Abby's 6th Birthday and Party

This sweet girl turned 6 on us last Monday. I don't know how it happened. She actually weighed herself to see if she was bigger. That only happens as a kid! ;)

She was pretty pumped to get her first American Girl doll from us! We bought her Julie. She is a blond/blue eyed girl like Abby and has a braid in her hair, a popular style for our girl as well. Abby was smitten and Julie has traveled many places with us since. 

After lunch of her choice (Burger King), we went and saw The Penguins of Madagascar with our friend Eva. The girls loved the movie and the apple juice and Oreos I fed them.

Abby's actual birthday party was this past Saturday. She wanted a build a bear party and talked about it for months. I don't like a build a bear party at all (the focus isn't on the birthday girl but the stuffed animals, it ends up costing most parents money since kids want lots of stuff there, and the negotiating between kids and parents is brutal), but it is her birthday so I smiled and booked her party.

Since I wanted a little traditional birthday party time, we had brunch first in the food court. I brought the paper goods and balloons and set up early. We bought coffee and chicken minis from Chick-fil-A and then brought fruit, milk and juice and doughnut holes. 

We gave all of the kids these little treat bags filled with teddy grahams to say thank you.

We were set up and ready about 15 minutes early and Abby was so ready to see her friends. Having a party at the end of a two week winter break is brutal!

She enjoyed twirling in the empty mall while we waited. Having a party at 10:30 AM on January 3rd has benefits- it was just us and the mall walkers!

Here are the sweet little guests full of doughnut holes and chocolate milk and ready for a new stuffed animal! L to R: Michael, Abby, Mary and Lacee from school, and Addison. Michael and Addison are Abby's best friends and she just loves them both. It was fun to have them and add two new kindergarten friends.

It didn't take long for everyone to pick a new stuffed friend at Build A Bear. We allowed Abby to pick whatever she wanted for her pony and she lived it up! Ha! I'll never utter those words again!

Abby has already decided what she'd like to do for her 7th birthday! That is my little junior party planner. I love her so!

Year Five in Review

Somehow my sweet little baby will turn six on Monday! I seriously love the little person she is becoming- less of a baby and more of a little girl each day. 

Here is a look back at a favorite picture from each month of our 5th year....

January- I marveled that you still let me dress you. And, that still holds true 12 months later. Your lack of interest in what you are wearing has saved us many fights and I still love picking out your clothes each night. Dressing you is great fun!

February- you make the best faces! I'm sure you get that from your Daddy. I love your squinchy nose face the best.

March- I am so lucky that we spend so much time together. I'll never regret quitting my full time job. It changed our family dynamic for the best forever!

April- I can send you to Nana's house and miss you within minutes of drop off. I swear after a few days I pick you up and you've grown so much. You always seem so mature after a few days away.

May- you graduated from preschool this month. Woah. I knew our summer would fly by and it sure did. It was a fun night to celebrate your end of preschool with all of your grandparents.

June- we swam all summer long! This mermaid was your favorite swim suit which says a lot since you have a drawer full. This was the summer you really conquered your fear of jumping in the water and became a braver swimmer.

July- We take lots of family selfies on the way to church!

August- first day of kindergarten! You have never once complained about school and are doing so well. I love seeing you grow academically and socially in school. 

September- we took a boat ride around Austin to dinner on a school night. You were so excited and well behaved and did well the next day at school. I'm amazed at how versatile you can be!

October- you played tee ball this month and did so well. It is the first sport where you've excelled and it was fun cheering on you and your team. You practiced during the week in the backyard and were a strong hitter and thrower. Catching the ball was tough for you... and most of your team.

November- you lost your second tooth in November while Momma was away on business. It just came out one afternoon in the car after school. Luckily, Nana was quick and took a picture for me. You have lost 3 teeth so far this year!

December- we have had lots of fun celebrating Christmas this year with you. I know lots of things won't be cool in just a few years, so we are celebrating all we can while you have an interest.

Year 5 Photos and Birthday Quiz

I was a lucky girl who won a gift certificate to Adorn Studios here in Austin to have a free photo session and CD of the images! It was a great prize on paper and a priceless blessing in reality! I never spend a ton of money on photos, but I am always so jealous of the beautiful pictures of my friends. Tiffany at Adorn did an amazing job of really capturing Abby- her personality, her many different faces, and her sweetness. I just love these!

Along with her photos, enjoy my interview of her on the night of her birthday. Her 4th birthday interview is here. 

What is your favorite color? RED (my influence, oops!)

What is your favorite toy? TEDDY BEAR

What is your favorite fruit? APPLE

What is your favorite TV show? TEEN TITANS GO

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? PIZZA (strange, we have this for lunch once every few months!)

What is your favorite outfit? BLACK VELVET DRESS (from Walmart with gold sequin belt, worn once!)

What is your favorite game? GYMNASTICS ON THE WII (Wii fit)

What is your favorite snack? CHEESE AND CRACKERS

What is your favorite animal? OKAPI

What is your favorite song? ROCK THAT BODY (Black Eyed Peas)

What is your favorite book? FROZEN

Who is your best friend? Ka'Lea

What is your favorite thing to do outside? SWING

What is your favorite drink? HORCHATA (she had this once, that night!)

What is your favorite holiday? CHRISTMAS 

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? PLEXI (blanket) AND STUFFED ANIMALS

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? CINNAMON POP TARTS

What do you want to be when you grow up? MAGIC FAIRY THAT MAKES WISHES COME TRUE

Happy Birthday pretty girl! We love you!

5th Birthday Fun!

Sunday was Abby's 5th birthday and even though her party isn't until this weekend, we wanted her actual birthday to be lots of fun! 

We woke her up at 7:30 with presents! She finally got the Sofia castle she has been wanting. She opened it and said, "yea! now I can take it off my Christmas list". Funny girl! She also got the Sofia family and her own amulet to wear.

We snapped a few more pictures before going to Dunkin Donuts for pre-church breakfast. We even took some extra munchkins to Abby's Sunday School class.

Nana met us for lunch and gave her another present- a cute little dress for her new doll from Christmas to wear!

We came home and rested and then it was time to pick up Michael and go to Gattitown for pizza and video games. The kids has lots of fun!

We are so very blessed to have this big five year old in our house and couldn't love her more!

4.5 Oh My!

I don't know how this has happened, but my sweet girl is 4 and 1/2 today. She has been counting down to the day for 3 weeks. Maybe it has something to do with this doll?

I told her for her 1/2 birthday she could pick where we eat lunch and we would go to Target and let her pick out one thing she wanted. It could be anything. For weeks she has said it would be an overpriced Sophia castle, but she called an audible and saved me $40 at the last minute. This girl can't resist baby dolls and especially ones she can take care of. We don't leave the house without a doll, her blanket, a drink and a snack. She had lots of choices and picked this doll whom she named Rose Mary. I found it wonderful that she now owns 4 dark skinned babies. She had a full ethnic line up to select from and this was her girl. 

For lunch, she selected Wendy's. She likes to better than CFA because it is quiet. ha!

On the flip side, she is obsessed with super heroes right now. She watches Superman, Justice League, Justice League Unlimited and Teen Titans (little kid superheroes) over any other shows. She knows all the characters and loves Wonder Women. Fingers crossed we love WW through October because I would love that Halloween costume! Luckily Justice League is at Target right now and we have stocked up for cheap!

She has very set ideas of what Momma and Daddy are for. With me, she wants to snuggle, gives kisses hourly, likes to help in the kitchen, wants to go swimming and spin round and round and likes to do nightly prayers. I am her comforter when she is hurt or tired. She still crawls in my lap and sprawls out like a baby. Her legs are long, but they can still do the trick. She loves to surprise me with an iced tea on Starbucks runs with Daddy and knows my order at the doughnut shop on Sunday mornings. She likes to get me a Sweet-n-low at restaurants and wants to hold my hand when we are walking. 

With Daddy, she is all play! He does bath time, swings her, goes to the park, plays super heroes, throws balls, does dollhouse pretend play and reads her nighttime stories. She loves to wait for him on the porch when he is coming home from work. She always thinks of him when she sees a black car and says his name when we drive by his office. She wants to Face Time with him daily.

She looks like such a big girl some days! Her VBS picture from this week shows us how TALL she is compared to her friends. Her feet are stretched out and touching the ground while her friends feet are dangling. She is about 44" tall and about 45 pounds. She has grown 2 inches since January and lost a few pounds. People who see her comment she is tall and has leaned out. This is the face of a little girl and not a baby. She wears size 5 shorts and size 6 or 6X in swimsuits, shirts or dresses. Her waist is a 5 but her length requires the 6 in most things. We still wear a size 10 shoe and have since last fall. 

Abby loves shopping with Momma and especially trying on glasses and hats. Not even kidding. We do it all the time. She has entered the phase of wanting a toy at every store, but we have worked hard on that and I am seeing progress. She has learned she can tell me what she likes and then those things are options for her birthday or Christmas. I also have started making her name her favorite toys she does own when she asks for a new toy. It all seems to be helping. 

We did learn last week that her peanut allergy has worsened and she is now allergic to tree nuts. Bummer! It doesn't look like she will outgrow this allergy at all- it is now a Class 6 which means that touch could cause a reaction. We will be educating teachers for years :) We were most worried about switching from almond milk that we love to cows milk, but she has done fine. Hooray!

I can't complain about this child at all- I see the little person she is becoming that Marcus and I are working so hard to mold into a well-mannered, kind hearted little girl and I am so proud of her. She is a joy- most days!

Birthday-Eve Sea World Trip

We had planned to spend Abby's 4th birthday at Sea World, but the weather wasn't looking great, so we went the day before and had the best weather in December! It was sunny and cool!

Our first stop is always Sesame Street's Bay of Play. Abby was thrilled that Abby Cadabby wasn't sick (what they told her last time we were there and she was out) anymore. She told everyone she saw that she was 4 years old! It was cute to see the characters try to respond to her!

We love Telly!

After saying hello to lots of Sesame Street friends, we rode rides! Nana joined us and rode the carousel with Abby. For some reason, the carousel just makes me sick!

I rode the Shamu Express with Abby and she was a little scared, but she did great. She threw such a fit as we started to ride this once this summer, they made us get off! Progress! You can barely see my green vest in the second car.

Abby rode the dolphin ride all by herself!

Before we left the SS area, we made sure to get Abby her souvenir and since it was her birthday, she got two of them! She picked Big Bird and Super Grover!

It was standing room only at the Shamu show and Shamu didn't want to perform! The trainer came out and stalled with educational facts about whales until the animals were ready. They started about 15 minutes late and did a few less tricks, but we saw flips and waves and even saw Shamu touch the red ball hanging HIGH above the water.

 We then watched the Sesame Street Christmas show and Abby went up front and stood by the stage. I got the best pictures of the characters sitting up there with her.

The drummer boys got in on the 4 action and gave her a high four after taking pictures!

This was the first time Abby did the tunnels. She just got in, acted like she owned the place and crawled right through. These are about 30 feet off the ground. Marcus' helicopters were down for fear of crawling through and then falling through!

About 5 PM, it started to cool off and the lights starting coming on! We played around in the candy cane forest and listened to carolers.

 Then, we went inside Fantasea, a walk thought area filled with Christmas characters for photo opportunities. It was so much fun and Abby loved seeing all the animals. 

This little girl should had a wonderful birthday-eve at Sea World! We just our season passes 6 or 7 times in total- I think we got our money's worth!