I knew it was coming sooner than I had expected…but my baby girl turning 5 was not something I was looking forward to. Even now having a new baby, letting go of the fact that Brittain wasn’t my baby anymore was still becoming a difficult transition. And also? Oh, yeah…she is now very specific about what she wants to do for her birthday.

I finally talked Dan into us doing an “all inclusive” party with her friends because as expensive as it may sound up front, even trying to do a party at our house ends up costing the same (or more) after purchasing all the necessities. We ended up deciding on a place in Locust Grove called Twisted Sisters Party Parlor. It was quaint, cute, and perfect for a group of 5 year old girls. They got their hair done, their makeup done, had manicures and got to make a craft. After dressing in diva outfits they then all individually walked the catwalk to strut their stuff.

[Show as slideshow]

Honestly, it was all so perfect until…

Prior to the party I had requested an “add-on” and that was to have Cindrella make a guest appearance. It cost a little extra, but it was a specific request Brittain made so I didn’t want to let her down. There was a point during the party where I was talking to Jenny Parker. She had just gotten out of her mouth, “Well, Valerie, you’ve outdone yourself.” But then “Cinderella” walked in…

Definitely my favorite one of the group. Notice “father of the year” on the left side of this picture making sure to get that special moment of his precious daughter talking to Cinderella.

I want to make sure and say that I am not saying anything negative about this girl. She is beautiful…my only point is that she was the farthest thing from Cinderella that I have ever seen. I don’t think she even fooled the 5 year olds. But at the end of the day everyone left happy…the dads who attended especially. For weeks afterwards I had dads calling me asking if they could hire that Cinderella for THEIR birthday party…

Apparently we did a great job at planning Coleman’s baptism the exact weekend of several other important events. Actually, though, it worked out great, especially when Dan’s parents volunteered to have a lunch following church at their house instead of ours. Compared to when Brittain was baptized when I was in the ER for most of the night prior to the day, this time around was considerably more relaxed. Of course any time that Cecilia comes into town, Brittain and I especially gear up for a party.

We began the weekend as any baptism weekend should be started…with margaronas at El Toro Loco with family and good friends.

Sunday was filled with special additions to the day. To start the service off, Brittain and I sang a duet. Brittain did fantastic and I was so proud of how brave she was. I was, on the other hand, an embarrassment because I COULD NOT PULL MYSELF TOGETHER TO SAVE MY LIFE and cried almost during the entire song…and the rest of the service for that matter. I was truly overcome with emotion looking at my beautiful children and realizing how blessed I am.

[Show as slideshow]

After church everyone headed over to the Gills for a baptism celebration as well as a family birthday party for Brittain. Although her official party wasn’t until the following weekend, this was her actual birthday weekend so it only made sense to have a second party for her with just the family. There was a funny moment during lunch when Dan’s grandmother came up to him and handed him a card. She said, “This is for you and Val. Happy Anniversary.” I didn’t hear this all go down, but apparently Dan looked like he had seen a ghost when she said that to him. Fortunately, when he asked me if I knew what special day it was and I also had no idea, he felt a little better.

In trying to get ready for the day I didn’t have the opportunity to take pictures of Coleman in his special gown made my his Gramy. So, about a week after the baptism and after being able to get all the spit-up stains out of it, I took him back to the church to get a couple of pictures.

[Show as slideshow]

This child should never have any doubts of how much this family loves him. Unless, of course, you count that his name was in the bulletin one time as “Coleman Robert” and then again as “Richard Coleman.” I said he was LOVED not that we knew his name. Geez…