These past few weeks have been a very special time for my girl, Emily. Last Friday was her 14th birthday - yay! For those who have followed my blog over the years will know that birthdays are a pretty big deal in our house.
Her special day started the night before with the wrapping of her presents and then hubby and I decorated her room while she slept. This is something we do each year and something the kids look forward to. We didn't do as much decorating this year as usual because she was embarking on a big adventure the day after her birthday - more on that later. You can see some of her previous birthday's HERE and HERE.
This year we filled her room with balloons all over the floor and 14 yellow helium filled balloons scattered over her ceiling. Yellow is Emily's favourite colour so we hoped she would love waking up to a ceiling filled with yellow.
We popped her presents at the end of her bed, and waited till the morning for the celebrations to begin.
Our girl opened her eyes on her birthday morning and this was her face upon seeing her decorated room. I think she was happy!
We all eagerly gathered together in Emily's room to watch her open her presents. Her big smile and squeals of delight made my Mummy heart very happy. I am just so grateful that we could spoil Emily with some gifts that she dearly wanted and hoped for too. Birthdays are fun!
Firstly, she opened her gift from her brother Jasper, including the most gorgeous handmade card.
Jasper gave Emily a super cute Blythe hat made by the lovely Sheree Forcier of Poppy Tree Lane.
Next she opened her first gift from us. This time it was a super cute little knitted dress for her Blythe dolls from Tinker and Pixie knits. While Emma was here, Emily borrowed Emma's Blythe dress the same as this one, and it looked perfect on Emily's Blythe doll Milly, so I was thrilled when the lovely seller Joanne agreed to make another one for us.
There were only a few things on Emily's birthday wish list this year, and we have been saving and buying a few to pop away for months now. I must admit I was bursting at the seams to see her face when she opened her gifts. Next was a pair of yellow saltwater sandals. I think she was pretty excited to receive these too.
Next up, she opened her MUCH wished for present, a wacom tablet. With Emily's love of graphic design and all things computers, we really wanted to give her this present, to encourage her with her hopes and dreams. I can't wait to see all that she creates with this too.
That brought us to the end of the presents, or so she thought. We covered Emily's eyes and brought her to another large gift just outside her birthday and covered with a vintage sheet. We decided that it was time to get Emily a new bike. After her serious bike accident several years ago, Emily stopped riding her bike. It just held too many bad memories for her, but I felt that enough time had passed and it was time to make some new and happy memories. I am SO glad that I took the risk and bought Emily a new bike - she was SO surprised and so excited to have her own retro style bike. She was out the door and riding it straight away. (please know both of my kids always wear a bike helmet when riding, we just allowed her to have a quick try of her bike without one as it was about 6am and we were both with her)
Her face said it all - we had one happy 14 year old girl.
With a little more effort than usual, Emily dragged herself away from her presents and I dropped her and Jasper off at school. At the end of the day when I picked them up, Emily had a huge smile on her face. For the first time ever, her friends had thrown her a surprise party at lunch time, complete with snacks and presents. She was totally blown away (and so was I). It was a perfect way to celebrate her special day.
We normally celebrate birthdays with a special dinner and a cake however Emily headed off to Sydney with Daddy to begin a wonderful adventure. This birthday really was SO very special. I will be back to tell you all about her adventure soon. Birthday's are so special and definitely cause for celebration... Happy Birthday Emily xx
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