One Year Older and Wiser Too

The past week has been jam packed with so many fun things that I am just barely getting a minute to sit down and blog about them. We started off the week with Grandma W. coming into town for Banana's birthday! We are SO glad the weather cooperated and let her make it safely. Every day we have been running around trying to cram in as much fun as we could possibly manage! The girls have missed many naps and had way too much sugar, but it has all been worth it!

The highlight of the week was Banana's 4th birthday. I am still not so sure how I feel about her turning 4. I was going to list four things that I love about her, but there is no possible way I could stop at four. She is so caring and kind hearted. Her first concern is always about the people around her and she will do anything to make sure everyone is happy. If I'm having a bad day she is the first person to try and cheer me up and is always successful! She is a gorgeous little girl with big blue eyes that melt my heart, and get her out of trouble quite often. She loves learning and pushes me to learn more so I can be a better teacher for her. She has a hilarious sense of humor and loves to make people laugh. And when she grows up she wants to be a dancer/artist/pet holder (vet)/chiropractor/and a mommy. I can't wait to see what the next year brings and I am so blessed to be her Mom. She brings me countless hours of joy and the 24 hours of labor it took to get her into this world were worth it!
I have a ton of pictures from this week and had a hard time narrowing down my favorites....so you get to see most of them! :)

Banana had her pre-school Valentines party this week. She LOVED writing her name on all of her valentines and LOVED even more coming home with a box full of cards and candy!

We always start off birthday morning with chocolate chip birthday pancakes! And it gives us another excuse to sing "Happy Birthday"!

Running Man always makes a crepe paper number for the girls to get their picture taken in front of. And as you can see Banana has mastered the art of posing!

I had to throw in this pic of an ADORABLE Em. Seriously..could she be any cuter?!
After two years of her begging we FINALLY took her to Chuck E. Cheese for her bday. We only played the games, but we had such a blast. I forgot how much fun it is to just run around from game to game and just be silly. Both of the girls loved it and we're so grateful Grandma got to be there to help out!
And what restaurant did Banana pick for her bday lunch? RED ROBIN! Was there ever any doubt. That girl loves that place. Luckily we do too!

Her favorite present? Her Wii!! Lots of people have been giving us flack for getting her one and not believing that we bought it for her, saying that it's for us. No way! Thanks to her dad and uncles she is video game obsessed. She is having a blast playing it! She's been traumatized the last few weeks because Running Man sold the xbox and game cube to help pay for it, and she's been missing her Zelda. SO worth the tears when she saw the Wii!!

Banana picked a Rainbow theme for her party this year and her and I have had SO much fun planning everything we could do with it! She has been most excited about her rainbow cake. I loved making it and am super grateful it turned out!!
I also made her this rainbow banner, and she sent her friends home with take out boxes full of candy and fruit loops to make rainbow jewelry! I think I am in LOVE with planning parties now!
Thanks to an AMAZING friend Banana was surprised with these adorable cake pops! I found the idea on Bakerella and started them myself. Luckily Courtney came to the rescue when I was running out of time and stressing myself out! Courtney is amazing and I love the perks of having her as a friend! She also took a lot of pics with her super nice camera and I will post those pics as soon as I get them!
We are so sad that Grandma is leaving tomorrow and will miss having her around the house.
Oh! I almost forgot to mention one of the most exciting parts of the week for me! For the first time since Banana was born I spent a night away from the girls!! Running Man and I celebrated our anniversary/Valentine's Day and spent the night at a nice hotel. Loved every minute...especially the sleeping in part!! Thanks Mom!