Happy B-Day to Mandy - More Ryen 1sts - & A Cute Craft!

Happy Birthday to MANDY, Happy Birthday to MANDY, Happy Birthday Dear Mandy, Happy Birthday to You!!!! My baby, my first born, my Mandalay Bay is SIX years old today! Oh my gosh. In 6 years she has brought so much laughter into my life and so much love in my heart. Mandy had a great day. First Ella and I made her a carrot cake and let her lick the spatula and the bowl when we were done! =) Then she had a lazy day lounging by the pool (what a life) until it was time to sing Happy Birthday and eat her cake. (She ate her cake so fast that in the photo there is an empty plate! I didn't even have time to snap the picture. LOL ) Here are some photos!

Ryen had a few more firsts this week! She cut her FIRST tooth! Well actually looks like maybe 2 on bottom and 1 on top all coming through together. So needless to say my sweet adorable baby has been replaced with a nightmare for the past couple days. Poor thing is in so much pain she doesn't nap or sleep well and she isn't eating as much. Not to mention the clear runny nose and catastrophic diarrhea that goes along with teething. Wow! Isn't this fun!? I can't wait till I can get a toothy smile out of her and post them- it will make it all worth it!! But for now I am getting red eyes and crankiness...



Ryen also had her first shower and she loved it. She sat on the floor splashing around and chewing on toys, but her FAVORITE part was sharing Mommy's towel and snuggling against me. (my favorite part too!)



She also STOOD by herself for the first time. She loves that too. She wants to stand up all the time now. I wonder if I will have an early walker on my hands like Ella...



Lastly, we have a birthday party to go to this weekend for Ella's friend Ryan and we thought we would make her a similar "garden" to what Ella has to play with. So we crafted her a pretend garden complete with foam soil, fake flowers that she can pull out and "replant" whenever she wants (and she can get more flowers to add to it). We made a cute wooden plaque with her name on it and decorated all four sides of her "planter box" with pink daisies and flower stickers. We even put Butterflies in her garden! We so hope she likes it! Here are some photos:

Front:


Back:


Butterflies:


Although this didn't take long to make, there were lots of materials involved. The basket, the foam, the flowers, the wood plaque, markers, glitter glue, pink wire, butterflies, toothpicks, stickers, etc. We had so much fun, and I can't wait to give it to her on Saturday. I just hope she likes it as much as Ella does, and that her Mommy appreciates that Ryan can now garden year round without making a mess, needing water, or killing pretty flowers! =)