Our eldest child turns 10! Kids grow up so fast but I love to see how she has grown from a small kid to a bigger kid and becoming the person God has created her to be.
Our llittle girl turned 10 years old this past November, 2020. She’s our first child and we are so incredibly blessed to have her. Sometimes I look at her among our other kids and still see my little 2 year old, in a beautiful dress with a cute headband, just playing quietly in our living room (first house here). Those times people tell you they grow up fast and it seemed hard to believe truly means something. Although, I think we know that they should be around the age they truly are at the moment yet it still feels so unreal.
Hesitant to Blog it: I admit, it was hard to hit publish on this one. I can’t believe she is 10 but I know, I got to hit publish since she is already half way through. I didn’t get around to sharing her party at the time of her birthday. The holidays are so busy these days. But when I decided to finally get to it a few weeks ago, I realized that it was too long of a post to share in one because of all the events we did on different days. I thought it would be great to first start with her turning 10, the initial events we did, then write a separate post about her birthday party. It worked so much better that way.
In any event, we were excited for 10 and we made it big in our own way. I guess I never really new what that “big” would look like but I wanted to make it special. Things may have looked & panned out differently if there were more socializing & things to do outdoors in 2020. But you know what, we did the best we can and that’s what matters. Our daughter had so much fun even she got her first phone! That made it all worth it:)
Breakfast
For our kids birthdays, I’ve started to make pancakes with sprinkles and whipped cream for their breakfasts. It’s a little tradition we love and enjoy. I made our girl a stack of 10 for her 10th birthday! (No, I didn’t expect her to eat them all).
Gifts
We showered her with gifts. One of her favorites being the her very own first phone! She was also delighted to get her own ice skates for her lessons!
Another one of her gifts was this customized bracelet. It has an “S” for her initial and a personalized note to hang on to. I also love the colors – so soft and very feminine.
Trip to the American Girl Doll Store
In November, lockdown was about to take place again so we tried to get our trip to the American Girl Doll store just in time. It was a 3 hour drive to Ohio but it was so worth the trip. Our girls were so surprised! Both girls got to pick a doll for their upcoming birthdays. Dad took the little guy to Legoland to play (which was nearby), then to buy legos while I shopped with the girls.
Family Photos
We took family photos for the holidays and included shots with her holding a number 10 balloon. Both her other siblings did the same for their upcoming birthdays, too. Our daughter’s birthday was the 29th, these professional photos by Gretchen were taken on the 27th, right after Thanksgiving.
Zoom Game Party
That same evening after our photo shoot, we had her Zoom party with her friends from Chicago. We had moved from Illinois to PA and she didn’t have any friends in PA. The kids had such a fun little time playing games with one another online from the comforts of their home. We also had them hold a cupcake and sing “Happy Birthday” to our girl before the games started. So much fun!
A Trip to Urban Air Adventure Park (One of her favorite activities)
What kid doesn’t love to bounce and jump around? This bounce house/trampoline park is definitely her favorite as well as her siblings. I took photos of videos and videos of all our events but choose just to show a few (so many to choose from).
Eating at Olive Garden – Hello Pasta – A Kids love!
Shopping at Claire’s in the Mall
Claire’s is the girls favorite shopping store. For the birthdays, they have started to request wanting a shopping trip there. I’m OK with that. They usually come out with all the girly accessories (cute purses, doll house toys, earrings, small stuffies, etc). Actually, when our now 10 year old was 5, I took her to Claire’s for a shopping trip. It was her first trip there. She bought a toy for both her and her sister. Her baby brother was a little too young to understand it.
A Birthday Party a Few Days Later
We also did an at-home party a few days later for our girl because family has to have cake and mom’s got to have photos, right?! JK. But we didn’t want to rush the party. There’s just always so much going on around her birthday that we just couldn’t fit everything in at once (think Thanksgiving, December and all the holidays, etc). That’s for a separate post.
We all had so much fun celebrating our little one! She was definitely a trooper on her Big day! I loved all her smiles, delight and wonder throughout all her birthday celebrations!
She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness (Proverbs 31:27).
