Our baby is Five Years Old!

January 15, 2012 Elizabeth is five years old!

So I still have lots of photos to post from Elizabeth's actual birthday. And am so behind in all of my postings, but at my dear friend's request I am going to post photos from Elizabeth's 5th birthday party extravaganza which took place January 22nd, a week after her actual birthday. And what an extravaganza it was. Took weeks of preparation and lots of stress--but it was worth every every minute of time. Elizabeth had a Rapunzel party with 20 of her closest friends! LOL. Elizabeth was so thrilled and LOVED every minute of the party. Here are so preliminary photos I took and I have not had time to edit or touch up, but you will get the idea. I will add more commentary later. Here she is in front of the Castle Cloud. She loves all the personalized stuff. The challenge is what do I do with it after the party. Actually if I left the number off we could use it next year. I know what you are thinking, "another princess party?". What can I say? When asked what she wants to be when she grows up, Elizabeth usuallys starts with "princess". She often follows that with "doctor", "restaurant owner", etc. So maybe she will be a princess doctor

There were about 20 girls and 3 boys at the party. Each kid was cuter than the next and so well behaved and just having a ball throughout the entire party.

Elizabeth with Rapunzel. Elizabeth did not leave Rapunzel side from the moment she arrived until the moment she left. She was mesmerized by her-as were most of the girls.

Elizabeth and Mei Mei

Elizabeth and Mei Mei had a fun time playing around at the one day during the holiday. Elizabeth is donning one of her princess nightgowns which she adores--and which doubles as a "going out dress". And Mei Mei is looking her usual adorable self in her outfit--which of course she picks out herself. Somehow Elizabeth has gone back to allowing me to pick out her clothes for her. For a while she was having to do it all herself. Except of course when it comes to the Princess couture. When she decides it is a princess dress day, it is a princess dress day. And if she could wear her princess gowns to school, every day would be princess dress day.

Girls from Guangzhou

Over the holiday break Elizabeth got together with her two buddies Kaila and Sophia. Kaila, Sophia and Elizabeth and all of us came home together on the plane from China (what a miraculous day that was) in November of 2007. And now, here we are over four years later and the girls are getting together for lunch at Nordstroms cafe at South Coast Plaza in Southern California. You just have to love it...and them.

Let it Snow...Let it Snow...Let it Snow

So...who says it doesn't snow in Southern California?
Yep...it does. At least if you go to Legoland at Christmas time, it does. So on Christmas day we thought we might escape the usual crowds (aka all the Christians of the world) and head to Legoland where they had special "snow days". While the snow area wasn't as large as we had thought, Elizabeth liked it nonetheless. The snow was also a little "icey" so we had to work at not falling and doing major damage. But all in all she had a good time and is still pretty determined to get to New York and see the snow. Oh yeah.

She got the goods....

Here is just a glimpse at some of the presents Santa brought Elizabeth on Christmas morning...including a professional looking art set from La La and Re!
There are more pics and more presents, I assure you, and more pics will be forthcoming.

As you can see, Bodhi got his own thrill out of Christmas morning.