Miss Sidney is 8

Last night, we put to bed our little 7 year old for the last time. This morning, she woke up 8 years old. How could she have grown up so darn fast! Where did those 8 years go? People, I still think of her as my little girl. Maybe not that skinny little infant with spunk and sass who refused to sleep if I wasn't holding her (and now have permanent shoulder damage as a result)....

But for sure, I think of her as my little 4 year old girl. She is such a fun kid, always making us laugh (and sometimes pull-our-hair-out cry) with her antics and her 'always-saying-what's-on-her-mind' personality. Her adorable smile and ability to live out each day to the fullest are contagious. So when did she go from 4 to 8? Feels like it happened overnight.

She has been looking forward to this birthday for a very long time. She was thrilled to be turning 8 and had a pretty short list of things she wanted for her big day: a selfie stick and a Fitbit. Well, let's just say that Lincoln joined in with her excitement (although we all know he has no clue what she just opened!). I love this picture, pardon the blurriness. It's so adorable!

Oh my goodness is she over the top excited for those two gifts. She loved them to pieces and we love her. Lincoln thinks of her as his very best friend, and really, how can you think otherwise?! There are so many reasons we love her to pieces, but him....he loves her because she's fun. She can play and imagine and engage in just about anything. He loves to be by her side (when she tolerates) and scoots his dining room chair so close to her that he's essentially on her lap.

With a flurry of excitement in this house over the next several weeks, we had no choice but to hold her birthday party on her actual day. She was surprisingly a little bit saddened by this fact initially, stating that she wanted to spend her day with "just the 5 of us" and that she still really wanted to have the traditional birthday girl's choice dinner out. Once we got past those concerns, and assured her we would still go out for dinner after her party, she warmed up to the idea and invited some friends to Paint Your Plate for a fun afternoon.

Instead of having a monstrous sized party, we had a nice eclectic group of school friends, softball friends and long-time nursery school friends. I love that she thinks so highly of her relationships and really thought about who she wanted to spend her day with. These girls had a lot of fun around the table, giggling and designing their ceramic pieces.

Sidney counted down the minutes before she 'for real' turned 8 (at 3pm exactly) and loved hearing her birth story....again! She still thinks she was born on the garbage can...although I keep reminding her it was only the water breaking :)  She loves to hear that Ryan burst into the wrong hospital room and prays hard that "I didn't come out with blood or anything on me!". Hands down, this spunky little girl of ours has the best birth story.

I just cannot believe our little sweet-sassy-super fun Sidney is 8!

We love you so much and are so glad you're ours!

Happy Birthday Sidney!