Five Years Old!

I think it is a rite of passage for parents to often say, "where has the time gone?"  I know I have said it thousands of times and I know it can be written many times throughout this blog when talking about Lila and how quickly she has grown-up, but it is true.  It is like life gets placed in a vacuum when you get older, get married, work 40+ hours a week, and start a family!  

Lila's transition from 4 to 5 was a little harder on me than I anticipated.  She is officially a "kid," not a toddler; she will always be our baby, but it feels like in the eyes of society she is now expected to be that much more grown-up.  The night before her birthday I was tucking her in and I got a little weepy thinking that I was putting a four year old to sleep and she would wake up a five year old.  It isn't like she would be different when she woke up, but the year ahead is full of so many new adventures, some exciting, Kindergarten, and some which require her to leave things, such as daycare, that she has known since she was 8 weeks old.  She caught on that I was a bit sad and we had a moment talking about all of the new, somewhat scary, events that would take place this year, and with a little squeeze and a kiss goodnight, I tucked in my four, almost five, year old!

We do birthday's big in our house!  When I was growing up birthday's were something to be celebrated!  It is something that Mike and I believe, too, and have continued that tradition ever since we were dating.  This particular year, Lila's birthday fell on Easter weekend.  At first I didn't really think anything of it, until our weekend started filling up quickly with family gatherings for the holiday.  While I love the time spent for Easter, I started to get a little bummed out that it was potentially going to interfere with Lila's big day!  We traditionally have a big party for her with family and friends, but this year it looked like we might have to mix things up a bit, which I was a bit skeptical about.  We decided to split up her celebrations among the family time we had scheduled for Easter.  While it was different, it worked out perfectly for everyone, including Lila.  I think she secretly enjoyed all the mini-parties!

Her birthday landed on Good Friday, so her first gift was the fact that she didn't have school that day!  Mike didn't have class that day, so I took the day off so we could all spend the day together celebrating!  We properly decorated the house in anticipation of Lila waking up and seeing all of the love and thought that was put into her special day!

Getting prepped for the birthday girl!

Balloons...

and more balloons!

Birthday decor everywhere!

Waking up to balloons on her ceiling...how did they get there?!

First morning as a five year old!

There is something about the "oohs & aahhs" of your child when they come upon their birthday gifts or something that was made especially for them!  Lila's excitement bounced around the room as she looked at each of her princess art pieces and her bike.  She hadn't even gotten to her wrapped presents and she was exclaiming how "happy" she was with her gifts!

Elsa & Anna

Ariel & Rapunzel

New wheels!

On to the gifts with wrapping!

Unwrapping her new toys!

Taking a quick spin around the house!

After presents were all unwrapped we got cleaned up and headed to Iowa City to Lila's favorite spot, Build-a-Bear!  Lila has many toys, but her most favorite things are her "buddies!"  So, she was thrilled to know she was going to get to bring a new buddy home with her!  After we stopped at Build-a-Bear, she chose to eat at her favorite restaurant, Red Lobster, for her favorite biscuits and noodles!

Lila and her new friend, Treasure!

We got back from Iowa City and got prepped and ready to have a small celebration with my side of the family.  Lila requested a taco bar for dinner, so we had everyone over to eat tacos and have some birthday cake and ice cream!

Three amigas!

Make a wish!

 

New rain boots!

What could be in this box?!

It's an Elsa dress!!!!

Posing with Grampa and Laura in her new dress!

We had a busy day the next day, but there was a little bit of time in the morning for a little dress up and play!  She didn't waste any time getting that Elsa dress back on!

Queen Elsa

Goofing around!

Saturday brought our first event in our new neighborhood!  One of the things that we have been excited about is the close knit neighborhood group that we keep hearing about!  There are many events throughout the year in which the neighbors all get together, this particular event was the Easter egg hunt in the park.  Lila has already met a few of the neighbor kids and is having tons of fun playing with them in the evenings, but this was another way for her to get to know more friends and for us to get to know the neighbors a bit better!

Hunters to the line!

On the hunt!

The Easter event was really cute!  Not only did they have the egg hunt, but they had many other activities for the kids to participate in: bunny sack races, cupcake decorating, painting, cake walk, etc.  The weather was perfect and the kids were having a blast!

Painting her Easter egg!

On the playground

Sweet girl!

After the Easter event we loaded up and headed over to Mike's grandparents for Easter dinner and another birthday celebration!  At this point, she could get used to having presents and birthday cake everywhere she goes!

Coloring with Aunt Maria

After more presents we ate a yummy Easter meal, and Grandma knows how to get right to our girls heart, by combining cake & ice cream, with an ice cream cake for dessert!

"Happy Birthday to you..."

Make another wish!

After two fun filled days it was Easter Sunday!  What on earth could that Easter Bunny get her that she didn't already get for her birthday?!  We weren't totally sure the bunny would come this year considering she had gotten so many good gifts for her birthday, but guess what...he found us!

The Easter Bunny has been here!

Where will the trail lead?

Look at all the eggs!

Getting closer & closer...

She found a basket full of goodies!

Bunny ears!

An Easter tradition!

We finished up with our family time on Easter morning and got ready for an Easter road trip to Lamont and Strawberry Point!  Our first stop was Lamont to see my Dad's side of the family for a little while.

Road trip!

The Smith side is always packed full of people!  With family members scattered about, we don't get to see everyone together that often, so it is always fun to get together and catch up.  Lila's little cousin Audra celebrated her 3rd birthday in March, so they exchanged gifts...surprise...they both got each other Sofia stuff! Too funny!

Birthday girls!

We arrived in Strawberry to have lunch with my Mom's side of the family!  My grandparents spend the winter in Arizona, so this was the first time we had all been together since Thanksgiving!  Once again, we had a delicious Easter meal and celebrated Lila's birthday, yet again!

Family love!

While Lila's birthday was a bit different this year due to the holiday, it was a wonderful weekend celebrating with her and all of our family!  We are truly blessed to have everyone relatively close so we can have our little girl grow up knowing what it is like to celebrate special occasions surrounded by the people that love you.  

I can't even imagine the posts that lay ahead as we navigate this fifth year!  I know it is so cliche to say this, but birthdays become less and less about material presents as we get older, the real celebration each year is the gift that she is to her Daddy and I!  

Thirty Six. Four. Amen.

April is always a busy month for us, part of what makes it busy is the fact that both Mike and Lila celebrate their birthdays in April.  Mike's birthday is April 7th and this year marked his 36th!  I gently ribbed him that he is on the side closer to forty...he didn't seem to think it was as funny as I did!  We take birthday's seriously around here, after all it is the only day that is really set aside for YOU!  Unfortunately this year, Mike's birthday was less than exciting.  I was crazy sick with the stomach flu the whole week leading up to his birthday, talk about feeling like a let down.  However, I am lucky to have a fantastic husband that didn't mind having a lower-key birthday this year.

Even though I wasn't feeling well, we most certainly didn't miss the opportunity to make him a cake.  Lila was eager to assist me in making the cake, and as you know, cake preparation isn't complete with out some sampling of the batter!

Stir, stir, stir!



Sample, sample, sample!

Once the cake was complete, Lila was insistent on helping decorate it.  The only thing she wanted to put on her Dad's cake was sprinkles.  She wasn't kidding, every inch of that cake was covered in sprinkles, to her satisfaction!



The finished product!

We had a nice, quiet dinner at home, just the three of us!  At this point, I was still moving pretty slow as I was on the mend, but we still managed to have a nice time!  Lila & the pups got Mike a watch for his birthday and I got him custom framing for his signed jerseys and tickets to the Kenny Chesney, Eric Church, Eli Young Band concert coming up in Des Moines!  I am happy that I ended up getting him those tickets because it means that we can extend his birthday a little now that I am feeling back to normal!

Happy Birthday to you, Daddy!

On April 13th we had a house full of family and friends to celebrate Lila's 4th birthday!  I still can't get used to saying that we have a 4 year old!  I started planning her birthday back in February.  I was thinking of ideas, etc. and had the idea to do something around "sweets," considering we think she, in particular, is awfully sweet!  So, I went in search of the perfect invitation to set the theme of the rest of the party.

Lollipop Invites!

Once the invitations were decided upon, I headed out to Pinterest to get ideas for a party that involves sweets, candy and lollipops!  As you can imagine, there were tons of ideas, but I narrowed the options down to a few favorites and Mike and I got to work.  Yes, you read that right, Mike and I got to work, I am blessed that I have a husband who digs right in and helps with all of my crazy ideas!

The making of life sized lollipops and candy decorations

Finished lollipops for the yard!

On the day of the party it was overcast and windy.  I was really sad because I wasn't sure if the lollipops we made to line the driveway and sidewalk would survive the strong winds, but they did!  It wasn't quite the sunny background I would have preferred, but it set the stage for our visitors when they arrived that this was going to be a sweet party! 

 

 

Lollipops leading the way!

Once inside the guests were greeted with bold, bright colors that created a whimsical atmosphere for our darling girl!  We put together a candy buffet for everyone to enjoy, with the centerpiece being a pink birthday cake that was created with love by Lila's Great-Grandma Harvey. 

Sugar Bar!

Balloons to brighten up the dreary day!

 

 

A balloon just for Lila!

Candies hanging from the light fixture!

"Thank you 4 coming!"

We had a house full of family and friends to help us celebrate Lila's fourth birthday!  She is a very lucky girl to have so many people that love her!  We always talk about how lucky and happy we are to be raising our daughter within close proximity of our family and friends.  While we are all busy and sometimes we go weeks or months without seeing each other, it is nice to be able to gather for events such as this.






Happy girl at her party!

Daddy & Lila posing by their cakes!

Make a wish!

A whole lotta "greats!"  Lila and three of her great-grandmothers!

Big cousin Celia helping to read cards and open gifts!

Terry & Erin playing dolls with the girls!

Lila & Henley enjoying some birthday fun together!

 

The party was fantastic!  While it takes an awful lot of work to put a party together, I love the feeling of completion once it is over.  I like knowing that something I hosted gave people a good experience!  Particularly when it comes to Lila's birthday, I love the fact that she knows that we have always made a big deal out of her special day and that she has so many people willing to celebrate with her!

 

The party went until 2:00, but by the time everyone cleared out, it was well past Lila's nap time, so she didn't take a nap that day.  If she doesn't nap it can generally go one of two ways...she is either relatively good, yet a bit delirious, or she is a complete wreck because she still needs that rest in the middle of the day.  Luckily for us, even with all the sugar that was consumed, she was really doing fairly well...

 

Partied out!

Did I mention that she delirium can set in?!  Here she is after everyone left in a tulle skirt, socks, no shirt and her coat...fishing, with her new princess fishing pole, from the love seat! 

I got something!

 

Lila's actual birthday was on a Thursday.  I generally take the day off to spend with Lila, but we got a notice in her backpack that her preschool class would be attending their first field trip on her birthday.  Not to mention she was the room leader that day which means she sits in the special chair alongside the teacher, she gets to bring two toys and a book to share, and she gets to bring treats to share with her class.  There was no way I was going to keep her home from school without a very guilty conscience at this point.  On that same note there was an ask for parents to volunteer as chaperones for the field trip.  Perfect!  I may not want to take her out of school so she doesn't miss her field trip, but now I can still spend a good portion of the day with her, it will just be at school!  You can imagine how Lila reacted when I told her all the details for that day: #1 - you are going on a field trip, #2 - you are going to ride a school bus, #3 - you are the room leader, #4 - Mom is going to go to school with you, and...oh, yeah! #5 - it is your birthday!  You would have thought it couldn't get any more exciting!  You have to love the expectations of a child!  

 

 

The day was cold and rainy, but that didn't stop the school from loading the kids up and heading off to the Noelridge greenhouse.  They are learning all about plants and flowers in class, so it was a great opportunity to take the kids to see a place where plants and flowers fill every nook and cranny!

 



Very first bus ride!

 

Do you see what I see?!

Stopping to smell the flowers!



Lila's favorite row because it had both pink and purple flowers

So happy!

Under the Banana tree!

A few of Lila's friends: Lulu and Hannah

Lila's preschool class

After our time at the green house we loaded the bus back up and headed to All Saints for Lila's sharing time and her birthday snack before the day was over!  It was very cute to watch Lila teach her class about the weather outside, count to 18 in Spanish, and talk about the color purple!  The kids were all very excited for her that it was her birthday and sat attentively as she shared her new Lalaloopsy doll, her puppy, and her "Princess and the Pig" book. 

Doing the weather!

 

We were planning on spending a quiet night at home, but my Dad and Laura asked Lila if she wanted to have dinner.  She excitedly said she wanted to eat at Red Lobster because they have the best noodles and they have the lobsters in the tank she just loves to say, "hi," to!  We quick opened presents before we met them for dinner.  Lila is a huge princess fan, so a lot of her gifts from us were princess related, as well as some clothes to get her started for summer, and her big gift from us is horseback riding lessons!  We have a stable close by that starts lessons at age four.  We need to schedule some time to go check things out and then get her on the schedule!

 

 



Princess Rapunzel's wedding bouquet, wedding ring and veil!

Cinderella!

Ariel play dress! 
(If you haven't noticed she wears these dresses all the time @ home!)

Our beautiful birthday girl!

 

The day after Lila's birthday party we were invited to attend our niece, Celia's, First Communion at All Saints Church.  We were very excited to share this special day with her!

 



Celia and her First Communion class before service

During the service she sat like such a big girl, at the front of the church, taking in all the priest had to say about their big day.  They then got up and sang a song about their First Communion to the whole congregation.  It was really sweet!

Peeking back at us!

Celia had a lot of family and friends in attendance to help her celebrate this milestone on her journey of faith.  I am honored to be her Godmother and I am equally honored to be a role model for her when it comes to her relationship with God. 

Celia & Lila

 

Jason, Jen & Celia

What a busy a month we have had already!  Even though April is always busy for us, we wouldn't change it as it is full of celebrations!  It is also the month that welcomes Spring!  Green grass is popping up all around us and we are actually excited to be out and about breathing in the fresh air!