringBridge Updates are here.
Matt & Molly's Blog here.