Mila's 5th birthday fell smack dab in the middle of one of the most trying weeks of our lives. When I look back just a week ago, it's a true gift from God that He gave us time to soak her up and celebrate her. The Wednesday before her birthday, Beau's mom went to the hospital. The night of her birthday (long after we had tucked her in bed, the ambulance was called for Beau's dad. The day after her birthday, one of the worst days. But, thankfully, his parents are both home and although Mila's unicorn party is postponed for the time being, I looked back on all these pictures yesterday and they made me cry. We celebrated our girl good and her joy gave us so many reasons to smile, even in the storm.
I love when the kids' birthdays fall on a weekend and I've realized we don't get many of those opportunities! Since Beau went up to Mason City to see his parents on Saturday, I stayed back and decided to spend a snowy day celebrating our girl a little early. She requested Imagine Dragons on the way to the mall and later said they, Mary Poppins, The Greatest Showman, and Elvis were her favorites to listen to. We ran around the mall and laughed on those silly mechanical stuffed animals. We got Mila's ears (re)pierced and she chose a pink stuffed piggy as her reward for being brave. We went for a snowy walk on South Main and she cried when her "Cruzy" got too close to the edge of the creek. We warmed up with her favorite hot cocoa at Cup of Joe and Daddy joined us for a game of Sorry. Then she chose grilled hamburgers, chips, and pears for her birthday dinner. We spent the rest of the night working on her one goal for her new year - learning to do a cartwheel. She's getting closer!
Sunday morning, I woke up super early to surprise the birthday girl. I rolled in about an hour before church, hands full with a balloon bouquet and donuts from our newest donut shoppe, Icon Donuts. We made a donut cake fit for a queen, sang her Happy Birthday, and then it was off to church. After church, we talked her into lunch at Chuck E. Cheese, even though all she wanted to do was open her gifts. We ate some pizza, played girls vs. boys in ticket numbers, and the kids left with brand new slinkies to add to their toy collection. And finally, we let the girl open her gifts!
This is what she had been patiently waiting for until, well, Christmas. ;) She graciously soaked up every gift - a new Lego set, a Wellie Wisher friend, a hat to wear this summer, and an outfit that matches her favorite doll, Camille. Then, she played and played until she crashed!
The celebrating continues with one more sparkly unicorn party to come!
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