Happy 6th Birthday Peyton!

Peyton celebrated her 6th birthday with tons of celebrations during the month of December.

Since her birthday is Dec. 29, we usually have her party early in the month so her friends can attend before they are busy with the holidays. We had her party at The Tree House Children's Museum and the kids were allowed to run around and play in all the different rooms. One of their favorites was the "medical office" where they took turns working on Shawn and Aunt Christy. Her Hello Kitty theme resulted in a lot of pink and purple and caused her cousin to say "this is the pinkest day of my life."

On her actual birthday, we took her, Emily and her good friend Emilee to see "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel." Everyone loved the movie and the girls loved The Chipettes, especially their songs and dance moves. Later that night, we had pizza and I made a cake for her. We had lots of friends and family come over and we ended having a bigger crowd than we first imagined, but it was a lot of fun.

Today, I took Peyton to get her very first pedicure (a good excuse for me to get one as well!). She absolutely loved it and quickly acclimated to the life of being spoiled and pampered. She got her pedicure and then had her fingernails painted. I think I've created a monster!

Merry Christmas!

Our family enjoyed a wonderful Christmas season, filled with visits with family and friends, food and lots of presents! We visited with Aunt Colleen earlier in the week and exchanged Christmas presents. The girls then spent several days in West Monroe with Shawn, playing with some of their new friends from church. Everyone came back home just so we could get ready to drive back to West Monroe together to attend two Christmas Eve services. We drove home that night to get ready for Santa. The girls were tired from the trip home but were excited to get back home into their PJs and leave cookies and milk for Santa.

The girls must have been really tired from the trip because they didn't wake up until 8:30 a.m. Christmas morning! Of course, neither Shawn nor I minded. Once they were up, they raced us to the living room to see what Santa had brought. The girls were excited to find all kinds of things under the tree including new PJs, a Barbie house, digital camera and Hannah Montana Movie for Peyton and a Winnie the Pooh laptop computer, baby doll stroller and other goodies for Emily.

We barely had time to open and play with everything before we headed to Franny's for Christmas breakfast with all the family. Peyton got a cool "Plasma car" and Emily got a fancy new Schwin tricycle that drives superfast! Our next Christmas stop was dinner at Grandma and PawPaw's with all our cousins - Jacob, Brandon, Allie & Zach. The kids had fun playing together and making a gingerbread house. The girls got glittery shoes and matching sleeping bags with a flashlight and water bottle. They are ready for Daddy, PawPaw or Uncle Patrick to pitch a tent in the back yard and go camping outside!!

We've spent the last couple of days throwing packages away, finding a place for all of these toys and clothes, visiting with other friends who have come into town and popping fireworks! We all need a holiday from the holiday - now, it's time to get ready for Peyton's 6th birthday this Tuesday.

Merry Christmas everyone!