no training wheels

Addison wanted to ride bikes. I told her she could, but only if she tried it without her training wheels. She's tried before and she's been terrified. But I wasn't letting her chicken out this time. Me, Michael and even cousin Matthew took turns holding on to the back of her seat. Sometimes we'd let go without telling her. Ten minutes later and off she went.

She was a little wobbly and crashed into Matthew's truck a few times, but she was doing it. 

I was so proud of her. She finally conquered her fear. She was growing up. And then I got teary right there in the middle of the street.

Not to be left out, Morgan wanted to show us how she can ride her bike too. Still with training wheels, but still. 

 She also wanted to show us how she can go through two outfit changes. 

My two ragamuffins.  

Hands down, one of the best days EVER for Addison. Probably for me too.

april 17th

In true birthday fashion, Addison woke up to balloons and streamers decorating the hallway. And to me yelling "It's coronation day". It was just her birthday, but I like to throw in a Frozen movie reference whenever I get a chance. Big shout out to the lady at the Dollar Store for blowing those up for me.

Present time! I love the I'm not quite awake yet look on their faces.

Finding another Elsa doll was virtually impossible, but I did find an Anna doll for Addison to call her own. Which lasted about 5 minutes. Morgan scooped it up and tried everything she could to get Anna out of that box.

We also got her this salon chair so she could do her American Girl Doll's hair. She was so excited to have an AGD chair. I was excited that I got the Target knock off one for a whole lot less.

Then I forced Addison to take pictures with all of her balloons before we left the house. She loves when I do that.

And just like last year, her birthday falls during FCAT testing week. Which means I'm not allowed on school campus to do the usual classroom birthday celebration. So we continued our breakfast tradition. I told her we would go wherever she wanted to go and guess what? She chose Chick-fil-a. No surprise there. I tried to talk her into Waffle House but she wasn't having it. I dropped donuts off at the school that morning so she could celebrate with her friends later in the day.

My mom brought this chocolate cake up the day of her spa party so I put it in the freezer. I knew it would be perfect to have the night of her birthday. We did a quick Happy Birthday with the neighbors.

At this point they just wanted to get in the hot tub, so April and I ate cake. That changed after bath and she wanted her piece.

I couldn't say no to the birthday girl.

Believe it or not, Morgan did not want cake. She just wanted to play on the iPad.

I love this sweet girl so much. She's growing up and learning new things everyday. She's such a great kid. I'm a pretty lucky mom.

I hope you had the best birthday Addison! We love you!

morgan is 5

Five is kind of a big one. For her and for me. She will always be my little girl.

I love you as big as the sky and as big as the ocean. And I know you love me as big as the world. And the mulch. Because that's a lot. Happy Birthday Morgan!