Riley Turned 5!

Exactly 5 years ago today, I gave birth to this beautiful, curly haired little girl. Of course, my labor lasted the span of 2 days... so when she came out she looked more like a cone head. But she was ours and she was perfect. It's hard to believe that it's been 5 years. It seems like just yesterday we were bringing her home ~ and then bringing her back to the hospital to spend another night under the bilirubin lights to get that extra fake Jersey Girl tan. My how time flies!

Today we had Riley's party at school. I had to put together a picture board of photos from every year of her life. I also had to bring in a snack for the class, along with the obligatory cake. Since five is such a big birthday, I pulled out all the stops and made these adorable cupcakes that I saw in my latest issue of Parent's magazine. They were a dog design, and they were lovely. They were also a pain in the a** to frost! It took me over 2 hours to frost, accessorize, and gingerly place them into the large tupperware tin to transport to school.

The party at school was sweet. They sang songs to her, they danced around her, and they put her in the chair and raised her 5 times for good luck. Finally, they all got to eat their snacks and cupcakes ~ and boy were they a hit! To top Riley's special day, I also brought in a cake to her ballet class. She asked for a pink and yellow cake in the shape of ballet slippers. Another labor of love for my little love. We finished off the night by taking her to her favorite restaurant for dinner: Zozobra.

This is Riley's 3 birthday celebration in Israel. We wanted it to be memorable, so we invited her entire class (and siblings) to a bowling party next Sunday. We'll blog it with photos and video of the kids attempting to carry the 6 lb ball down the lane and throwing it against the bumpers.