I came home from Book Club on Thursday night (at 10pm on a school night) and all four of my kids were still awake, including this little munchkin hiding under the kitchen stool.
But instead of getting upset....
I tucked her in bed and decided I was glad she was still awake as I realized this was the very last time I could tuck my 5 year old into bed.
Even Riley was sad and wanted me to take one last picture of her with her 5 yr old sister and roommate. Ella, as you can see, was nothing but bursting with excitement!
And before we all knew it, the night was over and we all woke up to this cute 6-yr old!
She requested breakfast in bed with pancakes, milk and yogurt.
And then I surprised her at school with Chick-fil-a for lunch.
And got to watch her do her "job" (I have no idea how she was the one selected for this, but she took it very seriously!) of helping to tell the kids what to put in the recycle bin and what to put in the trash bin.
And then I picked her up from school wearing this adorable birthday crown from her teacher.
We don't go out to eat very often with all 6 of us, but how often do families have their first and last babies born the same week? I call them my "bookend birthday babies". Ella was due on Lacey's birthday, but was born three days later. So every year, my bookends turn a year older together. So, since we were celebrating two very important birthdays in the family, we figured it was a night worth celebrating out on the town!
Daddy with his birthday beauties
We chose to go to Uncle Julios for two reasons. 1) We'd never been there and had heard good things and 2) they are famous for this "chocolate piñata" dessert.
Ready to whack!
Ready, set, go!
Yum!!
The chocolate piñata was full of fruit and churros. And came with various dipping sauces. It was so good!!
The "After" picture. We all loved it! The experience of it as well as the deliciousness!
Then we came home and opened some family presents.
Then, the following morning (yesterday), we got the house all ready for her emoji-themed birthday party.
Once all her friends arrived, we played drop the "poop emoji" (chocolate chip) in the emoji cup.
And played "pass the poop emoji" (what can I say - all the game ideas I looked up involved the poop emoji - go figure 😏) This was actually really fun. I found a stuffed poop emoji that came with a little music box inside. So you squeezed it and passed it around and as soon as it stopped playing, that person was out. Then, you squeezed it again. They all loved it!
And then played Emoji bingo.
And then had lunch.
Followed by Ella's requested "donut cake in the shape of 6 with alternating strawberry, chocolate and maple donuts."
Then the kids went on a scavenger hunt.
Which led to an emoji piñata!
Piñatas have become a Strom family birthday party tradition and are always the highlight of every party!
And then we wrapped it all up tonight with inviting Dave's family over and doing a family birthday celebration.
And we realized that this is the only time in their lives where Lacey will be exactly double Ella's age. So, it's a particularly special "bookend birthday."
I wrote in my journal that, because she was born with the cord wrapped around her neck and because she had a bowel movement in utero, they needed make sure she hadn't inhaled any meconium, so for the first time, I wasn't able to hold my baby right away. Instead, two people from Peds were there to immediately take her and make sure she was okay.
From my journal (after they returned her to us with a clean bill of health): "We both held her and just soaked her in."
"When Dave left last night, we were leaning toward Ella Grace and while he was here today, we both decided we still felt that way, so around 11:30/noon today, we settled on Ella Grace."
"She is perfect and we are so blessed."
"With a barely 6 yr old, 4 yr old, 2 yr old and 2-day old, I have no idea how I am going to do this..."
8 days later, I wrote this: "My sweet Ella Grace is just that - so, so sweet. She is such a good baby. She sleeps a lot and only cries when she needs something and quiets right down once she is tended to. I am so in love with her. I wish I could hold her all day long and just snuggle her and soak her in. Given the fact I have 3 other young children and a house to keep up, I can't, but I'm grateful I'm nursing because every few hours, it forces me to drop what I'm doing and just hold my little girl."
Happy Birthday, Ella Grace. I'm so glad you are still little. You still let me hold you and you still have all your little baby teeth and you still love to sleep with me and snuggle me almost every night. I love every square inch of you, my sweet baby girl.
