Our Five Ring Circus: Double Digits!!! Happy 10th Birthday, Lexie!

Wednesday, February 22, 2017

Double Digits!!! Happy 10th Birthday, Lexie!

Well, it happened. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't slow down time. At 4:16 PM, my sweet Alexandria hit double digits! 

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10th Birthdays are a big milestone. I mean, two whole hands old. An entire decade! I can hardly believe it. It seems like I was just reaching out to hold her for the first time, while weeping tears of joy over the chorus of "It's a GIRL!" that filled the room.

Joy is the perfect word to use to describe Lexie. She is incredibly loyal, kind, compassionate, accepting and loving.  She is mature well beyond her years and makes me proud every single day. I can't even feel sad about Lexie turning 10, because I am so proud of the beautiful human being she is becoming, and I am honored to watch her grow and call her my own. Today, I wept tears of joy again, because I adore her and I am unbelievably grateful for the gift of her love.  

To kick off her 10th year, here are a few pictures from her birthday photoshoot today, her answers to the yearly birthday interview questions and a look at how she celebrated her first double digit birthday! 


ALEXANDRIA ELIZABETH
 "Lexie" 
Age: 10
Stats: 58 lbs and 46 inches


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1. FAVORITE COLOR? Yellow.
2. FAVORITE TOY? American Girl Dolls and Shopkins Happy Places.
3. FAVORITE CHARACTER? Spongebob Squarepants!
4. FAVORITE SUPERHERO? Spiderman???
5. FAVORITE FRUIT? Blueberries.
6. FAVORITE VEGETABLE?  Peas and Beans. Anything green, honestly. Except broccoli. Ewww.
7. FAVORITE BREAKFAST?  Cereal.
8. FAVORITE CEREAL? Mini Wheats, Fruity Pebbles, Lucky Charms and Corn Pops. I can't pick one, but I THINK my favorite has to be Lucky Charms.
9. FAVORITE LUNCH?  Build your own pizza lunchables.
10. FAVORITE DINNER? Of course tacos. And poppyseed chicken casserole. And mashed potatoes and gravy.
11. FAVORITE DRINK? Coca Cola and water, but I like water better, because water is healthy.12. FAVORITE SNACK? Snack cakes or Pringles. I just can't pick!13. FAVORITE RESTAURANT? Either Taco Bell or Applebees.
14. FAVORITE TV SHOW?  Spongebob, Full House AND Fuller House. 15. FAVORITE MOVIE? Spongebob movies and the new Ghostbusters movie. 16. FAVORITE ACTOR/ACTRESS? The lady who plays Stephanie from Fuller House.17. FAVORITE SONG?  House of Gold by Twenty One Pilots.18. FAVORITE SINGER/BAND? Fifth Harmony.19. FAVORITE BOOK? Mercy Watson. It's about a pig. It's really cool. It's like a first grader book, but I still really like it.
20. FAVORITE BOOK SERIES? Babysitters.
21. FAVORITE OUTFIT? A tee shirt with my jeans.
22. FAVORITE GAME? Uno and Pie Face.23. FAVORITE SPORT? I like soccer and I like dancing.
24. FAVORITE ANIMAL?  Bunny! I like any rodent, but not guinea pigs.25. FAVORITE PLACE TO GO? Any restaurant. I just want food all day long. 26. FAVORITE THINGS TO DO? Eat, sleep, and watch YouTube.27. FAVORITE SUBJECT? Science.28. FAVORITE STUFFED ANIMAL?  BunBun. And Blankie. And Meep. (An alpaca dog toy.)29. FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK? Tuesday, Friday and Saturday!30. FAVORITE MONTH? February, July and December.
31. FAVORITE SEASON? Summer and Winter!32. FAVORITE HOLIDAY?  Christmas and my birthday. (Me: That's not a holiday.) Yes it is. 33. WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND? Sukie! And Aubrey.
34. WHO DO YOU LIKE TO PLAY WITH?  Sukie, Aubrey and Lily!35. WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?  Food and family.36. WHAT SCARES YOU?  Dylan's terrifying girl shrieks, spiders and clowns.37. WHAT MAKES YOU SAD? When I don't have food. And death.38. WHAT DO YOU WISH FOR? Mmmmm....I don't know. Actually, a hoverboard.39. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY?  When I got my hatchimal and when I got Bernie the bunny.40. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?   A scientist, a teacher, a blogger or a country singer.41. DISLIKES?  When Dylan doesn't play with me.
42. WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE PART OF YOUR BIRTHDAY? Getting all my presents and seeing family.
43. WHAT WAS THE BEST PART OF BEING 9? Getting Bernie and getting my hatchimal.
44. WHAT DO YOU LOOK FORWARD TO WHILE YOU'RE 10? Seeing what our baby bunnies look like when they are older.

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Some of her answers this year made me laugh! Some things haven't changed much, and she's certainly indecisive. And obviously the kid loves to eat!

Birthdays are always a big deal in our home! We have a ton of birthday traditions that only add to the magic of childhood. Grant and I know from experience that birthdays aren't as exciting during adulthood, so we try to make them extra special while we can!


Lexie had an amazing 10th birthday! Here's a quick peek at her very first double digit birthday!

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Birthday traditions start the night before! I always sit out our special Happy Birthday plate and a new candle, and hang up our Happy Birthday banner.  A small, wrapped gift is left next to the plate so they can start their day with a present! I fill their bed with balloons and hang up a brand new outfit for them to wear on their birthday. I think it all helps to make the day extra special!

Birthday Traditions

It was a school day so we were up early this year. I recently gave Dylan the option to skip school on his birthday, but Lexie is a goody two shoes and loves school! She opted to go, despite her free pass! As soon as she woke up, she started her day with the traditional Happy Birthday donut breakfast.

10th Birthday Traditions

After that, she opened her first gift of the day. Lexie only had a few inexpensive items on her birthday wish list and one of them was silicone water tube toys. She was (strangely) thrilled!

Birthday Traditions for Kids

Lexie put on her new outfit, got on the bus, and spent the next 9 hours at school and after school choir. She got to unwrap another small gift that was in her lunchbox, which is a tradition we recently started. This was the first year I wasn't with her at the moment of her birth. I was a bit bummed about that! It's a sign of just how quickly she's growing up!

On the way back from choir, we stopped at one of our favorite photo locations for a mini birthday photoshoot. We had to be quick because we had places to be!

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Finally, it was time for Lexie's birthday dinner! We let our kids choose the restaurant on their birthdays, and it's always interesting to see what they choose. This year, Lexie decided McDonald's was the birthday spot! She almost chose Applebees, but she really wanted fries and a milkshake!

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After dinner, we headed home for a mini birthday party with our immediate family! (Pardon the not so clear pictures. Liam apparently changed my camera settings and touched my lens with his sticky fingers while I was grabbing all the gifts! I didn't realize this until AFTER I went through the photos!)

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First up were the gifts from her siblings! Liam gave her more water tubes, Lily gave her a stuffed Elsa Tsum Tsum, and Dylan gave her a Shopkins Happy Places set. She loved everything!

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After opening gifts from grandparents, it was time to give her our gifts. Lexie's wish list was very small this year. She only asked for water tubes, Tsum Tsum toys to collect, and Shopkins Happy Places toys. She isn't into toys as much, and I have a feeling this may be the last year she even asks for toys. We wanted to give her an extra special gift this year. Perhaps the last hurrah before she becomes a full blown tween who is too cool for toys...

Lexie still loves her American Girl Dolls, so we surprised her with something that wasn't on her list: An American Girl Doll diner! She was SO excited and it was definitely a huge hit!

10th Birthday Gifts

Lexie's 10th Birthday celebration ended with cake. My mom bakes them a cake every year, and this year she filled Lexie's favorite vanilla cake with ice cream! Lexie looked so happy when we sang Happy Birthday!

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Lexie's first year in the double digits is off to a great start. She was still smiling when she went to bed!

Happy 10th Birthday, Alexandria! You are incredibly special, absolutely stunning inside and out, and you are SO loved! 


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8 comments:

  1. Happy Birthday Lexie!! I'd say she had a great day! I love all of your traditions. So fun and special!

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  2. Happy Birthday to your beautiful girl!! Wow 10! I don't even want to let my mind go there LOL! I love all your traditions and may need to steal some to incorporate for my kiddos!

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  3. She's so pretty! Happy Birthday! I loved her answers and the pictures with the siblings.

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  4. Such a beautiful girl and an amazing birthday to celebrate two whole hands! Funny fact my Emily who just turned 6 is 49", lolol! I am raising giants.

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  5. Happy birthday, sweet girl! She is just so beautiful, Stefanie. Y'all are going to be chasing boys off right and left when she gets older!

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  6. Happy Birthday!! I can't believe she is 10!! Hope she has a great day!

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  7. Happy belated birthday, Lexi. I agree with you; birthdays are holidays--especially at your house! What a wonderful event-filled day!

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