The "One Whole Hand" Birthday

Our sweet Liliana Kathryn turned 5 years old today! Or, as Lily says  it, "one whole hand old."

I truly can't believe that she's already 5. It feels like she was just born. I mean, she was just a baby yesterday, right?!?

Birthdays in our family are a BIG deal. Grant and I firmly believe that childhood birthdays deserve to be celebrated fully.  We have so many favorite birthday traditions and we go all out to make sure their birthdays are special while they're young!

The birthday fun started on Tuesday evening. Lily decided to join me for a donut run and when it's your Birthday Eve, you get a 3 1/2 foot stuffed dolphin!

Lily decided to stay up until midnight to greet her birthday. She was greeted with birthday smooches from her siblings, then everyone was sent to bed. And even though I had a lot to do, seeing her huge grin when we sang happy birthday to her at midnight was a very special moment!

While she slept, the birthday decorations came out, balloons were blown up, birthday letters were written and presents were wrapped.

When Lily woke up, she was officially 5 years old! She was so happy and full of excitement! She woke up to a room filled with balloons and immediately got to open two small gifts.

 

On their birthdays, our kids get a special donut breakfast complete with the birthday song and a candle. Every birthday should start out extra sweet!

They also get a special birthday outfit, which can be found hanging somewhere in their room when they wake up. Lily loved her beautiful "5" shirt!

 

{Shirt-The Hairbow Company} 

Even though my heart is a bit broken over how quickly she's growing up, I know Lily's going to rock 5 years old!

For Lily's special birthday outing, we spent the entire afternoon at the pool with best friends! Everybody had a great time!

After we got home, we fit in a really quick birthday photoshoot. This is just a sneak peek at the upcoming pictures!

Lily took a quick post-swimming nap while we waited for Grant to get home from work. When he did, Lily got to choose where to go for dinner. Of course, McDonald's won!

As soon as we arrived home, my parents and Grant's mom came over for a mini birthday party. Presents came first because Lily couldn't wait any longer! (Lily just wanted one small thing for her birthday, so I ended up turning to Target clearance to help me out with the rest of her gifts. I'm not going to admit how many gifts I bought her, but let me just say that everything was over 75% off!)

Each of her siblings gave her a special gift, too!

The extra special gift that Lily requested was a hit! She loves her stuffed Rarity!

 

Lily was so thrilled with every present she opened. Her jaw would drop and she would exclaim, "Thank you!!! I love it!" She also loved her special Frozen Birthday card with a handwritten note from me and her special 5th Birthday book with an inscription (both are favorite birthday traditions). She truly did love everything, but she seemed most excited about the ballet clothing my parents bought for her (lessons are included)! 

We ended the evening with cake and ice cream! My mom makes our kids a special cake for their birthdays. This pudding filled cake with whipped buttercream frosting was delicious!

With one final birthday song, the party ended and the grandparents got ready to leave. 

 

After everyone left, Lily found a new pair of birthday pajamas in her room then enjoyed a few snuggles with Grant and me!

Our sweet Liliana had an amazing 5th Birthday! She's now resting up for all the HUGE milestones ahead of her this year.

Here's a glimpse of sweet and sassy Lily at 5 years old: 

To find out how I REALLY feel about those fleeting moments in childhood, you can read my post today on Pittsburgh Moms Blog!

"I vividly remember the day my youngest daughter was born. We raced to the hospital as I screamed in agony. We arrived in the middle of the night to a completely silent labor and delivery floor. As the sun rose over the Pittsburgh skyline, our beautiful child quietly entered the world. When she drew her very first breath, in that tiny sliver of sunlight, it took my breath away. It seems like that moment was just yesterday, but childhood is fleeting.  I blinked and somehow my sweet Liliana is celebrating her 5th Birthday."

Happy 5th Birthday, Liliana Kathryn! You are SO loved and so special!

LET'S BE FRIENDS!

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A Preschool Graduate

Nine short months ago, I dropped Liliana off for her first day of preschool. Although I knew Lily would be in very capable hands, it was still difficult to let my baby go!

Just as I expected, Lily thrived in preschool. She made so many friends, she adored her teachers and she was excited to go to school every single day. She had a year full of fun and made some wonderful memories!

When Lily started school, the end of the school year seemed so far away. But just like everything in life involving kids, the months flew by. Before we knew it, the last week of school had arrived!

Lily's school does not have a graduation ceremony. Instead, they have an end of the year art show and music performance, and it is every bit as special!

On Monday evening, after Lily's second to last day of school, our family attended Lily's Preschool Art Show!

Lily's preschool really puts an emphasis on arts and crafts, which I love!  They explore a variety of techniques and they do a project of some sort each day.  Although half of those projects come home throughout the school year, the teachers save their best pieces for the Art Show. 

After Lily gave us the tour and showed us her special works of art, it was time for the performance.  It's evident when you meet Lily that she got the performing gene from Grant and I. This kid is destined for the stage! Until then, she will keep her family entertained!

We attended the same art show with Dylan and Lexie, so this was our third time around. We loved this art show every bit as much as the first two!

Lily was blessed to have the same amazing teachers that Dylan and Lexie had.  Lily's head teacher is retiring this year, so even if we push for inclusion for Liam in two years, he will only have one of the teachers.  We are so thankful Dylan, Lexie and Lily were able to have such an amazing teacher to start their school years and we will be forever thankful for her dedication.

We ended the evening by celebrating with cake and drinks with the rest of Lily's class. It was a great night with our special girl!

On Wednesday morning, I dropped Lily off at preschool for the very last time.  As I pulled away from the school, the tears started falling. Liam will probably be attending the IU preschool below Lily's preschool, but Lily was most likely our last child to attend that particular preschool. We had 3 children go through the program, so it was definitely bittersweet knowing it was the end of that journey for us!

When I picked her up after school, she was officially a preschool graduate!

While she was at school, I assembled a little Summer Vacation goody bag for Lily!

After she got in the car, I gave her the surprise!  It was good timing. Before we even pulled out of the parking lot, Lily pouted and said, "I miss my friends and my teachers!"

The Summer Vacation goody bag was a great distraction, along with lunch at her favorite restaurant: The Olive Garden!

We returned home with a stack of end of the year Preschool items.  Along with a handmade art folder filled with all the special pieces from the Art Show, Lily also brought home the incredible Memory Keepsake binder, which documents the entire year including photos and schoolwork, and her signed copy of Oh, The Places You'll Go! She already looked through everything dozens of times, so I know she'll love having these one day!

We ended the school year with our usual last day of school photoshoot!

Lily had an amazing year in preschool!  I'm so proud of how hard she worked and I'm so happy that she loved it so much!

 

It's hard to believe Lily's year in preschool has come to an end.  Before we know it, it's going to be her first day of Kindergarten! And I'm going to be a sobbing mess!

LET'S CONNECT!

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Oh My Lily

My sweet Liliana is now 3 1/2 years old! In less than 6 months, she will be starting Pre-K.  I can't even believe it.  I can't even believe it's almost time for my BABY to go to school.



Now, I know she technically isn't the baby anymore, but I can't help but think of her as my baby.  For the first two years of her life, it was mainly just the two of us.  Dylan and Lexie were in school, so I got plenty of alone time with her.  Liam entered the picture, and even though things changed, she was still home with me.  It's really hard to admit to myself that she is growing up!



Although I do wish time would slow down a bit, I love watching her grow.  She has a personality like no other.   She is extremely sweet, loving, and loyal, just like her older siblings, but she's also precocious, stubborn, sassy, adorable, and ABSOLUTELY hilarious!



Some of the things that come out of her mouth are really funny or just plain adorable!



For instance...

A rolling pin is a dinner pencil.
A unicorn is a hornycorn.
A heart beat is a heart beep.
A donut is a donup.
A caterpillar is a rollerpoller.
A skeleton is a sket-lin. 



Instead of saying goodness gracious, she says Goodness Tracy's.

She told me, "My heady-ache is on my knee" after she got hurt one day.

She was struttin' her stuff and told me, "I freakin George-ous."  (Yeah.  We're working on freakin'.)

She put on a fancy dress, and said, "I look like pretty!"  She started singing "I SOOOO FANCY!"



She was playing "This Little Piggy..." and said "This Little Piggy went to Target!"

She was describing her Uncle Greg to me, and said, "He's the coolest man."

She's a bit obsessed with all things Frozen and all things Elsa. She said, "I love Elsa. She is amazing."



One of her favorite movies is Hocus Pocus.  She climbs on top of Liam's Fisher Price doorway toy, pretends it's a broom, and sings "Come Little Children" complete with the head tilts and hand motions.

She recently got her first black eye.  She cried for just a few minutes, then declared it didn't hurt at all.  It looked awful, but she was so proud. She told everyone, "Look at my rainbow eye!!!" 



During storytime, I went into the room to watch her make her craft.  She looked at me, sighed, and told me, "I don't need any help, Mommy. Please leave. This is my time."

She's very compassionate and intuitive.  She truly cares about feelings. My eyes were tearing up one day.  Lily looked at me, and asked, "What's the problem? I see sad things in your eyes."



She has the cutest quirks, too. 

She still sucks her thumb to fall asleep.  Very loudly.

When she wants to relax, or needs to calm herself down, she sucks her thumb and plays with her belly button at the same time. 



She eats cheesy broccoli soup almost every morning for breakfast.

She drinks her hot tea out of a straw.

She loves sketti-O's.  (YUCK.)



She prefers to wear an Elsa dress every single day.

Her friends Lily, Charlie, and Vic-tola (Victoria) are mentioned daily.

She can correctly identify every popular WWE figure, thanks to her big brother.

She loves trains during the daytime, but they terrify her when she hears them at night.  Every so often, she can hear one in the distance, and she races into our bedroom.  She quietly climbs into bed, curls up next to me, sticks her thumb in her mouth, and presses her forehead against my cheek. I let her stay because I know it's just a phase that she will outgrow way too soon. I truly love it, and look forward to hearing that train whistle in the middle of the night.



But my favorite - my absolute favorite - is when she tilts her head to the side, smiles so sweetly that even her eyes smile, and says, "My love you sooooo much, Mommy."



The feeling is mutual, baby girl.