Happy Birthday Missy Mae!

Yesterday was Missy Mae's Lucky #7 birthday. We had a whole weekend of celebration, complete with a party that she planned, decorated for, and carried out with the help of her big sister (invited guests included her immediate family and grandparents - it was a very exclusive event and included bobbing for apples and birthday party charades). She also went out to dinner with PWL and me one night, had her favorite birthday dinner (poppyseed chicken, mashed potatoes, caesar salad, and buns), and at one point even got a few presents. The most impressive part is that it almost all happened before she even had her birthday! She of course went out with her dad for breakfast on the big day, and last night she had her 3rd cake (all cheesecakes in a variety of shapes and flavors, and all delicious). All in all, I think she feels like she turned 7 in style, even though we didn't have a friend birthday party this year. I'm quite sure she'll be reminding me of that for the next 364 days and I will most certainly have to throw her the party of the century next year, but it was really nice to have everything happen without a lot of added planning.

Here are a few pictures from her weekend of birthday celebrations...

Posing (of course) in front of the sign that she and her sister designed

Very excited about the apple that she bobbed for and got, even without a front tooth

On their way out for the annual birthday breakfast with Dad.

Third time blowing out the candles and she still didn't get them all on the first try, but we all got to share a little extra of her with all the spit on the cake!

I was very nostalgic all weekend thinking about how my little girl is growing up so fast. She was born during a very busy time in our lives (or so I believed then), and I'm quite sure the reason she came to our family was to remind us of what is important. I feel like that has been the role she has taken on in our family - to help us remember to love each other and try to make everyone feel great. She is such a special little girl and is so sensitive and in tune with the needs of others. I went to her skating party last month for school, and even though she is a good skater and could have gone off with her friends or on her own, she chose instead to make sure the kids who didn't know how to skate got rides on the chairs and she pushed them around the ice. That's just one example of how she cares for others. In our family when we talk about talents, we will talk about how she is a great artist or a great singer, but truly her best talent is that she is a good and caring person and friend. She still needs her cuddles and lullabies every night before bed, and last night as I was tucking her in, I think I squeezed her a little tighter than I usually do. I hope she never gets too big to want to be taken care of and loved, and I hope we're always able to let her take care of all of us. She is the peanut butter that sticks our family sandwich together, and I feel so lucky that she is my little girl. Happy Birthday, Missy Mae!