Family Photos

March 11, 2012 on 5:07 pm | In Avery, Haley, Trey | No Comments

In light of Haley turning 5 and Avery hitting the the 8 month mark, we had to do a quick photo session.  Trey was already in his PJ’s but we couldn’t leave him out.  Scary how grown up trey is starting to look at 2.  Time sure is flying. 

Princess Haley!

March 5, 2012 on 10:18 pm | In Haley, Hayden and Laura, Trey | No Comments

This has been such an amazing week of celebrating Princess Haley’s birthday.  Haley turns 5 on Tuesday, March 6.  She has been counting the days and minutes for weeks!  (Which has been great for working on the concept of time and months.)  I told her a while ago what I had planned for her birthday and she has been talking about it A LOT!  I started getting nervous it wouldn’t meet her anticipated expectations.  Luckily, it was a perfect day and we all agreed we wouldn’t have changed a thing.  The celebration started out on Friday evening.  Hayden’s parents and Grandmother (Nana) was in town and we went out to Haley’s favorite restaurant- Cracker Barrel!  Of course, she wanted to dress up and couldn’t decide which princess dress to wear, so she wore two.  Ariel’s gown, with the Rapunzel gown over it…and the plastic dress-up high heels.  When we got home she couldn’t WAIT to dive into the presents.  Nana got her a new (and fancier) Rapunzel dress with matching shoes.  Mammaw and Pappaw got her several princess shirts, a beautiful sparkly silver dress, and some other nice goodies.  When we tried on the Rapunzel dress, it was a little too big so we rushed out to the Disney Store to get a different size.  I knew she’d want to wear it to her party downtown.  Mammaw, Haley, and I went- just the girls!  Haley also had some Birthday Money and we let her pick something out.  She grabbed the new Rapunzel Barbie immediately and could not be swayed to get any other item- even though she’s talked about getting a Flynn Ryder doll and Pasquale for a while.  She was hopping all around that store feeling like the Queen of the World.  They gave her a birthday crown and a button, too.  Before leaving the mall, we all took a ride on the Carousel.  It almost made me tear up because Hayden and I took Haley on the same Carousel four years ago on her first birthday…oh, how time flies.
Saturday could not have been more exciting.  Haley’s friend Ainsley came over early and the girls had a chance to play and get ready together.  Talk about a “flash forward” kind of moment…I could just see the girls giggling and doing hair together in 10 or 15 years.  Oh, I am not wishing for those days to hurry.  At 10am, Peyton arrived and the Princesses were excited to get their gift bags with bracelets, a necklace, a purse, princess gloves, and a crown inside.  After adorning themselves with all their goodies, we were off!  Prince Trey could not have looked more cute in his tuxedo…and neither could his daddy, also wearing a tux.  Once arriving downtown at the Peabody Hotel, the girls were getting a lot of “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” from the guests in the lobby.  A staff member escorted the girls to a prime spot on the red carpet to watch the ducks come off the elevator and into the fountain.  After watching the ducks for a bit, it was time to head outside, for our carriage awaited our arrival.  We hopped into the gold (Haley’s favorite color) horse-drawn carriage and were off on a tour of downtown.  The girls had a ball waving and calling out to all the pedestrians.  Some had seen the girls in the Peabody and were yelling back, “Happy Birthday, Princess!”

Hayden took the kids upstairs on the mezzanine level of the Peabody while I set up lunch.  Pink table cloth, candles, chocolate covered pretzels, heart shaped sandwiches, and of course, birthday cupcakes.  The girls drank Shirley Temples, with twisty straws, and had a great lunch together.  Again, they were quite the talk of the hotel- many patrons were taking their pictures.  Luckily, we took a full batch of cupcakes with us and were able to share with other “friends” in the lobby.  Everyone clapped after we sang and it was a special day.  We all needed a nap once we got home!  I couldn’t have been more proud to parade our little party through downtown.