Liliana's 10th Birthday Celebration & Birthday Interview

I truly can't believe it, but our third child hit double digits this week! Lily is such a sweet, smart, and funny girl, and we love her so very much. Turning a decade old is a big milestone, and we had so much fun celebrating her 10th Birthday!

We filled Lily's birthday with favorite traditions, favorite people, and favorite things. She started celebrating at midnight, took a small break to sleep, then was back at it at 7 AM. She didn't stop celebrating until her birthday was officially over, and then she simply crashed from exhaustion!

Every year, Lily claims it was the best birthday ever, and that says so much about her. Grant and I believe that because childhood is fleeting, birthdays should be magical. We make it a point to celebrate each child to the fullest on their big day, and they are always so grateful. Turning ten is a big deal, and we loved celebrating one of our most favorite people in the world!

Lexie's a Teenager! (13th Birthday Interview & Photoshoot}

She was born on February 22, 2007 at 4:16 PM. She entered the world with just a few quick pushes, and when everyone in the room screamed, "It's a GIRL!" the tears streamed down my cheeks. She was exactly the baby I had been praying for to complete our little family. 

13 years went by far too quickly, and our baby girl filled our lives with so much love. With each passing year, I anticipated her to pull away from us more and more, as many kids naturally do, but her love for her family is fierce. She is still as close to us as ever, and our love for her is immeasurable.

Lexie is a rare gem. She is beautiful on the inside and out. She is incredibly mature, responsible, and smart, and is one of the kindest, most compassionate human beings I've ever met. She is truly an amazing person, and I have no doubt she's going to do great things. At 4:16 PM on February 22, 2020, Lexie officially became a teenager, and the next stage of her childhood began!

Happy 8th Birthday, Lily!

On Saturday, August 3rd, Lily celebrated her 8th Birthday! It's so hard to believe my baby girl is 8 years old. I swear, I just had her, but she grew up far too quickly. I just want her to stay little, sweet, and innocent for as long as possible!

Lily's Birthday was a busy one, and she had to share her special day with a family event. My family reunion is always the first Saturday in August, so every few years, Lily's birthday is the same day as the reunion. She didn't seem to mind one bit. She celebrated her birthday with some of the people she loves most, and had the loudest happy birthday song! She said her birthday was so much fun!

One of our birthday traditions is to have a mini photoshoot, and answer questions in a yearly birthday interview. I love seeing how their answers change from year to year, and I love watching them grow! Motherhood truly is bittersweet - you want to watch your children grow, but you also want them to stay little. I honestly love my kids' birthdays so much more than my own, so we make birthdays a BIG deal around here!

Here's how we celebrated Lily's 8th Birthday...

Happy 12th Birthday, Lexie!

On Friday, February 22nd, Lexie celebrated her 12th Birthday! I started this blog when Lexie was just 18 months old. Back then it was just Lexie Loo & Dylan Too! The blog has grown quite a bit since then, and a few of my regular readers have been around since the very beginning. The years went by so quickly, and now we're just one short year away from having another teenager! 

Lexie had a great birthday this year, and was very relieved that I didn't go into labor on her big day! We allow our kids to have one "cheat day" to miss school each year, and Lexie chose to skip on her birthday. Grant worked from home for a half a day, so the day was all about her, and it was extra special!

Here is Lexie's yearly photoshoot, yearly interview (which she filled out on her own), and how we celebrated her big day!

Happy Birthday, Lexie! The 11th Birthday & Yearly Interview

Our beautiful Alexandria Elizabeth celebrated her 11th Birthday today! The day Lexie was born was one of the happiest days of my life, and she continues to be an absolute joy who fills our days with so much love. Lexie is an extraordinary human being, and we celebrated her to the fullest today!

Welcome to the Teenage Years!

Last Wednesday, we celebrated a milestone birthday in our family! Although it feels like we've had a teenager living in our home for the past few months, November 22nd was Dylan's 13th birthday, and our official welcome to the teenage years!

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! 

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

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.

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!

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!

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.

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!

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!

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!

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!)

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!

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!

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!

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! 

The Birthday When Everything Changes: Liliana at 5 Years Old

Turning 5 years old was a big deal for Lily! Not only was she officially "one whole hand old" on her last birthday, but that magic number brought so many changes into her life. From starting Kindergarten to starting dance to being just hours away from losing her first tooth, this little girl is rocking life at 5 years old! 

Lily is one of those kids who is incredibly loving, sweet and kind, but she also has a HUGE personality. She is truly the funniest kid I know! We always joked that she was going to be the class clown and that's playing out exactly as we expected! She is an extrovert who has no problem making friends wherever she goes and she loves to entertain. Considering she has two thespian parents it's very likely that she's going to end up on stage!

Just a few weeks after turning 5, Lily started Kindergarten. We were on the fence about sending her because her birthday was just before the Kindergarten cutoff date, but we are so happy we went ahead with it. She LOVES school and is so excited to go every day.  Math is her favorite and she thinks it's so cool that she's learning how to read. This little girl is thriving in Kindergarten and I don't regret our decision one bit. Her only struggle is the fact that she gets warned once or twice a week about talking in the hallway or during class! (I'm not surprised!)

Right after she started school, Lily also started dance. She was torn between gymnastics or ballet but dance ultimately won. Instead of just taking ballet, she is learning ballet, tap, jazz and acro. I had a feeling she would like it but I'm honestly surprised by just how much she loves it. I foresee many years of dance ahead of us!

Just before Lily turned 5, one of her teeth started to get wiggly. Now she has two loose teeth and the one is just hours away from falling out. I'm honestly surprised it hasn't already, but her first visit from the tooth fairy is so near. Lily's going to reach that big milestone this week!  That toothless grin is always a big change and definitely a sign of how quickly they grow up!

It may be almost 2 1/2 months late, but Lily and I sat down tonight to finish her birthday interview! I took her photos on her birthday but never got the chance to share the pictures or her yearly interview. It's just a testament to how fast-paced life is these days. But better late than never!

Lily's 5 Year Interview:

LILIANA KATHRYN

 "Lily" 

Age: 5

Stats: 37 lbs and 45 inches

1. FAVORITE COLOR? Blue!
2. FAVORITE TOY? My Barbies.
3. FAVORITE CHARACTER? Elsa!
4. FAVORITE SUPERHERO? The one with the pink hair. In Wonder Woman.
5. FAVORITE FRUIT? Tomatoes. Never mind...Apples.
6. FAVORITE VEGETABLE?  Tomatoes!
7. FAVORITE BREAKFAST?  Eggs.
8. FAVORITE CEREAL? Froot Loops.
9. FAVORITE LUNCH?  Mac and cheese!

10. FAVORITE DINNER? Hamburger Helper! 
11. FAVORITE DRINK? Lemonade.
12. FAVORITE SNACK? Granola Bar.
13. FAVORITE RESTAURANT? The restaurant at Virginia Beach. (The Raven.)
14. FAVORITE TV SHOW?  Spongebob!
15. FAVORITE MOVIE? My Little Pony.
16. FAVORITE ACTOR/ACTRESS? Jessie
17. FAVORITE SONG?  Let It Go from Frozen.
18. FAVORITE SINGER/BAND? Christina Perri. She sings Jar of Hearts and Lonely!
19. FAVORITE BOOKS? Princesses. All the books with princesses.

20. FAVORITE BOOK SERIES? Ummmm...Little Charmers! 
21. FAVORITE OUTFIT? My little pony shirt and colorful tutu. (From her 4 Year Interview.)
22. FAVORITE GAME? Operation.
23. FAVORITE SPORT? Penguins. (Hockey.)
24. FAVORITE ANIMAL?  A panda. And a koala, too. They are both SOOOO CUTE! They are cuties.
25. FAVORITE PLACE TO GO? The zoo!
26. FAVORITE THINGS TO DO? Go play with my friends.
27. FAVORITE SUBJECT? Doing math.
28. FAVORITE STUFFED ANIMAL?  My little panda.
29. FAVORITE DAY OF THE WEEK? Friday! It's Friday, Friday, Friday, yeah!
30. FAVORITE MONTH? June!

31. FAVORITE SEASON? Winter! Snowing! We get to make snow angels and snowman.
32. FAVORITE HOLIDAY?  Christmas.
33. WHO IS YOUR BEST FRIEND? Charlie! And Victoria and Lily.
34. WHO DO YOU LIKE TO PLAY WITH?  I like to play with Charlie!
35. WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?  Doing a funny face. It's so funny. *giggles*
36. WHAT SCARES YOU?  Someone in a costume with a pretend zombie mask.
37. WHAT MAKES YOU SAD? When best friends doesn't let me play with them.
38. WHAT DO YOU WISH FOR? I wish to drive! 
39. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE MEMORY?  I remember going to the beach!
40. WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?   When I grow up, I want to be a pet doctor...a vet!
41. DISLIKES?  I don't like to eat ice cream cones for breakfast. NO! *giggles*

As Lily curled up on my lap tonight while I asked her the questions for her birthday interview, I couldn't help but squeeze her tight. She's growing up far too quickly for my liking. I just want to protect her innocence and sweetness, and shield her from the world. Although she may look and act so grown up these days, she will ALWAYS be my baby! 

LET'S CONNECT! 

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