Here are some photos of things we did throughout the day.
Saturday morning (March 10th)we woke up and hung out together while Paul was at work. Some of our plans that morning fell through but we were able to go to plan B and everything turned out okay. Because we had a little extra time that morning I started working on Riann's cake a little earlier than planned and the kids REALLY enjoyed helping me "clean up" after getting the cakes in the oven.
After baking Riann's first set of cakes we ran off to go get her annual hair cut. Where she doesn't have a ton of hair we don't get to cut it that often but last year or the year before I decided that we would always try to have a "beauty" day on or as close to her birthday as possible. I think she really enjoys going into the beauty school to have her hair cut because she knows she's going to get a sucker and everyone is so nice to her. She had a great time and wouldn't stop making faces in the mirror.
This year I decided that her and I would also make an annual tradition of getting our feet done for her birthday. I kind of wanted to try to start something with her that would just be ours and after I had seen a friend do this I thought it would be a fun idea. After her hair cut we had about 30 minutes before our pedicure was scheduled so I checked to see if they could fit Riann in for a manicure. She was so excited to get to pick out her nail colors from the HUGE selection they had at the school. She is in LOVE with the colors pink and purple right now so she was very excited to be able to choose both for her big day, although we had to talk her out of choosing a different shade of each for each finger and toe.
After getting her finger nails done we moved into a different room and got our feet done together. She loved being able to put her feet in the tub and kicking around at the bubbles. The girl who did everything for her did a great job chatting it up with Riann and keeping her happy. She even refilled her tub for her a few times so that Riann would have fresh bubbles to play with.
Colby did have to come with us because Paul was working. He did a great job through out the whole appointment. He did get to go home early because Paul met up with us and came and grabbed him for a little "man time" before nap time. Once we finally made it back to the pedicure room Colby was a little tired of sitting in his stroller and so I let him join me in the "tub" for a little bit while we waited for Paul. He too LOVED being able to splash around and was not happy at all when I tried to sit him on my lap. He didn't even want to play with the controller for the massage settings on the chair. All he wanted was the water. I'm so grateful he had a good time too. I was a little stressed about what we were going to do with him while we got everything done. It ended up being a LONG appointment with everything we did and he was the perfect baby while we were there.
This is the final product. She chose purple for her fingernails and pink with pink flowers for her toes. She had a hard time sitting still so they are a little rough around the edges but she loved them. I'm thinking maybe next time I do her nails I might try something a little fancy with her, like a flower. She's even done a great job since then and tried really hard not to pick at her polish. Her toes are still almost completely painted but her nail polish is gone on her fingers. She did a really good job trying not to take it off though. She was even super excited that she got to pull out her flip flops from last summer for her birthday and even though there was still a tiny bit of snow on the ground it was a PERFECT day for sandals.
I had to take a quick picture of her in the car before we went home. This is a shot of her hair cut after it was done AND a picture of one of her birthday presents. She finally got to move up to a big girl seat in the car and she loves it. I thought she would have a little trouble giving up her old chair to Colby but she has been so sweet and excited for him to use it now and both of them have loved the change.
After we had our "day of beauty" we came home for naps. After nap time she got to open her presents and she was so excited that everything was out just for her. She has some pretty amazing grandparents and great-grandparents and they sent her some wonderful toys and clothes this year that she loved. She even had some of her presents wrapped in special wrapping paper made specially for her from her cousins, Jackson and Jeffrey, and from Grandma Vreeken. She loved looking at all of the pictures they made for her. Every time she picks out a shirt to wear or one of her new toys to play with she loves to tell us who she got it from. We are so grateful for everything her Grandpa Jim and Grandma Cheri, Grandma and Braddah Gomes, and Grandma and Grandpa Vreeken do for her. Even though she doesn't get to see them in person very often she knows how much she's loved by each one of you and we are so grateful for every phone call and opportunity to Skype we get.
The last thing we did that evening was let her pick where she wanted to eat for dinner and an activity we could all do as a family. She decided that she wanted to eat at McDonald's and that we should go to the arcade at one of our movie theaters. She is always running off to see the games when we're there so we decided it would be fun to actually let her play them this time. She had a hard time deciding where to spend her tokens and later her tickets but I she was excited to finally get to play the games. Colby enjoyed seeing all the lights and had a great time just tagging along on some of the "rides".
These are just a few of the things she got for her birthday. She was so excited about her new pajama dress she got from Great-Grandma Jones (she said she looked like a "princess" as soon as she had it on) and my dad Grandpa Jim picked out this adorable church/Easter dress for her. She loves wearing it each Sunday. I can't wait for my dad to see her in it in a few weeks.
On Sunday, after church, I was able to finish making Riann's cake. I got the idea for this cake after catching a post on a friend's blog. My friend's cake looks SO much better than mine but Riann seemed pretty happy with it, and I often have to remind myself, that's all that matters. Although, after thinking about that evening, I don't think she got a bite of the actual cake, just one of the cupcakes we made for the kids. It was a fun cake to put together but I don't think I'll be doing another one like that anytime soon. It was certainly a lot more fun to make than last years cake!! I'm really glad she liked it.
For Riann's "birthday dinner" we combined our night with her party and a going away party for some of our neighbors. Because we would have invited everyone to both anyway it seemed like a good idea to do them together instead of trying to break it up into two events. For dinner we had a pizza party and then cake and ice cream for dessert. The kids all seemed to have a great time and it was wonderful to have an evening of relaxing after the busy birthday day we had the day before. Our good friends also let us throw the dinner at their home, instead of doing it at ours, so it was nice to not have to hurry and clean up our messes from the day before, before we had company over.
These are just a few more photos of Riann's cake before it was eaten. In true fashion Riann was the one who started everyone singing for her again this year saying, "Okay everyone, you can start singing now!!!" I think she felt she waited long enough for her cake and by the time everyone was done eating dinner she was REALLY ready for her dessert.
And finally, I had to take a picture of all of the friend in Riann's life right now. This doesn't include everyone, we do have some really good friends who have moved that Riann misses so much every day, and of course her cousins and aunts and uncles are missing, but she really does have a great group of kids she gets to play with. We are so grateful for the many friendships we've developed over the last few years and a lot of the time having these great people around us is the only thing that makes being so far from home bearable.
Riann is such a fun girl and it's been a joy to have her grow up in our home. We do have our off days and she really is 4 going on 17. She has a big attitude for such a little body but I know that a lot of that comes from me so I'm trying to remember it's all about patience. It's amazing to see how much she's grown and the different things that interest her. There are days when we're driving in the car and I think to myself, "Did we just talk about that?" or "That was a really fun conversation." I always hope and pray that I'm being a good example for her, and I know at times I fail because in most cases she's the one that is teaching me, not me teaching her. I can't wait to see what this next year brings us and I can't wait to watch her grow with another new sibling. She is so loving and sweet with Colby and he absolutely adores her more than anyone else in our home. It's going to be so fun to watch all three play together in just the short months that are coming. It's been a great year and I can't wait to start on the next one with her.
Happy Birthday Riann, I hope you had a great time!!
1 comment:
Glad she had such a great birthday with great weather. That's awesome Colby did so well while getting mani-pedis.
Fun cake! I didn't know the Griffiths moved.
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