And just like that, she's five.

It's hard for this mama to believe to that my baby is now FIVE years old. Ack!  Five years - really??! Her arrival those short five years ago completed our little family.  I still remember so clearly Mike saying It's a girl! and the overwhelming mix of happiness, disbelief, and amazement that we finally had our daughter.  { s i g h. }  And now our lives are filled with tea parties and Barbies...dance classes and dolls...dress-up and hairstyling...and more sweetness, sass, hugs, kisses, cuddles, and happiness than we ever thought possible.

So the birthday celebration included a whole weekend of activities. Because when your big day falls on a Monday, the only thing to do is start the party off on Saturday! A visit from Grandma D, who came bearing some very girly gifts, kicked things off.  (Please excuse the ratty hair - we had just gotten home from the pool!)

Exactly what Riely wanted:  ruffles, pink, and lots-n-lots of TULLE!

On Sunday, with Riely dressed in a new tutu and tiara, and her doll Rebecca fancied up for the occasion as well, we headed out for a girls afternoon:

We met Aunt Ali and Ava for lunch at Red Robin and Riely opened her gift of a new lunchbox (she'll be eating lunch at kindergarten this fall, so a lunchbox was on her wish list!)

After lunch, we all headed to the American Girl store - holy girl heaven! Rebecca had her hair styled and ears pierced at the doll salon while Riely got to shop.  Oh the selection!

The girl likes stars - wonder where she gets that??

Picking up Rebecca required an official "mommy" signature!

The final activity of Sunday was a trip to Claire's to get the birthday girl's ears pierced. She was a bit nervous (but probably less so than mommy and daddy!)  And luckily there was a big teddy to offer comfort:



Just a few tears after the fact, which were helped with a lolly.

And a few minutes later, all was right with the world.  Sparkly earrings can do that for a girl.

Of course, no birthday celebration would be complete without Nana & Grandpa's tradition of serenading the birthday person via phone.  Riely found the off-key singing to be quite hilarious.
 

And on Monday...the actual birthday... Riely donned her "birthday dress" (and tiara, of course!) and more gifts were opened.

We spent time at pool, and then wrapped up the weekend with some perfectly pink cupcakes:

Happy Birthday, sweet baby girl!  We love you!