the petersons: Ayla's 5th Birthday!

Holy moly, I have a FIVE-year old. I can't seem to grasp that. It's a big deal. I feel like at five, she's no longer a baby...I mean, she hasn't been a baby for a long time, but a five-year old is a real, full-blown KID with a mind of her own. Like I said in my Facebook post that I copied onto here earlier today, she has become such a smart, funny, beautiful, wise little girl. She is so happy and really is such a good girl.

She is still 110% girl. Every little thing about her is girly. She loves pink, sparkles, and princesses. :) She loves dresses, headbands, shoes, purses...you name it. She is me. My little mini-me. She is very sensitive and oh-so-thoughtful. She has the most amazing memory. I am floored at what she can recall and in such detail, too...things that happened a couple of years ago. I'm not going to lie, I use her as my little live memo. If I want to be sure to remember something, I tell her and without fail, she reminds me. Amazing.

She knows exactly what she likes and doesn't like and will not budge. Sometimes she can be pretty stubborn and hard-headed...another trait of mine. She can also be quite sassy when she wants to be. I always tell Dean that she and I are a lot alike and that I think we're going to battle as she gets older.

She and Aubree continue to have a love-hate relationship. Obviously she loves her baby sister a lot. When she's not around her, she misses her...but there are times when I can tell she's sooo annoyed by her. I have to break up screaming matches daily. Good lord, can you imagine when they're teenagers?!

She is doing well in her second year of preschool. She's always excited to run into the classroom and so far we haven't had any issues with her clinging to me when it's time to drop her off. Hopefully this continues. She's also LOVING her ballet/tap class. Every now and then, she'll show me a few moves but for the most part, she's pretty shy about sharing what she's learned. Aubree and I show up just a few minutes early each week to pick her up from class so we can watch her for a bit. I can't believe how well she is doing! She actually has rhythm! With Dean and I as her parents, I was worried. :)

I really am so proud of the sweet little lady she has become. I remember the day she was born like it was yesterday...the days we spent in the hospital just staring at her beautiful little face in complete awe. How is it five years later already?? I love her so so so much and am so proud to be her mom.

I took today off from work so we could spend the day playing. It was such a FUN day. Exhausting but so awesome. I love that it doesn't take much to make her so happy. We did a lot, but everything was pretty simple...nothing extravagant at all but she was thrilled about the day and so appreciative. She kept telling me thank you and telling me what a fun day it was (and that we should do this every day). :) So sweet. Below are the pictures we took throughout the day...

This is from Wednesday...she brought cupcakes to share with her preschool classmates and she got to wear this birthday crown!

Dean and I decorated the outside of her room last night with streamers and balloons. :) This morning, we waited for her to come out. Dean had the video camera going and I tried taking pictures with my mom. Not the greatest pics, but you get the idea. :)

When she really loves something, it's almost like she gets embarrassed...she always covers her mouth.

After breakfast, we went to the park. She's been begging to go to what she calls the "hospital park." It's across the street from the women's hospital where Aubree was born.

After the park, we headed to our restaurant for lunch!

After lunch, we dropped off Aubree at my parents' house for a nap and we continued on with our fun day as just the two of us. We went over to Shadow Lake and checked out the pumpkins and then tossed some pennies into the fountain. :)

Next stop--manicures! :) She kept getting that look on her face like she was trying not to smile but was giddy with happiness. :) She picked out a sparkly neon pink!

There's a smile!

Showing off her new nails! The lady was so sweet--she drew little designs on them and even topped them off with some glitter. Perfect.

After our nails dried, we went into Orange Leaf for some frozen yogurt. She was ridiculously excited to pick out her own flavors and toppings...AND picking a place to sit.

I didn't take any pictures at our next stop, but we went into Gordman's and I let her pick out some new Halloween decorations to put in our yard. I think I'm as excited as she is to decorate!! Our friend, Johnny, met us there and roamed around with us and tried really hard to get Ayla to pick something out for her birthday but she wouldn't do it! What kid refuses a gift? :) We also went into PetSmart and checked out the animals...I even suggested getting a betta fish but she said no. She said she just wanted to look. :)

At that point, it was almost 5:00 so I figured we should go grab Aubree and head home to meet Dean. Ayla picked Red Robin for her birthday...she can't stop talking about their mac n cheese and french fries. As you all know, she's not the greatest eater, so when she actually ASKS for food, we oblige. When we got home, she wanted to change into a fancy dress for dinner. :)

She got all embarrassed when they sang happy birthday to her. :)

We started a new birthday tradition with her a couple of years ago...we lit a lantern (like Rapunzel, she says) and sent it into the sky. The first one had a hole in it, so we had to light a second one.