KAYDENCE'S 7th BIRTHDAY

Kaydence's celebration at Grandma Ann's house a few days before her actual birthday.  EVERYONE in this house loves a visit to Grandma Ann's house. We do it often in the summer time. There is always yummy food, tons of toys, individually labeled toothbrushes, and lots of hugs. As a child, I always loved my birthday at her house, but this year was the first time we started it with my kids, mostly for an excuse to spend more time with her.

Continuing the birthday tradition of presents first thing in the morning.

See, new park. This is what Kaydence picked to do on her birthday since her real choice, Medival Times, wouldn't be until the next week.

Unicorn Cupcake Cake = When Mom Rocks :)

More birthday and present time with Grandma and Grandpa "Upstairs" (a.k.a. Dana and Matt) and aunts.

MEDIVAL TIMES!! I have barely any pictures because the lighting was so bad. But also, we enjoyed ourselves so much and didn't bother with pictures. The smoke effect and the bareback white horse riding into the arena to start the show will be forever etched in my memory. Not because it was beautiful, which it was, but because I turned to watch all four little girls' faces of amazement and caught Jimmy doing the same. We smiled at each other and it seriously brought tears to my eyes. Then I bought the crappy $22 picture they took of us because it was still less crappy than the pictures I took, and I wanted something better to remember it by. That's how they get ya!

But back to Miss Kaydence...For her birthday food, Kaydence picked Lucky Charms, egg salad sandwiches, and Crockpot Italian Creme Chicken over rice. Some of her favorite gifts were Link from Zelda, Pokemon, a babydoll, and a bug-catcher.

Kaydence is still my most predictable child, and I really appreciate her for that. She has her Momma's perfectionist blood which translates, at least as a child, to liking to follow rules and doing her best at things (cough, cough, and being a tattle-tale). Her love language is also the same as her Momma's, and she needs to be touched and cuddled often even though she'll push you away when she's mad. She is the last child to start a fight in this house and is more likely to be found keeping an altercation between her siblings from erupting. Parker's sensory and speech issues make Parker easily overwhelmed, but Kaydence can calm that child and talk her into things that I could never. Then there are the days that Kaydence screams at everyone, but hey, no one can be perfect. Kaydence is resourceful and bright. She's always finding a way to fix something or make her toys accomplish just what she wanted. Her ability to learn truly astonishes me. For as rigid and perfect as she can be, she can also be so flexible and reasonable. She was my rainbow baby and I am still so grateful for her.