THE Cake.

For most of my pregnancy with Lily, Claire had it firmly fixed in her mind that Baby Sister was baking her (Claire) a birthday cake. As in, that was her entire purpose for living inside of Mommy: to bake Claire a cake. We trace this concept back to a conversation we had with Claire about how Baby Sister would arrive sometime after her (Claire's) birthday. It was the best we could do at giving her a frame of reference, and apparently, the only thing that registered with Claire was "birthday," which obviously equals cake. So, for months and months, Claire would tell anyone who would listen about how Baby Sister was bringing her a birthday cake. We ended up explaining it a LOT.

It got more and more elaborate as time wore on: the cake was to be chocolate. With pink icing. And blueberries and strawberries. Once she settled on that combination, though, she never wavered. We decided that getting Claire a cake from Baby Sister was a totally doable gesture that could have very positive results in the long run. Thankfully, Lily's accomplice (my mom) did an AWESOME job prepping not only the cake but a proper birthday party for the day we came home from the hospital. I think all babies should have a coming-home-from-the-hospital party, actually.

Mom snapped this shot of Claire awaiting our arrival, and I love it.

Arriving at home! Claire is very insistent on helping to carry Baby Sister whenever she's in her carrier.

The decor. Also, Claire was pretty sure that this party was about her...and we didn't work too hard to correct her. We're all about creating positive associations with Baby Sister.

This shot was taken approximately 2 minutes after we walked in the house. We can go from not-partying to partying in no time, y'all.

It's FINALLY time for the cake!

First bite of the much-anticipated, long-awaited cake!

The cake was beautiful. Lily is really good at making cakes.

How Lily spent the time at her party. Bless.

Claire thoroughly enjoyed the cake that she had anticipated and looked forward to for so long, and we really enjoyed watching her make such a positive connection with her Baby Sister. Oh, and I REALLY enjoyed not being diabetic anymore so that I could actually participate in the cake eating. YAAAAAAY for Baby Sisters who bring cake! (and for Nanas who do the actual work. Thanks, Mom!)

PSA: A cake from the new sibling to the older sibling is a really good idea. Truly.