Ten (Because Sometimes Blogger Deletes Your Post and You Just HAVE To Repost It)

Isabelle turned 10 years old over the Easter holiday.  In the blink of an eye, a whole decade has passed since we first held our baby Belle in our arms, our forever first.  This past year brought tremendous growth and maturation, personal style and very distinct preferences.  She crosses her legs and bites her nails and loves to wear perfume.  She is the best big sister and is the most helpful girl I could ever hope for, always willing to lend us a hand with the babies.  Belle is an avid reader and almost always has a book in hand, reading to her sister every night before bed, a bed they now share per their request.  She likes to keep her room tidy but her closet messy, has a serious love affair with accessories, and takes the longest showers of anyone in the house.  Belle loves to be outdoors riding her bike, playing basketball, and exploring the woods behind our house.  She is a wonderful artist, dancer, and singer and has been working hard at learning the piano this year.  We are incredibly proud of her.

In celebration of her tenth birthday, Isabelle requested a bunny birthday cake and a trip to a local pizza/fun zone place with 3 of her best friends.  Thanks to Pinterest, I semi pulled the cake thing off, silently praying that no one examined the bunny ears (shaping mishap) or the nose (sunken cake middle, per usual).  But she loved it, proudly showing it off to everyone who came by our house!  Thank you, Pinterest, for making us mediocre, non creative type moms feel like superheros on special occasions!  The fun zone party idea turned out to be the best: the girls ran around playing mini golf, arcade games, bowling, and rode go carts.  Shawn and I walked around with the little kids "supervising" AKA playing Dance Dance Revolution with a baby strapped to my front in the Ergo.  Mama's still got it, kids.  We ended the day at our house, singing happy birthday and eating cake and ice cream.  The girls disappeared into Isabelle's room and gave each other manicures and some pretty questionable hair styles.  They were all so good and well mannered, you almost forgot about the incessant giggling and screeching at every turn.

We love you, Belle, so very much.  Happiest of birthdays, sweet girl!