Planning Ahead

I'm enjoying putting Eva's first birthday party together. I've bought the decorations, ordered party trays, cake and balloons, picked out presents, and sent out the invitations, both traditionally and electronically. Our grocery store threw in an extra 8" round cake for Eva at no charge with our order. Apparently it's a tradition for first birthday babies to have their own separate cake to dig into all by themselves. That will make for some messy photos! We're getting ready to turn Eva's car seat to forward-facing instead of rear-facing. She's met the weight requirements since she was 6 months old, but California law requires a baby to be a year old as well as 20lbs in order to ride forward-facing.

We also decided it's high time to start preparing for Eva's long-term needs as well. Dave and I finally put together a will and living trust, after procrastinating all year. We used a paralegal service called Legal Zoom, and have been very pleased with both the results and the price. We wanted to make sure Eva is taken care of in case anything happens to us. We've already set aside a savings account for her education, and a couple of savings bonds generously contributed by Aunt Laura. I can't imagine anything worse than not being there to watch your children grow up, but since my parents and grandparents have had the blessing of seeing their kids and grandkids grow to become the people they are, I have no reason to believe that Dave or I will be the exception. Even so, it's nice to know the important things are taken care of.