Nora turned SEVEN! (in February)

Nora Elizabeth Henderson is SEVEN YEARS OLD!!!!!  I cannot believe that!  I remember her birth and the first few weeks of her life like it was yesterday (and PRAISE GOD it was not yesterday...I don't want to be that crazy new mom again).  I love this girl so much it hurts.  I am amazed at how she is growing and how she is becoming a person, her own person.  She is my first girl, the one who made me mom, the one who has taught me everything.

A few days ago I was reading an old blog post about her and felt like I was experiencing the same things with her, just 2 years later.  Matthew and I laughed about how this post could have mostly been written now...guess we know what her personality will be like, huh?  But then we talked about what a GOOD girl she is!  She really is and I need to remind myself of that daily.  She has a good heart and is a good friend.  She LOVES Rives and like Elyn most of the time.  She STILL needs an extraordinary amount of sleep (can't blame her) and when she has had enough rest, she is delightful to be around.  But when she hasn't...oh boy.  We do what we can to get her in bed as fast as possible.  I guess we have learned a bit in the past few years too.

The other night Nora said something that broke my heart.  She was out of the shower, dancing around naked in her room (like all nights) and laughing.  She all of a sudden and said, "I don't like when my legs jiggle like that."  Break. My. Heart.  I wanted to start homeschooling her that second and get rid of all forms of media.  I also wanted to be 100% okay with my own body and never complain again about anything.  Being a mom (and dad) to a daughter is HARD.  I have prayed ever since that I make her feel beautiful and loved.  Because she is both and so much more!

Here is my beautiful, amazing SEVEN year old!

The day before her birthday (Friday), we went to eat lunch with her

Decorated the outside of her door the night before.  When she got up when heard her say, "Wow!"

 Her birthday was on a Saturday, and that meant the entire day was dedicated to her!  We started off with presents.

 The favorite gift was (and still is) Wii Just Dance and Wii Karaoke.  Nora has several dances memorized and we all try our hardest to get 5 stars on karaoke!

 Breakfast was donuts, her choice!

 After breakfast, shoe shopping!  TOMS for Elyn and running shoes for Nora...my girls :).

 

And just like when she was 3, 4, 5 and 6, she wanted Chuck E. Cheese for lunch.  Sigh.  I guess I should start taking her there more so it is less of a "special" place.  Because I would LOVE to go somewhere else when she turns 8.  Sushi maybe?

 But they had fun, that's all that matters.

 That night, we had Gram and Grandpa and the Grahams over for dinner and games.  Nora's favorite foods: ravioli, green bean bundles, steak and bread.

 I had bought a white cake mix to make for her birthday...uh oh, white cake is MY favorite.  Not hers.  So, I made a homemade chocolate one.  (And killed it.)

 Nora's favorite show is Minute It To Win It.  She LOVES it!!!!!  So, the activities that night were Minute It To Win It style games.  It was super fun!

 Sleeping 7 year old.

We are going to have a larger party with her school friends in June.  We are very excited about the swim party and I hope that I am able to blog about that when it happens-ha!