January 19th

I can' t believe my baby's seven! That number scares me! I guess I have just considered seven to be when they become a full-blown kid! It's a whole new stage of life. Don't get me wrong, I have been looking forward to this stage for quite some time (independence, being able to carry on decent conversations, etc.), but now that it's here, I just want to freeze time. Why isn't that allowed? I just know I'm going to blink my eyes and she'll be a teenager. Just like everyone has warned me, time has gone by so quickly. I am enjoying it while I can, but, unfortunately, at times I have wished it to speed up! Shame on me. Some times I just look at her and think, where did this little person come from? She has her own thoughts, ideas and she's a smart little cookie. It's so fun, now, because we can go out together and we have a legitimately good time! I love having a little friend in her and I can only pray that it will always stay that way! I love you, Paige!


We had a little family party at Grandma and Grandpa's the Sunday before her birthday. (Kamae, Paige and their cousin, Talia)Paige asked for a rainbow cake. She saw this and I could tell she was so disappointed. I just talked up how cool it was that the frosting dots matched the candy hats on the cake and she quickly went along with that. What she didn't know was that the rainbow was inside the cake. I don't have a picture of it (I swear I took one, though...mom, do you have it?...yes, she did have one and now you can see it!), but the inside is in colored layers that match the outside. When I gave her her piece of cake, she was pretty excited. I love it when she realizes that I can be cool sometimes!


I look over after she's blown out the candles and I can tell that my dad is up to something mischievous. This is what I catch him doing (he's been pretty fascinated by Paige's undying love of pickles and pickle juice, both of which she had requested to have with her birthday dinner.)
She thought that was the funniest thing she'd ever seen. I think that was the highlight of her birthday! Thanks, Grandpa!

Since we were leaving for our California trip early in the morning on her actual birthday, we gave her breakfast in bed and celebrated her birthday a day early. (I love the tired eyes!)


(Just a quick sidenote. Justice...my new favorite store for these girls! It has really cute stuff and their clearance racks can have some pretty good deals! I only allow myself in there every so often due to lack of self-control.)


Due to the previously mentioned trip, we had decided not to have a friend party for Paige. We were planning on considering the trip as her party for this year. Since we have never not had a friend party, she just assumed she was having one and was SO excited to be able to have some of her new school friends over. I debated and debated as to what to do. We kept preparing her for the fact that she wasn't going to be able to have a friend party and she was actually pretty big about it. She's still one that will cry at the drop of a hat (especially when things just don't go her way) and she would just look at me and quietly say "okay" and walk away. It just broke my heart, so I caved and we threw her a last minute surprise pajama party.

I was surprised at how many of her friends were able to come with such short notice and let me tell you, she was surprised. Austin had taken her out to dinner for a daddy-daughter date and then they had decided to go bowling. Since he had picked her up from dance class and she was only wearing sandals, the ruse was that they needed to come back to the house to get socks. When they came in, all 13 girls were hiding and then yelled "SURPRISE!" when she came in the door. She was pretty confused at first and then when she realized what was going on she was so excited! She came and gave me a big hug and said, "Thanks, mom!" Right then, it was all worth it!


We played a game where they each had to randomly pop a balloon and do the dare that was inside. Here are a couple:

She had to eat 7 pieces of licorice in 1 minute. I guess I should've tried it because I didn't realize that that's virtually impossible for a 7 year old. It took her about 3 1/2 minutes!

She had to get a candy out of the whipped cream pie with just her teeth.She had to dress in the chicken costume and cluck around the room. She was pretty embarrassed about it, so I made everyone do it with her.

Then we took them in the garage for the Andrus birthday party tradition of the donut on the string game. They are supposed to race to see who can eat all of their donut first without using their hands.
The donuts were too thick for their little mouths, so they all ended up having to cheat.
Sorry, no time for a homemade cake. I think this is the first time I've ever purchased a birthday cake. If I hadn't already made one for the family party, I'd feel even more guilty!


HAPPY 7th BIRTHDAY, SWEET PAIGE!