Happy birthday, sweet girl!

Almost caught up.  Woohoo!  Time to celebrate Riley's birthday (and hopefully this will remind me to fill out her thank you cards...oops!)

We didn't plan anything big for Riley's birthday.  I know the big parties with lots of friends will come soon enough when school is in session.  As a matter of fact, I didn't even buy invitations.  I sent a text to a few friends and said, 'hey...wanna come over for a cookout?'  Last minute, I bought a pack of princess decorations from Walmart and some princess napkins, and voila!  Birthday party extravaganza.

It turned out to not be terribly hot, but the forecast was saying it would be 97 degrees.  So, we set up a lot of water items in the front yard and let the kids play for an hour or so, then came in for a delicious dinner.  Jarrod smoked some pork and we had amazing sides.  It was just really laid back and so good.  And of course, we had to have Mara's famous cupcakes.
 

 
Happy birthday, Princess.  We love you so much.

Not a Baby Anymore

I cannot believe these pictures.  Last week, we went to our last Mom and Tot class of the session and were heading to decorate gingerbread houses afterward with our friends Mara and Addison, so I grabbed the camera.  I'm so glad I took it with me, but seriously....this is definite proof that she's not a baby anymore.  She looks crazy old in these!   Cue the tears...

 

 She loves singing all the songs during class!  

Riley is usually the only one that wants to ride on the 'bus' while we sing Wheels on the Bus.  So different than her brother...he was always one that preferred to walk with me than ride, but she hops right on!

After one ride, Addie did decide to join her for a short ride.

But her favorite is probably singing the 'Popcorn' song with the help of the parachute and foam balls.  It goes a little something like this....
You put the popcorn in the skillet and when it gets hot,
Sizzle sizzle sizzle and pop pop pop!

Riley loves the balls popping all over!

After class, we headed over to Addie's.  Mara did an adorable job setting up a little station for the girls to decorate gingerbread houses and cookies.  Super mom, huh?

Before we left, the girls played, danced, and sang.  Riley loves singing.  I think we'll end up getting her this microphone someday....she sings all the time!

Our baby is growing up so fast.  It's so bittersweet!