Ava's SIXTH birthday!

I'm only about four months late on this post, but I have to document my sweet Ava's 6th birthday! We had such a fun week celebrating her! Sometimes, I still can't believe this little sweet, precious girl is my daughter. Her growing up is bittersweet; I love the new things we can do together and the conversations we have.

 

Her birth-week started off after church on Sunday. Instead of going home, we surprised her by driving to the mall. We parked right in front of Build-a-Bear. She asked if we could look around the store. I took her in, and she wasn't expecting to get to pick out a bear.

 

She's so excited!

Stuffing her bear "Lexie"

Bathing the bear

Next, we walked to Claire's to get her ears' pierced: another surprise.

 



a moment of nervousness

Ready!

And she did great; two ladies pierced them at the same time, and it was over! She loves them!

 Next, we took her to dinner complete with cheesecake for dessert.

 

And all that excitement knocked her out! :)

  The next day, Brittany and her family brought a big surprise from them and my parents... a pet hamster! Ava named her Penelope! Here she is waiting to see what the surprise is. (Apparently, Ron took the rest of the pics of this moment..:)

 

Her actual birthday fell on Wednesday. I asked her how she wanted to spend her day. She wanted to eat lunch at McDonald's, get her nails painted, and go to Goodwill. Ha! So, we did all three. When we got home, we baked cupcakes for her class at church and watched the new American Girl Doll movie.

 

 

And to end our week of birthday fun, Friday night we had a Pajamas & Pancakes Party! Here's the invitation we used (without our info on it). We saw it on Pinterest months before and out of all the ideas we discussed (birthday party planning is one of her favorite things), she loved this most.

 



 

Ava's pancake cake

Party favors

We had a breakfast menu of pancakes & syrup, egg bake, cheese grits, bacon, sausage, milk, and orange juice. 

My dad, the chef

Reid!

Gracie-Poo

We couldn't have asked for better weather for this July event! It felt amazing outside which was a great thing considering I really wanted pancakes and syrup to be eaten outside;). I had a birthday helper (it's the 3rd time I've done that for a party), and it's a huge help! This time Kacie, who Ava adores, helped me during the party and afterward for cleaning up. Of course, Brittany does one million things for me before the party starts!

 



Ava and Evie had matching pajamas which they thought was great!

Shannon & Mary Catherine

Can't believe how much Addison has changed in the four months its been since this was taken!

Happy birthday, Ava!

my happy girl!

Addison, Houston, & Grace were born within 5 months of each other. What fun these girls will have together!

What a cute gift: a pillowcase for everyone to autograph. They all loved it.

MC loves babies!

 

I've always loved this picture of 3-day old Ava snuggled up in lots of pink... time flies...