Alaina's Actual Birthday!

My baby turned 4 on Thursday, April 5th.  We love to make their day special, starting with hanging streamers in thir bedroom doorways after they go to sleep.  We also decorate the kitchen table and hang banners and they get to wear a special ribben for the day that says, "It's my birthday!"  We then spend the day doing whatever they want.  She chose to go to the Children's Museum with her friends, a kid's meal for dinner, and Texas Roadhouse for supper.  After supper we came home to celebrate.

Paige got Lainey a fish aquarium lamp (fake fish, of course).  It was a hit!

Mommy and Daddy got her a fairy jewelrty box.....her big present was coming in a couple weeks.  Post to come.

She made it super easy on my this year and wanted a rainbow cake with marshmellow clouds and flowers with yellow frosting cuz its sunny.  I think it turned out pretty cute and she was happy!

Little Super Heros!

Lainey's Birthday Party

This is probably the last year that Lainey and Zach will get to share a birthday party.  They are best friends are truly love to be together.  Zach is just a few weeks older than Lainey.  This year they had a gymnastics party.

It was so perfect.  They had "coaches" lead the group through warm-ups, 3 different obstacle courses, then had some free play.  Lainey's favorite is the rope swing.

Watching the demonstration.

The whole gang.

The birthday boy and girl.  So hard to get real smiles on command.  Zach wanted Zebras for the boys and Alaina picked pink elephants for the girls.

She was so excited about her pink super hero cape from Zach.

It was a great day and she had so much fun celebrating with her friends!

Happy 4th Birthday Alaina!

Oh sweet baby girl....I can NOT believe you are 4 today!  I really do love you "too much".  It just doesn't seem right and I would freeze you this age if I could.  You are my "Sparky", my joy in the day to day.  You want to grow up way too fast and refuse to stay my baby.  All year you have been telling people you are 5.  I suppose turning 4 is a big disappointment today. :)

You are my music lover and often start dancing when you hear music being played.  I love that you break out into song throughout the day.  Your current favorites are Red Solo Cup, Barbie Girl, and Who let the Dogs Out.  (She heard the last two at a skating party a couple weeks ago and they stuck.)  You also make up random songs which just crack me up.

You have the BEST facial expressions and run to the beat of your own drum.  You can often be found playing with your babies...(all still named Baby Jesus), or getting into something I've told you not to get into.  Your favorite activities include riding your bike, playing at the park, going to the Children's Museum, visiting friends, and playing with your sister.

You are ALWAYS hungry or stirsty.  I'm thinking its more lack of something you want to do, than actual hunger.  Your favorite foods are brocolli, yes brocolli, macaroni and cheese, sandwich and fries from any fast food restaurant, and you chose Texas Roadhouse as your birthday meal of choice tonight.  Your favorite beverages are water, juice, lemonade, and milk (in that order!).

You love your friends and prefer to lead, rather than follow.  You have a confidence beyond your years and really need a good explanation before you heed orders or advice.   Paige has become one of your very best friends and it warms my heart to see you play so well together.

Lainey, you are baby girl and no matter how old you get, that won't change.  I am proud of you and the creative leader you are becoming.  God is going to take you places and you are going to bless others.  I love you too much!

Things Alaina Says:

hee saw = see saw
college = dog collar

I don't wanna eat the bone = I don't want to eat the crust

Boys are bad!

So I haven't disappeared off the planet.  Yes, I plan to get back to blogging.  This year has been an adjustment for us with Paige starting school, and myself being MOPS Coordinator for the second year.  It was hard to take the time to get posts in and once I let it go, it was hard to get back into.  Good news though, I'm almost ready to jump back in to this time consuming, memory keeping blog world.

Today in the van on the way to church from the rear we hear Alaina complaining:

Lainey - "Mom, Paige said that no one is pretty!"
Paige - "No, I said girls are pretty.... But boys are handsome."
Lainey - "And BAD!"

Cracked me up.  I pray she thinks this for a long time!

A New Home!

We made one of the hardest decisions we have ever made....to give Casey a new home.  I'm actually tearing as I write this and it has been almost a month.  (I'm going to back date the post, so it is in the right spot, even though I'm actually writing it May 1st).

We had Casey for  almost 7 years, but she had never really warmed up to our kids.  She had been biting at Alaina every time she got near her, even though Lainey just wanted to love her.  She never left marks or drew blood, but would scare her just the same.  It had been escalating and Casey had even started doing it to other young kids when they were over.  And that is just not okay!

She also has a severe under-bite and will eventually need some dental work.  We were looking at the future and the amount of money she would cost us and thinking about how it is hard to go out of town and find a place for her to stay, and the nipping at children.  It was all just more than we wanted to deal with.

I think we cried every night for a week until she left.  We found an organization that places "surrendered" dogs with foster families until they are adopted.  She will either be adopted by a family with kids no younger than 12 or she will forever stay with her foster family. We didn't want her going from living with us and this being her only home, to a life in a cage. 

We have heard from the lady who is fostering her and she said that Casey is adjusting well and has warmed up to her.  The girls still pray every night for her and that she will be happy with her new family.  We truly loved her, but had to do what was best for our family.  We will never forget the years we had with her.