My Ellie turned 12 yesterday. I’m shaking my head as I type the number 12. Cannot believe that! But it happened. Her real birthday was full of homework and dance classes so we celebrated on Saturday. First up on the agenda.. the whole family hit the mall! 
Have you all heard of the store Ivivva’s? I hadn’t. But El had heard all about it and was dying to go. I have to say.. it really was a darling store. All athletic wear for girls. All she wanted for her birthday was new clothes for dance/gymnastics. Addison and I had so much fun helping her pick a few things out. 
The boys weren’t as enthusiastic. Ha! But good sports nonetheless. About the time we made our third round trip through the store (just to make sure we hadn’t missed anything adorable) they even volunteered to go get everyone pretzels. :)
Later that night we had some of El’s friends over to party. She always requests a low key party at home with just a handful of close friends. And yellow cake with chocolate icing.
After they all ate it was time for the hot tub. I wanted to keep an eye on things, but not interfere, so I hung back. And took pictures of course. :)
It was such a pretty, calm night and I could have been entertained for hours watching the pool lights change colors and listening to the girls laugh. 
I told Ad a few days before the party she could invite one of her friends over and she and Ellie both looked at me like I was crazy. “She’s hanging with me and my friends mom!” El said .. “Yeah mom..” added Addison. I really thought that by this age they would prefer to be with their own friends, but they are still each other’s #1. Love that. Kole is quite the little ladies man and usually gets an invite too. ;)
El’s friends are so darling. I loved how all of the gifts they gave her had a personal meaning/story behind them. They would all get talking and laughing so hard. I could have hung out with them all night! Took me right back to parties with my friends at that age.
One of her favorite gifts was this emoji pillow. Have you seen these!? Too funny. That’s actually one of my most used emoji’s – ha! I think I need a pillow too. :) We gave El an iPhone for Christmas (held off as long as we could!) and I gave her the “I speak fluent Emoji” shirt and these leggings with it. There never was a more true statement. It’s her favorite outfit and she would wear it every day if I let her. :)
After cake the girls all set up their beds for the movie. Kole helped by pulling out all of his favorite toys just before I made him call it a night. I told you we do real life messes pretty good around here. :) Late at night after the party my husband drove all of the girls home. El and Ad went with him so I was alone in the house cleaning up and got a text message. “Thanks for the great party mommy!!!!! I love you!!!!” Followed by about 30 happy/love face emoji’s.
Highlight of my night. :)
The next day I went upstairs to find this. Apparently my girls weren’t quite ready for the party to be over.
And apparently my grown up 12 year old is still young enough to set down the cell phone for blanket forts with her sister and all of their “friends.”
Thank goodness for that.
:)
Happy 12th birthday my beautiful girl! xo
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Looks like it was a lovely birthday for your little girl. I think those emoji pillows are super cute. I’ve seen them around.
Thanks Jen! They are so much fun. :)
This post made me smile <3
My kids always want to have their siblings with their b'day party too.
You are such a wonderful mom. Congratulations to Ellie from other side the world ;)
Thank you so much Satu! I will tell her happy birthday from you. :) Love that your kids are close too.. it’s the best. :) xo
Adorable! As the mom of two girls (25 & 20) enjoy every minute. I bake all cakes in that glass Pyrex pan also. Love the playroom pictures.
Thanks Beth! Love that. She insists on me making a yellow cake in that pan with chocolate frosting every year. I always offer to buy her something fancier but nope.. mom has to make it the same way. :) I am really trying to enjoy every minute! I know my girls will be 20 and 25 in a blink! Hard to see them growing up, but every age brings so many wonderful things. xo
That was so lovely :) my daughter is only 4 & loves sending emojis in texts from my phone! She laughs & laughs over the ‘poo’ emoji :) haha she texts it to her dad while he’s at work…I can just imagine him opening a text of 7 lines of poo ?
Oh my word Krystal.. that made me laugh! We have our fair share of the poo emoji going on around here too and my poor husband gets emoji filled text messages ALL the time. Ha ha.. too funny! :) xo
Oh what a wonderful post! Happy Birthday a little bit late to your beautiful Addison! She’s looking so grown up! Looks like an amazing time was had by all. I’d never heard of that store (not a huge surprise, I don’t shop the mall), but it looks like a good one. The pool pics are amazing. How fun that the lights change! So, so pretty! Love that emoji pillow and her t-shirt. How fun and sweet that she includes her sister so willingly! They do have a wonderful bond. Gosh, this whole post just absolutely warmed my heart. Oh and I have to say as well your night photos look amazing! So crisp and clear. Great job, Mom! Have a great day! :)
Oh you are too kind Jeanne! I felt like those night pics were a little off in a few of them.. ha! It made me happy you said they looked clear. :) She really is looking so grown up! I still can’t believe she is 12. It will probably really sink in about the time she turns 13, right? :) Enjoy your day cutie! xo
What a sweet way to start my day! Love reading this. You’re a good mommy – giving lots of love and setting limits. Enjoy.
Thank you so much Rachael! That’s really the key to it all isn’t it? Love and limits. :) Love that. Enjoy your day! xo
What beautiful photos! I’m glad she had such a special day:)
Thanks sweet Kathy! xo
This post made me smile, Erin. On a its-too-early-ro-be-awake mornong, it was the perfect read. Happy Birthday to your sweet girl! I can’t believe how fast time goes. It only reinforces it when I look at other kids and think that too. I hope my kids will all be as close as yours are…what a blessing.
Nice job on her birthday. Also, I love your house so much. It’s pretty close to my dream house.
Thank you so much JC! It really is such a blessing that they are so close. One of my favorite things about being a mom is seeing the three of them loving and having fun with each other. I’m sure you feel the same. :) Enjoy your day! I didn’t want to get up this morning either! xo
Hi Erin!
Just wanted to let you know Ivivva is on Zulily today… ?
Have a great rest of your week!
Thanks Jenny! I’d check it out except we bought probably more than we should have on Saturday and if I bought more my husband would start looking even less enthused than he did in the store Saturday. Ha! ;) xo
Aww so fun! That is awesome that she lets little sis hang with her. She is a great big sister! That store looks really fun too!
Thanks April! She really is a great big sister. :) xo
OMG…..the photo of your boys sitting by the window at Ivivva made me laugh. I could have shot the exact same photo of my husband and son when we took my 12 year old daughter to our local Ivivva to use a gift card she’d gotten for her bday. They couldn’t understand why it took so long to pick out a pair of leggings! That’s why we usually leave them at home if we can!!
Ha ha.. I know, right!? We’ve all been there! El really wanted everyone to come. They were good sports. When I saw them sitting there looking so enthused I had to snap a picture. :)
Happy Birthday to Ellie! Gosh this brings back memories. Right down to the red couch we had in the girls playroom (which is now in the basement and needs to GO! LOL)
Ha! This made me laugh Lauren because just last night I was telling Kenny that I want that red couch gone FOR SURE this year! The funny thing is that my kids love it and want to keep it. But I am over the red! We need to toss them together! :) xo
Your daughters’ relationship with each other is lovely. I think Ivivva is just Lululemon for kids–and if you haven’t heard of Lululemon, they have great leggings :)
I just figured that out yesterday Wilma! Love Lululemon.. no wonder I liked Ivivva so much. :) Thank you Wilma! xo
Happy Birthday Ellie!!!! 12!!! wow!!! I can’t imagine it! lol I love that she still loves to include her sister that’s so sweet!
My baby turns 11 in April and if you ask me she can stay 10 for a couple more years! She’s been begging for a phone but I’m not ready! she still plays with her toys and is currently going thru the struggle of to give up her toys or to play until she feels she’s too old… I told her, you can play with your dolls all your life! I’m not ready for that shift, so we’ll just stay in denial :-)
you threw a totally awesome party if I do say so myself!
Thanks so much Aria! Oh my word.. I know exactly how you feel! El was the last of all of her friends to get a phone but I really didn’t want to go there until she turned 12 and even then I was sad to give it to her! I’m SO not ready for her to be done with all toys and dolls. It made my day when she and Addison set up those blankets with all of their toys. It will break my heart the day she isn’t interested in little girl things anymore. Hard to watch them grow up, isn’t it!? But each stage brings so many fun new things. Trying to soak it in and enjoy every minute. But we can be in denial together too. ;) xo
Love this post and a big Happy Birthday to Ellie! Whenever you write about your girls, I feel like I could be writing about mine. My girls are 13 & 11 and they are totally the best of friends and I love that! I think they would be fast friends with your girls! It seems like it was great party; glad they had so much fun!
Oh my word.. our girls are so close in age! I bet they really would all be fast friends! Love that your girls are close too. Such a special bond.. I love witnessing it and I’m sure you do too. :) Thanks cute Laurie! xo
Looks like a wonderful birthday party! Here I live (in Norway) it has been very cold the last weeks, today minus 18 celcius!! So swimming outside isn’t an option for my girls birthday parties this season. ;-)
Love your blog! It is so beautiful!
Thank you so much Eileen! So sweet of you. I know.. we aren’t the norm for January weather around here! Stay warm! :) xo
I don’t comment often, but that last picture of your girls just made my heart skip a beat. I have 2 daughters – 3, and 4 months, and I so look forward to the day when they’re each other’s best friends. I’m still enjoying the baby/toddler years, but I really can’t wait until they’re older and can play together.
Thank you Jamie! I’m so glad you said hi. :) You have so much to look forward to! By the time Addison was close to 2 my girls were playing and having so much fun together and by the time they were 3 and 5 it was bliss! They would go up in our playroom and pretend play for hours. It started to get so much easier I almost didn’t want to have a 3rd! ;) Nothing like the sister bond. But enjoy the stage you are in because it really does go by so quickly! I remember my girls being 3 and 4 months old like it was 15 minutes ago and those baby/toddlers are so precious. xo
Hi Erin! I can’t believe Ellie is 12 already! :-) Such a big girl now! Your post made me think how important it is to build beautiful memories with our children everyday and especially on these particular days of their life. It is the kind of sweetmemory she’ll cherish forever!
Thank you sweet Claire! I know.. she is growing up so quickly I can’t believe it. I think you are right. So important to prioritize time together to make memories that will last a life time. It’s the little things. :) xo
Happy Birthday Ellie! I love reading family posts like this… And I’m just a little jealous of your weather! I have an almost 4 and almost 2 yr old, plus one on the way, so I always like to read about families of five. :)
Thanks sweet Nicole! Congrats on your new addition! So exciting. You will love having three. Just enough to make it a party. :) xo
What a cute party!! I can’t even believe that she is 12. It seems like yesterday you were posting pictures of El and Ad playing and Ad in high heels by the stove. Time does fly. But I agree with you, with each stage comes new and exciting things. I tell Elle that all the time. Happy belated birthday to your beautiful girl ???
Thanks so much Cathy! I know.. wasn’t that seriously two minutes ago!? Each stage really is so precious and I know when she’s 18 I’ll miss her being 12 so I am trying to enjoy every minute! Although I do sometimes miss the high heel days. :) xo
Happy Birthday to Ellie! I can’t believe she’s 12 already. Love the shirt you got her – I may need to buy myself one! :)
Thanks Yvonne! I love it too.. let’s both get one. :) xo
I just love seeing how close your kiddos are…they are so sweet with each other! Melts my heart. I hope my children remain that close over the years.
Thank you sweet Kristin! I’m sure they will. :) xo
Happy Birthday Ellie :-) :-) :-)!!!
Thanks Kai! xo
What a wonderful post. It brought me back to my daughters’ sleepover parties. They would be at each others parties and their younger brother always seemed to get in on the fun too. They are now 20, 25 and 26 and living away from home. I sure do miss the houseful of kids that was a pretty much everyday occurance. Maybe not the mess though. lol Enjoy every minute, it goes by so fast.
Thanks Sharon! Oh I know.. such fun at every stage. I know I will miss so much when they are older and gone, but yes.. a clean house doesn’t sound so bad either. ;) xo
Happy Birthday to your sweet girl! What a wonderful party with family and friends! You make everything so special!
Thank you so much Janet! So sweet of you to say. :) xo