Little Angel Turns One!

Well, folks, there's been a lot happening in these parts. And by these parts I mean here in California and where most of you are in Missouri. The Cards snapped the LA Dodgers road win streak last night in Busch Stadium, kinda ironic that a team that USED to be in my backyard practically was playing a team CURRENTLY in my backyard.

Also, found out later it seems they have a bit of a rivalry, being some of the oldest in the league. But aside from baseball, there's been some other pretty big things going down 'round here.

Well, special occasions like this allow me to do something I have wanted to do since we first started this fundraiser, share with you some of our story and some of the people who have been a critical part of getting Mazvita's Angels off the ground. 

You might remember seeing this sweet girl, she's the daughter of one of my best friends, Meredith, who also happens to be one of the first few to be a part of Mazvita's Angels and help me get this fundraiser off the ground. 

Well this little girl is someone I talk about at nearly every event when I start sharing how/why I started making flowers, within a year's span, three of my best girlfriends were expecting their first child and they were all having GIRLS!! I started making hair bows and accessories for their little girls as gifts and later we started selling them!

Like I mentioned, Meredith has been a part of Mazvita's Angels since we first started August 1st two years ago, she even modeled for our first "photo" shoot, (that clearly we took ourselves, impromptu out in the yard lol), a few days before Homecoming when we were making flowers at my house! October 2011!

Well, fast forward that that spring, and Meredith and I were hanging out at one of our favorite places, you guessed it, Hobby Lobby! ;)

But, there's something else you should know about that visit, we were shopping for stuffs for the nursery, because Meredith was pregnant with her first! She had a baby girl due that August!

Isn't she beautiful? I swear, I do not know how my friends make pregnancy look this good! Little Ellie was growing, this was in the spring, now fast forward to August 3-4, 2012 and we were having Mazvita's Angels first garage sale where ya just might remember seeing Tiffany dancing away in the streets in this lil getup! 

Well, being Meredith, one of the most selfless people on the face of the planet, forget the fact that she was NINE MONTHS PREGNANT at that point, oh no, that wasn't going to keep her away, she helped throughout the week getting ready for the garage sale (though my mom and all of us did make sure she was sitting down and as Ellie was literally due any day at that point, of course I wouldn't let her work the sale, but then she and Bob surprised me by coming by on Saturday and see how I was doing. It meant a lot to me to get to see them and that they came.

And boy oh boy did all the mamas around have old wives tales for DAYS of all the stuff they were trying to tell Meredith to do so she could have that baby!

And, well, something Meredith was doing must've worked or Ellie was just ready to enter the world, because Meredith went into labor just a couple days after the garage sale and then Ellie was born early in the wee hours of the morning, 2:19 am on August 7th, one year ago today!!! Here's the beautiful Burgio family with their sweet little girl one day after she was born! Look at this beautiful family!
 

Here she is meeting some of her grandparents, Bob's mom and dad

And meeting some of her Aunties, Meredith's best friend from childhood, Miriam. As you can see, we all fell in love at first sight, there's just something about that child!

And then this random aunt, some Mazvita character they somehow permitted in the hospital ;)

Here's some snapshots of her first year:

 

Love that little smirk! Well, as I mentioned, not only is her mom one of our Angels, Ellie is one of little Mazvita's Angels, she's helped out at our farmers markets and events and even done some modeling! ;) 

And this year when we had Mazvita's Angels 2nd Garage Sale, Meredith was there helping, but this time not nine months pregnant, this year Ellie got to be a part of it all and showed up bright and early for the 7 am shift with momma, in her cute little hat!

I love this child so much!

One of the hardest things about my transition and move to California was the people I'd miss living and sharing life with. The Burgios are some of them. Meredith has been a long-time friend who I've shared a lot of life with throughout college and after, and someone who has been in the unique position of being one of my few remaining best friends still in Columbia in the time I have been dealing with my illness. Most of my friends moved as usually happens in a college town and wished more than anything they could be around especially in the first couple of years when I was not doing well and answers and solutions were hard to come by.

I stopped doing birthdays on here for a while because a), I was worried about forgetting and missing some and wasn't able to keep up, but then also, it took more emotional energy than I had the last few months.

But celebrating things like this is something I've wanted to do ever since we first started doing this fundraiser. Not for the sake of birthdays, but because it would allow me to celebrate, honor, and thank some of the people behind Mazvita's Angels that have truly made a difference in my life and the life of my family.

The people that don't help or do this for praise or recongnition, but out of love and support and their dedication and commitment and heart is something I just can't brush aside or something I remotely take for granted.

Celebrating and sharing the story of how Meredith (and Ellie now too) have been a part of what God's been doing in my life as a result of dealing with my illness is something I've wanted to do for a long time, as with sharing Kate Kromann's story as I did on Kate's birthday, and the story about Emily Shields and how each has personally impacted me and Mazvita's Angels greatly.

It has been nothing but a joy, gift and privilege to be a part of Ellie's life for this last year and I'm saddened I don't get to see her on a regular basis and watch her grow up with my own little eyes as I once did, but I am grateful for things like facebook and pics that can help us stay connected. 

Speaking of which, here's some pics of her TODAY, officially one year old! Happy Birthday sweet Ellie!! (And way to go momma and daddy too!!) Lots of love from Mazvita's Angels!