Lucky 7

On the night before Crista's birthday

I realized I forgot to take one LAST picture

of my 6 year old.

So I snuck into her room after she had fallen alseep

and snapped this sweet picture

of her last precious moments of being 6.

 

Crista really knows how to celebrate a birthday!

She got a total of 4 straight days where

we lived her birthday!

We started off with the family meal.

She requested Chicken Lasagna for her special Sunday Birthday Lunch.



 

 





Of course, there were presents.

The only reason she truly celebrates :-)

 

 

And little Addie Grace was not forgotten!

Uncle Marcus & Aunt Ashlie

surprised her with a special gift too.

 

She loved the pocket book set

and the sunglasses were her favorite!

 

And it seems Aunt Ashlie enjoyed

the chef's set the best!

 

She went to work right away on Grandma,

dolling her up with her new make-up set.

 

 

But I think its safe to say

Crista's most treasured gift of the day were these

sparkly new glitter flats!

She specifically asked Aunt Ashlie for clothes because...

and I quote...

"Aunt Ashlie picks out the BEST clothes!!"

 Crista asked for a strawberry birthday cake this year.

 

After the cake

the kids played the afternoon away!

 

Addie Grace decided Uncle Marcus needed a nap.

I don't remember Uncle Marcus disagreeing.

 

On the actual morning of her birthday,

Crista woke up to a very special present

from Papaw and Mamaw.

Crista has really gotten into Lego's in the past few months

and all she wanted for her birthday

was the Lego Friends Camper.

And she finally got it!

She was SO excited!!

 

We have a tradition in our family

that on birthday mornings

we do special pancakes.

The pancake is always in the shape of her new age

with candles.

And we sing.

This year was no different!



 

That afternoon,

my friend and I took our girls

to Hilton Head

for 2 nights of birthday fun.

Gracie is Crista's best friend

and their birthdays are just days apart.

So we celebrated for two birthdays

and it was a blast!

It was nice to give Crista some serious attention

since the little sisters stayed at home.

 

And while we were at Hilton Head

I did a very short birthday shoot with Crista and Gracie.

The sun went down way faster than I expected

so it was a race against the clock to even get a few

shots in.

But I got a few keepers :-)

 

Crista's 6th year was a good one.

She was always the perfect baby,

our miracle girl,

an answered prayer.

But this year she has shed

every last thing that made her

little

small

baby

or even toddler.

And she grew up into girl.

One who is quiet at first

but one who laughs easily

and smiles often.

One who loves deeply and blindly

and who still wants to hold hands.

One who can get lost in a book

and loves to write and draw.

One who is a self-proclaimed "Daddy's Girl"

but who loves snuggling with Mama every night as we

read book after book together.

One who is, absolutely, without a doubt,

the most wonderful big sister imaginable.

And she has a little sister who looks up to her and mimics

everything she does.

Our hearts have always loved Crista to its full capacity.

So I don't know how it happened,

but somewhere along the way,

our hearts fell even more deeply in love with this precious girl of ours!

We are so so blessed to call her "ours"!!