A touching Birthday story

Wouldn't you know all three of us ended up sick this weekend! Even though this is a big day for River, his very first birthday, we are all still nursing ourselves back to health. I wanted to have a big blog event to celebrate but the need to rest and maintain basic order around our house has limited the amount of time I have had over the past few days. So, I will keep it simple for now and share a very touching story from our adventures today.

On our way to the mall to let River climb to his heart's content in the children's play area we stopped at the ARC Thrift Store because Cory needed to get some work pants. While browsing through their children's Halloween costume section a very cute little old lady came up and started talking to River. He was very responsive and full of smiles for her. During our conversation with her I mentioned that it was his first birthday. She then asked if she could give him a dollar to help celebrate. She said she didn't have any great grandchildren yet and her grandsons were all grown. She was also very impressed with how interactive and happy he was to talk to her.

Cory and I were both touched by this act of kindness from a complete stranger. Initially I had planned on putting the dollar in the savings account we are going to start for him with the money he received from Gigi Holladay and Papa Lynne (my grandparents on my dad's side) but Cory had the idea (and so did my Mom) to instead put the dollar in his baby book along with the story of the cute little old lady who was so impressed with him on his first birthday that she wanted to celebrate with him, too!

More pictures to come but in the mean time here are my two favorite.

Playing in the play area in the mall.

Seriously, how can you not laugh hysterically at this picture? Kudos to Cory for capturing this gem :)

Happy Birthday, River! You are one loved little boy. Loved by family, friends and even little old ladies at the store.