She's 8??? Yes, she's 8!!

Happy birthday girl and little brother drooling over her "cake"!

Anna celebrated her 8th birthday last weekend!!!!

I remember holding Anna at the hospital for the first time... this little babe in my arms! I felt soo inadequate to be her mom. She was soo small and just soo beautiful!

And now I have a little young lady! And still feel inadequate. Just thankful I have such a special gal to teach me to be a good mom;)

She loves to be a helper around the house and with her siblings (typical first-born and can be called bossy). She loves reading sometimes reading a small chapter book during one sitting because she wanted to know the ending:)

She's also beginning to navigate the worlds of friends and maturing! It's amazing to me the kind of discussions we've already had! I love being able to discuss things with her.... sometimes it feels like I'm talking to a teenager;) I'm soo thankful I had the example of my mom who was always willing to listen to my questions and not "freak out" when I hit her with some tough ones.

She is definitely my right-hand-man!! There are times I wouldn't be able to use the bathroom without her watching her active little brother! And I know I can trust her when issues come up between siblings or while playing outside! And I can count on her "look" when I have done something which requires an apology... gotta love kid-accountability;)

For her birthday, she was able to choose her cake;) And as you can see she didn't have cake...

 

but a cookie cake;) 

Since we weren't sure what stage we'd be in with the house and moving (and we had discussed the possibly of traveling to see family that holiday weekend) we didn't plan anything big. Like I mentioned before, she chose to go with the family to one of her favorite eating place with an outdoor playground. Unfortunately, it rained MOST of that afternoon it rained and rained. In fact we saw this on the way to her "special dinner"!

We made the best of it by telling her how special it was to see a rainbow... and on her birthday!! Very cool:) And we let her choose an indoor playground;)

She was also needing some more summer clothes;)

 So the girls (Anna, Lydia and I) got to go shopping :)  What a treat to be with just the girls for a little while! 

It was very natural to begin to have conversations about modesty with them as we looked through the clothing... kind of sad we are already in the section where these conversations are needed :(

But why not have those conversations when they are young and it's not a big deal for them to have a certain style! Anna loves the clothes that she did pick out... she has already gotten plenty of use of one of the outfits:)

Oh, and on our way out of "the city" we stopped to get them "slushes" !! So even with the rain, she was able to enjoy on of her favorite treats:)

We all definitely enjoyed Anna's birthday weekend:) From the cookie cake, fishing, shopping with the girls, rainbow spotting and some fast food eating (LOL!!).... we had a great birthday weekend:)

And now her 8th birthday stats and favorites;)

Anna is 52 inches tall and weighs 60.5 lbs.

Her favorites:

• Color : Light Purple, Dark Pink &  yellow
• Food : Pork BBQ
• Treat: Chocolate Break-up
• Subject : History
• Animal: Gorilla (at the zoo)
• Do inside: Play with Legos
• Do Outside: Play with Sarah ( a friend)
• Toys: Kelsey her 18-inch doll
• Song to Sing: "songs I make up"
• Restaurant: Sonic (for slushies)
• Book: Black Beauty
• Movie: Wizard of Oz
• TV Show:  Martha Speaks, Word Girl, and Anne of Green Gables

Goals for her 8th year: Ride a horse!

When you ask her what she wants to be when she "grows up" she'll respond "a horse trainer or a math teacher"!

And what is the coolest thing about being 8?? She responded, "That I don't have to sit in a car seat!"

Happy (belated) Birthday to my Amazing 8 year old!!

We love you, Anna!!

Linking up to Moments to Remember!