Birthday Post ... Two Months Later

Ava has been six for two whole months. Maybe it's taken me this long to get use to the fact, or maybe it's just that my confounded computer is still broken. Or maybe, just maybe, it's a little bit of both.

Well, our girl celebrated her sixth birthday for pretty close to the entire month of March. Some might say that's overkill, I say, when you have a daughter as awesome as ours, it's deserved :)

We kicked off the festivities during Spring Break with Ava's "friend" birthday party. Since her birthday is St. Patrick's Day, we went with a rainbow theme this year. I even found the perfect material for making her dress (which she actually helped "design"). Several of her closest girlies came over to play games and do makeovers. Another mom and I did nails, but the girls took the liberty of doing each other's makeup. The results were... interesting... but let me tell you, these girls felt extra fancy strutting around in their makeup. Ava is really fortunate to have made some wonderful friends at school (two were missing from the party) and I was extremely impressed that over the course of a two-hour-party they all played together wonderfully. No tears, no hurt feelings, no one being left out. It was really sweet to watch.

The following weekend, the whole family came over on Ava's actual birthday. Early in the day, our little family and my parents went to see "The Lorax." There's something about a movie theater that is so magical to children. We had planned to go to the zoo, but the weather was a little unpredictable, Ava was obviously disappointed, but her reaction to my suggestion of a movie erased any prior sadness. Really, you would have thought I was taking her to Disneyland. Anywho, after the movie, cousins started showing

 Konrad the Goon

up which is when the real party begins. We made homemade pizza, played, opened presents and ate Oreo cake. You know, standard birthday goings-on. But, as we all sat in that room I was overcome with a feeling of gratitude. I am so grateful to be back home, in the same city as almost all of our family, and within just a few hours of the rest. The fact that we are always together to celebrate birthdays, holidays and just plain old days is such a blessing. We've been away
 for several years and have missed out on a lot. It's just neat that my kids will now always have their cousins at their birthdays. That might seem like a silly thing to get all emotional about, but to me, it's special.




 The following weekend, Ava received more presents from neighbors and a friend who missed her party. Really, it seemed like it would never end. But, alas it did. Another birthday has come and gone and we are on our way to number seven. Ava is still ever the sweetheart. She's tender and so motherly (much to her little brother's chagrin). She tries so hard to do what is right and recognizes immediately when she doesn't. She is quick to apologize and quick to forgive. I love throughout the day how she shares little tidbits from school, tells me stories about things that happened or how she's feeling. Our relationship has grown over the past year and while I am sometimes sad to see her grow up so quickly, I look forward to our relationship developing and maturing. I just don't know how much I look forward to our little girl developing and maturing. She's gonna be a stunner. Andy's already scared and a few moms in Ava's kindergarten class have already claimed her for their sons. Ava, of course, is not interested and still firmly believes all boys EXCEPT those related to her have cooties. I will never tell her otherwise.