Happy 7th Birthday Madison

Madison turned 7 years old last week. She has had a fun-filled week of events that finished up with her birthday party last night. Her actual birthday was celebrated in Savannah, GA. Both Brian and I attended a conference last week and so we brought the kids along. We went out to dinner at Paula Deen's restaurant with a number of the faculty. After dinner, a special dessert was brought out with a candle on it for Madison and everyone sang Happy Birthday to her. Then we took a walk on the river and one of Brian's colleagues and our new friend, Brent, took Madison into an old fashioned candy store with homemade pralines and fudge and told her she could pick out any one thing she wanted for her birthday. She chose a stick of rock candy and loved it! The next morning was her actual birthday, so we all snuggled in bed and sang Happy Birthday to her...even Hudson sang. Then she opened a few small presents and cards that we brought along with us. She was thrilled to get her first pair of hoop earrings, and excited to get some money and gift certificates. She couldn't wait to go shopping, so I took her to the mall in Savannah and we shopped at Claire's. She picked out some make-up, a pair of fake glasses (don't know why she has been dying for a pair of these), and some jewelry. Then she wanted to save the rest of her money for another shopping trip. That night we headed back home where she had more presents waiting for her. She was happy to get an assortment of clothes and dolls. She still enjoys playing with her big American Girl type dolls and was excited to get a few new friends for Eva, her doll from last year. The next day I brought a treat to her class so she could celebrate her birthday at school. The celebration continued into the weekend with her Glamour Party. This year, Madison decided to have a girl's only party where she could do girly stuff with her friends. So that's what we did! We had 9 friends over to the house for an afternoon of pampering. We transformed the playroom into Madison's Salon with a hair and make-up station. The girls also played a game where they polished their nails and got to make beaded bracelets. I made each of the girls a pillow case dress to wear at the party and take home to enjoy as their party favor. Thankfully I had two friends come with their little girls to help me out. Once we got all the hair and make-up done, we took a few pictures of the girls all dressed up. They ate pizza, opened presents, ate cake and ice cream, and then finished the night by playing freeze dance, Simon says and the telephone game. It was an all out fun girly party. All the girls seemed to have a great time...especially Madison.

Its amazing to watch her grow each year. She is still the same special girl she has always been, but is becoming much more mature. She still has the same interests and likes as last year. Her favorite color is still blue, favorite food is tacos, she loves music and wants to learn to play the guitar and the drums. She is still dancing and doing gymnastics. She is excited to participate in her first Nutcracker performance next month. She continues to excel in school and enjoys going each day. She also enjoys the weekends though because she gets to "sleep in". (Sleeping in to her right now is 8am....I know that will change!) The only new interest she really has is in playing basketball. We have signed her up for a spring team, so we'll see!
We couldn't be more proud of our precious big girl!
Happy Birthday Madison!