Sophie's Birthday Celebrations



We have the tendency of celebrating Sophie's birthday for most of the month of July, and it seems as though this year will be no different. Already she has had two celebrations, and her party is in another couple of weeks, with a birthday trip to NYC later in August!

I have wised up to the way to handle birthdays with Sophie, and I've learned that planning a "day of surprises" is better than making a plan with her, lest any changes should derail our entire day. Also, I had so much fun planning things I knew she would love, so it was a win-win!

She began her morning with birthday decorations and a special birthday breakfast. Now, I normally insist on pretty healthy food for the kids, especially for Soph, my little sugar addict, so a birthday breakfast is super-exciting for her. Powdered sugar doughnuts and iced sugar cookies were on the menu this year, and that was just the beginning of the sugary junk food that would be consumed!

Soph loved her purple and pink decorations, and she was thrilled to find, as she put it, "Kit naked in the bathtub in the middle of the breakfast table!" Kit was actually wearing a robe, but she was indeed in a bathtub, and Sophie loved the tub, an American Girl cd, and an American Girl book.


After breakfast, we dressed and hurried to Aunt Tori's where more birthday surprises were waiting. At Aunt Tori and Uncle Derek's, Sophie found a salon chair for Kit (perfect for her upcoming American Girl spa party), a paper doll set, and a hot pink birthday boa. Aunt Tori says you can't have a birthday without a boa! While I ran an errand or two, Aunt Ashley, Jack, and Cole arrived complete with gorgeous flowers and a Roald Dahl book set, and Sophie was already reading The Fabulous Mister Fox by the time I arrived to pick everyone up!

The next surprise was a tea party at Homestead Manor. We had a girls-only lunch, except for Sophie's favorite fella and best buddy, Jack! Soph and Jack were thrilled to drink out of fancy
cups! After a wonderful lunch, the birthday girl was treated to her dream come true - a cotton candy birthday cake! I've never seen anything consumed any faster! She and Jack wiped the cotton candy out in under two minutes!



After our tea party, we rounded out the afternoon with swimming at Aunt
Tori and Uncle Derek's pool! Just about the time everyone was ready for an afternoon snack, we brought out Gigi's cupcakes for all! (I think we may have set a new record for sugar intake!) We ended our evening with Aunt Tori and Uncle Derek, with take out from Buffalo Wild Wings (one of Soph's very favorites)! All in all the day was tons of fun!

As though her day of surprises wasn't enough, Soph was treated to another birthday party on
Friday when we arrived in Birmingham on our way to the beach. First, she walked in to an amazing birthday dinner cooked by her great-grandmother (chicken, fried squash and okra, peas, cornbread, etc.) and one of the most beautiful (not to mention delicious) birthday cakes I've ever seen! As she blew her candles out, she discovered that they were trick candles, and a full five minutes and countless giggles later, we finally served cake and began opening presents.


Aunt Pam gave her tons of gifts, but she especially loved her American
Girl bathing suit and her Wii game, Just Dance. (We had a blast watching she and Matt in dance off to Girls Just Want to Have Fun and Cotton Eyed Joe!) Then, the moment Sophie had been waiting for... MeeMaw and Papa gave her Felicity! She was truly overjoyed! Her new American Girl didn't leave her side the rest of our visit! Sophie had the time of her life. As she said, "this is my best birthday I've ever had in my whole life!"



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