Happy 7th Birthday Olivia!

My Sweet Olivia is 7!!! Wow, it seems like yesterday I was pregnant with Olivia and so excited to have my first girl! She was due on April 22nd, a Tuesday. That week, I was in labor from Monday to Friday. I had contractions 7-8 minutes apart for hours at a time, then they would fade away and I would be forced to admit that it wasn't real labor. After experiencing this unending torture for a week, I decided I was never having this baby. 

On Friday (the day after my birthday) I met my mom and sisters at Thanksgiving Point for lunch and a walk around the gardens. I left them and went to Costco with 2 1/2 year old Austin, loading up my cart until it weighed about 200 pounds. Then, yes, then, the contractions came and continued until they were nearly 5 minutes apart! All week I'd been waiting for this girl to come, then on the day I give up and least expect it... the REAL labor hits me. So ironic. Then I had to decide if I was going to leave the full cart and head for the hospital, or go home and unload the groceries first. I called the nurse and decided to take the food home and then go to the hospital which was just 5 minutes from our house at the time. I got there at 5:30 pm and Olivia was born at 10:30 pm.

On Friday I brought some balloons to school and some Rice Krispie Treats for her to pass out to her friends.

She is such a sweetheart. She loves anything girly! She loves to cuddle, loves to read, to bake, loves to smother her sister, loves to paint her nails, to do crafts, to put on makeup, sing her heart out, arrange her things in her room, lay out her clothes for the next day. She is a lot of fun and we love her dearly!

That evening we celebrated at Adam and Amy's house. Olivia gets this cute, shy smile on her face when everyone is singing Happy Birthday to her. She loves it!

Everything she received for her special day was just perfect for her.

Then she and I got to go shopping and to lunch for our traditional "Double Birthday Day". We always have a special date since our birthdays are back-to-back. I was surprised all she wanted for lunch was some fries and a drink. Easy to please!

Next, she wanted to look at clothes and find some sunglasses. Most of her gifts this year were clothes, shoes, dresses, etc. I'm not sure if she's 7 or 13!!! But I told her absolutely no makeup and no ears pierced yet, much to her dismay.

There is one store that she really loves (behind us) so we spent some time in there, then looked for a place to do her nails. Note: Amy took this photo b/c she and Adam were at the same mall having lunch and entertaining Ashley and Megan.

This is my little fashionista after having her nails painted and polka-dotted (is that a verb?). She had her new sunglasses on and she was good to go. Next we headed to Cheesecake Factory for some dessert. Finally I get to enjoy the birthday too!

We got the 30th anniversary cheesecake. It did not disappoint!

That night she had some friends over for a Late Night. It was meant to be a simple evening with pizza and a movie, just a couple of friends over since this is an 'off' year for her. (We do parties for age 4,8,12, and 16. That way I don't go crazy). It turned out really funny though... a couple of the friends she invited from school, whom I had never met but she insisted that she wanted to invite, never came and never RSVP'd. Ahem. So, it actually turned out well b/c she then invited a few other friends over (totally last minute) that she actually plays with more often and they were able to come!

We had some party favors with little notebooks, pens, stickers, nail polish, candy, etc.

Grace, Olivia, and Anna. They all had to make the peace sign for every photo!

The girls frosted and decorated some chocolate cupcakes, then we sang Happy Birthday to Olivia. They watched Beverly Hills Chihuahua, played Karaoke Revolution, and painted each other's nails. I think it turned out pretty well!

The next day was Olivia's real birthday so she opened more presents- her birthday turned into a 3 day celebration! Four days, if you count the fact that Nana took her out on Monday!

The gifts she opened were a cute top with leggings, a pink and purple maxi dress (that she wore to church that day), and some silver metallic sandals "with heels" and little jewels on them. Man, she's growing up too fast! I am going to have to really put the brakes on this girl.

We love her so much and had lots of fun celebrating her big day!

Big hug by lil sis Ashley....