A March birthday post...in May

In my last post I wished Addie a happy birthday and mentioned that we took a trip back home to visit family and celebrate Addie's birthday. This is the add on to that post, the remembering (as best as I can, almost two months later!) of that trip.

This move to Kansas has been a little tough for my sweet Addie. Spending a year in Illinois, going to a great school, attending my home church, making some sweet friends and being around the comfort of family - all of this provided a really good year for Addie after transitioning from Florida, the life she'd known until she was a 3 1/2 and can recall with her amazing ability to remember. Leaving all of that was just plain hard. I told myself that she'd be fine and often kids adjust to change more quickly than adults. Those things may be true, but change is still...hard.

Since spring break here was just the week after Addie's birthday we thought it would be a good thing for her to see some familiar faces, so we took off after church on a Sunday and drove to Illinois. We had planned a casual party later that week at one of her favorite places (Chick-fil-a, which they do not have where we live now!) with family and a few of her friends. Addie was really glad to be back in Illinois and even more so, happy to see her family and friends.

Finally taking time to enjoy her cake after all of her friends went home.

 I've never known anyone who enjoys a birthday quite like Addie.  Throughout the year she wants to know how long it is until her birthday, or if she sees something she likes she'll say, "I want that for my birthday." At times it can get tiring, but when it is time to actually celebrate her day, her excitement makes it even more fun.

After our celebration in Illinois we headed to Missouri to celebrate with Sabian's family. We were staying in a hotel with a pool so, of course we had a poolside pizza party!

Wearing her awesome handmade unicorn hat made by one of our friends.

 When all of the celebrating was done, the next day it was time to hit the road back to Kansas. It was hard to leave home but we were so glad to celebrate with our families. I think it did Addie good to see everyone and we appreciate the love that was shown to our girl.

This birthday post wouldn't be complete without sharing photos from Addie's actual birthday:

Our annual birthday balloon tradition.

Pizza Hut for lunch, her choice.

We sure do love this girl. Five, not without its challenges, has been fun so far. She is fun to talk with, I still love overhearing her play imaginatively, and it is a privilege to watch her grow and learn. As hard as it will be to send her off to kindergarten in the fall, I really believe she will thrive there. Praying for her along the way.

I am thankful for this sweet, spunky girl!