I've started a habit that might turn into tradition of every other year going all out and inviting kiddos and doing the huge birthday party thing. We did that last year, but I didn't want to be all ho-hum about it on the off years either. I want the kids to feel very special and focused-upon on their birthdays. I make a special birthday breakfast for each of them (they get to choose what they want to have) and i put candles in it and they get to blow them out. This year I'm adding in decorations. I was thinking about how when we have parties, I usually go all out with the decorations because people are coming over and all that jazz. There is always an element of impressing there when decorating, but mostly I want to make the atmosphere really fun to be in. It dawned on me that I should do that for the kids whether we have people coming over or not, just because I think they are special and I want them to feel it the whole day on their birthday.
Ailey is now at that age that she really gets the birthday thing and she was able to be pretty involved in the planning. She is REALLY into Hello Kitty right now, so I asked if she would like a Hello Kitty birthday and the answer was a resounding YES! I put time and effort into making the decorations so that I could reuse them again for Brea's birthday and for many to come in the future. Ailey is pretty interesting. She definitely has her own sense of style. She likes pink and purple and shiny and all that, but she's rather specific with it all. She like a little edginess to it. So, I thought zebra and polkadots with black and pink would work just fine for her. :)
After it was all said and done, she really loved all of it, especially the marked attention from us!
Dear sweet Lerloo,
We love you so, so much. You are a bright spot in our lives and your flame gets brighter with each passing day! You are a joy, a challenge and a ton of fun all rolled into a small, energetic package. God knew we needed you and we are so grateful to be molded into the parents that you need to grow and become everything you possibly will. You are lovely, beautiful, smart, fun, talented, amazing, wonderful, incredible and fantastic! We are so proud of you!
Love,
Mommy and Daddy
