Happy Birthday, Carlie!!

August 12, 2004, at 3:04 in the morning, I became mommy to a blonde haired blue eyed baby. I was officially the mom of TWO children. And, as tired as I was in that moment, I remember so much about meeting Carlie. Maybe it's because I had already done the "labor" thing before, so I wasn't as caught up in all of that. Or, maybe it's because I had been on bedrest for the last couple of months, and had looked SO forward to this moment. Or, maybe it's because I had already been a mommy before, and couldn't wait to see how Carlie looked like Kendyll. Overall, I just felt so at peace and so joyful, even in the middle of the night. :) Carlie was so alert after being born, as so many babies are. We laughed at her little lizard tongue, were amazed by her blonde hair (looking nothing like Kendyll's), and couldn't stop staring at her big, beautiful eyes.

Oh, these sweet kissable cheeks!

And, six years later, I still find myself kissing those cheeks, laughing at her funny quirks, amazed at her beauty, and captured by her big, beautiful eyes.

I can hardly believe this girl is SIX!

And, I have never seen someone MORE excited about a birthday than Carlie was this year.

Being the youngest in her class probably has something to do with this. She has to wait even longer than most of her friends for it to "finally be her turn"! And, although she is not usually the one planning her parties months in advance (that's Kendyll's job in this family), she has been talking about her sixth birthday for at least half the year.

She decided to invite her little friends over for a slumber party, which with Kendyll's help, turned into QUITE a celebration. The original party agenda included swimming, crafts, tea parties, makeovers, movie night, and anything and everything else that sounded like a slumber party. And, I have to say, we did fit ALOT of that plan into 24 hours!

The night before her birthday, Mark took the girls to the mall for Carlie to receive her free carousel ride. While they were there, Kendyll surprised her with the gift she had been planning: Carlie's very own pillow pet.

After they got home, I thought that the party could just stop there. Because Carlie was SO, SO, SO excited about this little gift. Her new kitty pillow has barely left her side ever since.

She kept saying thank you and squeezing the poor cat to death. It's what "she always wanted". :)

While they were gone, I had begun decorating the house with the "usual" party decor. Carlie said "Mommy, I can't believe you're doing all of this for me. Thank you so much for everything!" Oh my, that sweet girl melts my heart. She was so excited for every detail, even paper napkins and tablecloths. But, most of all, she loved the paper lanterns, which were her only request for decorations. :)

Her birthday morning began with the usual family tradition of breakfast in bed for the big girl on the "You Are Special" plate. Oh the little things that become so important to kids. I love that they all want this exact same tradition on each of their birthdays. Of course, Carlie politely informed me AFTER I had cooked the whole usual spread, that she really only wanted the powdered donuts and oranges. I'm definitely remembering that next year.

The rest of the morning was torture, as she waited for noon to come and her friends to finally arrive.

She waited outside {in the nasty heat!} for as long as she could, before I began to distract her with pictures to take. :) We took alot....

And still had time to wait! Kendyll began a game of Go Fish to make the time pass. And, that did the trick!

Finally, the girls arrived, and the fun began!

After we made our own mini pizzas, they went straight to dress-up and whatever else they could possibly find to play with. After a couple of hours of some really creative playtime, it was time to swim!

We moved the party down the street to our neighborhood pool...and waited for some of our family to join the fun!

There was lots of swimming,

lots of hot dogs,

lots of silly fun, and LOTS of cute smiles!

Carlie also got her Aunts Day gift at the pool, and I was so excited about what she got! The aunts are taking Kendyll and Carlie to see the Sound of Music musical: SINGALONG version!! WOO HOO! {And, I might have invited myself to join the fun. I couldn't miss THAT!}

By the way, my favorite part of this gift was watching my sister, Cassie, try to explain "Be there or be square" to Carlie. She never quite got it. :)

As the swim party winded down, the girls were all excited to send their balloons off to Chase.

In fact, before the swimming even began, a couple of the girls were begging to send the balloons up to Chase. They were all so sweet and have all been very involved in our family's story. So, I loved hearing them yell to him, and say "We love Chase!" as they sent their colorful balloons up, up, and away. I sure wish he was actually collecting all of these balloons up there, because he would have quite a collection at this point!

After we headed home, the girls got their party favors. They all received matching nightgowns, and microphones (along with WAY too much fun candy for the evening!).

Here they are surprising all of us with their new cuteness.

And, really....have you ever seen a cuter group of girls?!

As they all sang {loudly} in their microphones, my mom asked "Who thought of that idea?! Ha ha!

Ummm....I did. :) Let's just say, I am pretty glad that they all took them home to their own houses. Just kidding. It was actually cute to hear them sing together all day, everything from "Mighty to Save" to "Happy Birthday".

Speaking of "Happy Birthday", Carlie really enjoyed being sung to this year. She usually gets very shy during this part, but she was all about the attention this year. Look at these smiles when it was cake time!

And, the smiles continued again, when they sang before gifts. Here she is directing their song. Silly girl!

And, of course, Grandma made a masterpiece yet again, with the "heart cake" Carlie requested. Thank you, Grandma, for making EXACTLY what she dreamed of. It was perfect! And very yummy.

After cake and ice cream, it was time for gifts! Mark and I were very excited to tell her about her birthday surprise from us. Although it wasn't exactly a "gift" because it was pretty much free, we surprised her and the other girls with a TRIP to San Francisco!!!

As Kendyll read the poem with the big news, Carlie sat with her mouth wide in surprise.

{Of course, we figured out hours later that she had NO idea where San Francisco was. For all she knew, she was going to Europe! Hilarious.}

Mark has to be in San Francisco for business in a few weeks, so the girls and I are taking advantage of free airline tickets and a hotel room! We'll be touring the city and hanging out together for some fun adventures while Daddy attends a conference. It will be our first "home-school away from home" week, where we learn all about the area we visit for school that week...so we'll see how it goes! I already have my literature planned, and some fun historical things to study and see too. I'm so excited that we can now do these fun things for SCHOOL!

After Carlie found out about the trip, our generous family gave her some different things she can take on the adventure. We loaded our Ipod shuffle with all of her songs, and gave it to her to use. She also got a new suitcase, a Hello Kitty camera, a travel pillow, travel games, and new earphones for the airplane trip!

She also got the sweetest gifts from her friends. She got gift cards to her favorite places, as well as a Glo Bear she had wanted for a long time. Emily gave her an amazing Africa Journal, with pictures from our trip inside, which she has already worked in today.

They were all so thoughtful and so excited to celebrate with her. We are so blessed with the family friends that surround us.

And, even though we missed seeing some of our sweet family, we do appreciate all the birthday wishes that came Carlie's way, and the family who could join us. You ALL mean so much to her.

After the family headed home, it was craft time, which Kendyll ran very well. :)

She is so good at leading the group, and they all listen to her like she is the wisest eight year old around. We helped the girls make sleeping bags for their American Girl dolls, and they turned out very cute.

And, here's the final product! This might be one of my all time favorite pictures EVER.

As I said before, we fit alot into 24 hours. After crafts, it was MOVIE time! I won't even begin to describe the amounts of candy and popcorn that was consumed. But, even with the sugar high, they all quietly sat and watched Toy Story, until they started dropping like flies, with Abby Kate leading the way. She had hung with the big girls all day long, but she couldn't resist sleep once she sat still.

They were so sweet and so tired, and we didn't hear a peep out of them once they hit their pillows. What a full day!

Today, we finished the sleepover with nail polish and makeovers.

So, let's just say that pink and purple eyeshadow was a hit. They had it all over their faces.

And, this is how that ended:

Pretty funny.

Overall, it was SUCH a fun party. Mommy is wiped out! (In fact, halfway through this post, I had to lay down and take a nap because my eyes were crossing!) But, it's all worth it to celebrate my sweet middle girl.

Carlie, you are so precious. Your sweet, sensitive heart...your deep thoughts...your silly spirit...your squeeze hugs...your intense loyalty...your passionate singing...your love for God...these are just a few of the reasons I feel blessed to be your mom.

Happy Birthday sweet girl. I love you!