Fantastic Five

 

I've tried.  Lord knows, I've tried.  For 2+ days I've sat down and tried to write down how I feel about my baby girl turning five.  And every time I tried, I cried.  Bawled.  Like a big fat wussypants.  I just don't think there are enough words, and I'll never get the right combination, to explain just how I feel about my daughter.  But I'm working on it:  Jordan and I decided a few months ago that we would like to start a new birthday tradition for the kids.  We will hand-write letters to our children on their birthdays every year... they may throw them out or they may keep them forever but that way they'll always have at the very least a yearly personal reminder of how much their Mom & Dad love them!

So since I'm feeling a bit emotion-aaaaaaallll over my baby turning five, I thought I'd tell you a little bit about our super-fun girls' day out today instead!  Within the last year or so, Asha & I have started having "girl's day" outings, so we decided to do a really huge one for her big #5.  I took the day off work, she took the day "off" daycare... and away we went!  We started our morning bright and early -- somebody was a little excited at 6 am and woke up the whole household -- with a birthday bagel (hey, gimme a break, the cake masterpiece is coming this weekend!)  The kids spent the next 30 minutes trying to set off the smoke alarms by making me light & relight the candles so they could take turns spitting on them  blowing them out.  She's so sweet to share with her little bro!

Happy Fifth Birthday, Sweet Girl!

At 9:00, we headed to the salon for our mani-pedis.  We shot the breeze as the ladies did up our fingernails (red with green & yellow hearts for Ash, pink for Mom) and relaxed a bit while they did our toenails (Moms' matched, Asha went for purple). 

Soaking in the spa jets

Showing off her fancy nails

After our nails dried, we headed to our next stop -- a massage!  Asha had been begging for a massage for ages, so I did some searching and found somone who turned out to be the absolute coolest massage therapist!  She adored Asha, and pampered her a bit -- taped to the floor right under the face hole on the massage table, was a bright yellow balloon with "Happy 5th Birthday Asha" written on it.  Ash loved every minute of her massage, and even fell asleep as the therapist was massaging her neck.  Snored like a buzzsaw, so we knew she was perfectly relaxed!

After all that pampering, we were starving!  Of all the restaurants in all of the F-M area, Asha chose... you guessed it, Chuck E Cheese.  Yay.  Okay, it actually wasn't a total zoo at noon on a Monday afternoon, so it wasn't nearly as horrible as I'd anticipated.  In fact, we had ourselves a darn fun time!

Mom & Asha at Birthday Lunch

Gangstas, sippin' on gin & juice... wait, no, that was Orange Crush.

Mom gets a smooch from the Birthday girl!

Then came the big moment.  A trip to the mall.  To do something she'd been begging to do for 2 years....

Anxiously awaiting the big deal!

EAR PIERCING!  (aaaaaack!  Mom shreiks in horror! Not my baby's innocent earlobes!!)  Ok, no it wasn't that bad at all.  In fact, my little Viking Princess didn't flinch, didn't even so much as blink an eye when they did the piercing.  What a rock star!

Sitting perfectly still as they measured her ears

She chose these adorable little pink sparkly studs, and told me she's "never, ever taking them out.  Not when I go to Kindergarten, not when I go to High School, not when I go to college, not when I get married..."  Yeah, you get the picture. She liked them. I got the actual piercing on video, y'know, for a keepsake or whatever.  It makes me queasy to watch it, but Ash has watched it 73 times since we returned home this afternoon.

All smiles, no tears!  She showed them off to every random stranger we walked past in the mall!

We followed up our big piercing event with a smoothie (her fave), and headed back home.  I popped in her new  "Tangled" movie, and made it about 4 minutes in before I crashed.  Asha made it probably 7 minutes in before she passed out too (just guessing) and we napped almost until the boys got home! 

That just does not look comfy

And that was pretty much our big day.  It may not sound like much to the casual observer, but it was probably the most special day we've ever shared, not counting our very first day spent together five years ago.  We ended the night with a bedtime story about what went on the day she was born (she loves that tale!) and a little snuggling before she drifted off to sleep, one year older, one year wiser, one year more wonderful.

Taken on our very first "girl's day" - May 2, 2006

My beautiful little girl, whose name means "Life" and "Hope" - you have certainly given me new life, full of hope and joy beyond my wildest imagination.  I love everything about you.  I love your big blue eyes, your sunny smile that reveals those charming dimples, your sharp wit and spot-on comic timing, your perceptive views, your effervescent giggle, your brave character, your cheerful demeanor, your endless hugs, your boundless energy, your compassionate spirit, your sensitive heart, and your beautiful grown-up soul in a child's body.  Thank you for letting me share this day with you, and thank you for being my delightful daughter. 

I hope you had a Fantastic Five, baby girl.  Mommy loves you, today and forever!