Five

Today was Abbie's birthday and she spent the entire day telling me and everyone she saw how excited she is to be five. She was not shy about telling everyone it was her birthday and she sucked every ounce of joy out of the day. She told me over and over again that it was the best birthday ever. All three grandmas called to wish her a happy birthday (I think they all sang to her too) and she was excited to get three phone calls all for herself. Her BFF, Ruby, came by in the morning and dropped by a gift. It seems Ruby was super excited about the birthday as well and couldn't wait for Abbie's party (not until December...the perils of having a little sister with a birthday close enough to share a party but far enough away that the party can't be the week of the actual birthday) to drop by the gift. They spent about 45 minutes playing with Abbie's new Build a Bear. A HUGE hit. She is thrilled and can't wait to go to the "Factory" as she calls it to buy some more clothes for the bear (Ruby kindly bought her bear a cheerleader outfit). Aunt Lindsay is taking her to the mall for her birthday tomorrow afternoon and I think they will be spending some time in the "Factory" fluffing the fur and looking through the clothes and accessories. She also gets to officially name and register her bear.

In the afternoon when Kyle got home from school she came downstairs to a table of gifts and balloons. She was so surprised. I told her that we would only get her one thing and I guess she took it very literally so when she found three presents on the table she was so shocked and excited. And the princess balloons were a huge hit again. She got a Leapster Explorer so that she could play video games like her big brother and the game Tangled (she has been obsessed with the movie for months...great job Disney marketing). She is definitely feeling like a big girl.

Abbie got to choose a restaurant for dinner tonight. No surprise, we ended up at Lucile's. Nikki laughed that Abbie gets noodles with butter but Abbie loves Lucile's precisely because they serve noodles with butter, her favorite meal. She tried to get Abbie to agree to try beans or cheesy grits but Abbie wasn't going for it.

Nate dropped by with a small box of Nerds that he picked out for Abbie and a picture he colored for her. You can't beat having cousins around the corner.

She had the biggest smile on her face all day long. I wish I could bottle it up for rainy days. Right now, Abbie is truly our bright spot. She is our helper, our kind one, our girl who prays for her brother and is willing to give up things she loves for her sister. She truly is the glue holding this family together and we love her to pieces. Happy Birthday to our beautiful, smart, kind 5 year old girl!