Flashback Friday - Nora Jayne

Another Flashback to help catch up! This time it's Nora's turn. This girl had a great spring. Seriously...where do I begin...

Let's start with her birthday...March 17th to be exact. It was her day...and she knew it! It was spring break here and so all the kids were home all day!! My good friend Laurie (also the Mom of Ella's best friend Macy) was so sweet and offered to have all my kids over so I could run a few errands. I'm so mad I didn't snap a picture because when we arrived there was a darling homemade sign on the door that said "Happy Birthday Nora." It was so cute!! Macy had been decorating and getting everything ready for 'Nora's birthday party'! So, while I was gone the kids had a great time playing games, making Nora a birthday cake, and dressing up. Macy even gave Nora a bunch of her old dance costumes so she could dress up in them. She was in heaven and immediately put the pink sparkly one on.

Here she is in said dress helping make and eat her favorite dinner...spaghetti!!
Then came time for the presents!!Do you think she liked her presents?
A side note about the American Girl Doll Twins - When I was in Chicago in December, I got these at the store. I was looking and looking for a doll with dark curly hair and light olive skin. ...none to be found...
They were having a special on the 'twins' set, so I chose one of the African-American girls (Nora identifies strongly to her curly hair), and one I thought looked like Nora (minus the straight hair). When I got up to the checkout the woman looked at me strangely and asked if I was sure that this was what I wanted. I told her I sure was. She rung up my order and the receipt said I had ordered one African American doll and one Hispanic doll.
We like to keep it multi-cultural at our house. She adores them both by the way and promptly named them Chloe' and Natalie.One of Nora's presents was this Cinderella dress. She promptly put it on for the remainder of the evening. Did you know that on your birthday you can go to Krispy Kreme and get a dozen of their original glazed doughnuts for FREE?!! So, that's just what we did to cap off the night. It was perfect.Luckily all of Nora's little friends were in town for the Spring Break and we were able to have a party for her that weekend. The bonus was that Grandma and Grandpa Kelly came in town and were there to help celebrate. (Or maybe I should just say HELP! They were awesome and I don't know how it all would've gone down without them) I made her a castle cake that I was very proud of because I usually buy the cake. Obviously it was a princess party!As all the little girls arrived in their adorable princess outfits we had them embellish crowns and little canvas bags. My older kids were so cute and willing to help. It made it so much more fun. Ella's little friend Paris even came over to help. Nora's best little friend Natalie came dressed exactly like Nora. It was priceless.We played several 'princess' games and the kids were all so dang cute!!! I was so happy that they loved the games so much. It was so simple and they each went along with one of the Disney Princess songs. Finally it came time for the presents and Nora made out like a bandit.
Nora's birthday is the day after St. Patrick's day. I was really bummed she waited that last 3 hours to come or she would've been born on St. Patrick's Day. I guess I shouldn't complain seeing as she came a little faster than expected when she did come! Anyway, this picture is just too cute to leave out!

Another big event this spring for Nora is that we chopped off her hair. I can't believe I waited this long to do it. In my humble opinion it is the cutest stinkin' thing ever!! Here are a few angles for your viewing pleasure:At the LibraryAt CostcoThe finger cracks me up!Looks like she thinks she's pretty darn cute too!

And last but DEFINITELY not least...
...drum roll please...
Nora potty trained!!! Words cannot describe how thrilled I was/am about this. She was by far my latest and hardest. Ella and Jack were barely 2 when they potty trained and I thought I must just be really good at it. Max took a little longer, but by 3 he was a pro. Nora on the other hand...is a little stinker...yes...I know!
This girl is very head strong and knows exactly what she wants. I was convinced that it meant that she would be the easiest to train...boy was I wrong!! Anyway, you don't want to hear all the messy details, but it hasn't been until this week that I can officially say that she is trained #1 AND #2!!! Hallelujah!!
The only silver lining about it all is that she is trained at night too!

To sum it all up...Nora is an absolute joy to have in our home. I can't wait to see the person she is going to be - because let's face it...it is inevitable that she will grow up.