Anna is 10!

Our oldest, our daughter Anna has entered the double digits and is now 10!  This feels big and in many ways is big!  I cannot believe it has only taken 10 years (and it has felt like less) for our baby girl who we adored and treasured and cuddled in our arms to be big enough to stand only a head shorter than me!  She is still treasured for sure and I wanted to share some of the celebration we had for her birthday!

We celebrated with a "Spa Birthday" at her Grandma & Auntie's Salon with 3 of her friends from school - so fun!  They had their nails done, their hair styled (soooo cute) and relaxing mini-facials!  They also enjoyed sweets & treats & sparkling martinelli's.  I love little girls chatter, I loved to see her carefree and enjoying time with them & it blessed my heart that she had a special birthday!  

 

Thank you to the girls who came and made her day so special and also, thank you so much to her Auntie's Jeneah, Sara, & Tara and Grandma Jill for each contributing and doing your special part for these girls! 

We ended the fun time with a little trip to Claire's and picked out a trinket for each girl! 

In addition, Anna asked for a bedroom makeover for her birthday!  She picked out such darling room and lots of people pitched in to make the changes come to life!  Since she is not a "little girl" anymore she was craving sophistication!  Here is how it turned out!

She says it is "awesome" and amazing and she loves it!  I love it too (even though it departs from my typical faded blues and yellows and beiges)!  A big thank you to Aunt Mary Claire, Nanna, Grammy (with our contribution also) for completing the transformation for our girl! 

I did want to add one thing!  This year has been a very celebratory year for our family!  Carolyn turned 1 and Anna 10 - both special milestones and the boys turned 5 & 7.  We celebrated with real and over the top birthday parties because this is the last year we are celebrating this way!  At this point, we really feel that we can mark birthdays with a special type of family day that gives each child a memory unique to their interests and age.  Birthday parties are fun yes, but also extremely expensive and for me as a mom (the kids though too) they can be stressful!  I for one am really looking forward to a new way of welcoming each new age! So while Anna's "Spa Party", the boys "Pool Parties" and Carolyn's 1 year old Bash were maybe a bit over the top, we are certainly moving into a new tradition of simple abundance.