Seven Years Old! Really!

Happy birthday to my sweet Abbey! She is now seven years old. We celebrated her birthday a few times, as we tend to do.
The first celebration was at home. I made her a chocolate cake, heart-shaped and decorated with Valentine's M&Ms (so glad I bought that heart-shaped silicone pan in the Target dollar bin!). We opened her presents while talking to my mom and stepdad on Skype. She enjoyed sharing her special day with Nana and Les. Elliott had picked out a Littlest Pet Shop toy for her sister and there was almost a meltdown (from Elliott) about playing with it, but overall she did well. Abbey was also excited to open up a fish tank for her soon to be acquired betta fish!

See Nana and Les on the laptop?

Thanks Gran-San!

Daddy and his big Seven year old

This pretty much sums it up- happy dad, cute girls in bright dresses, with Littlest Pet Shop friends.

And that night, at the request of the birthday girl, we had "not healthy pancakes and cheesy eggs" for dinner. I think her Daddy may have convinced her to request non-whole-wheat pancakes.

The next day we all joined Abbey for lunch at school and brought cupcakes for her class. I think every child that passed me in the halls had to say something about the cupcakes! Her classmates sang "Happy birthday" to her more than once and I think she felt special.

Strawberry cupcakes with frosting and sprinkles- what more could a girl ask for?!

This year we decided that Abbey would not have a birthday party, but instead, would pick a friend to go spend a fun day with. I debated leaving Elliott at home, but Chad and I decided we would all go and if Elliott was making things un-fun he would take her out for a while. So Abbey's friend H. came over and off we went. First stop was lunch at Chili's. For the second time Abbey can ever remember, we ordered dessert! In a restaurant!

They truly were this excited about the chocolate lava cake.


All three girls were really full after that.

Then we headed to the movie theater to see Gnomeo and Juliet. It was cute, the music was fun, and I appreciated that it wasn't too scary for Elliott. Bonus- everyone was so full from lunch they didn't need popcorn or candy! We made it back to our house to open a present from Abbey's friend. They are so sweet to each other- she had drawn a card for Abbey, so Abbey made sure to draw a special thank-you note for her. So even without a party, it was a fun day, Abbey felt celebrated, and I did not have a big stress headache. (I did tell her we could have a party at the end of the school year, for some reason that seems less stressful to me.)

So that wraps up the many 7th birthday celebrations of my beautiful Abbey. I am so thankful God gave her to me and Chad and I am proud of the person she is becoming. I love you Abbey!

She's Seven, Smart, Sweet, Sensitive... and let's not forget SILLY!