Sonia has had a birthday.
The other day, Sonia came up to me and said, "Mommy, I think you should do one of those posts where you find pictures of me from when I was little and then bigger and then bigger."
So, here's Sonia through the years.
Infant Sonia
Year One
(this cake and all the other ones in these photos are my not-from-a-box chocolate cake recipe)
Year Two
Year Three
Year Four
Year Five
Year Six
Year Seven
And that bring us to year number eight!
As usual, the night before Sonia's birthday, I crept into her room and hid a little present under her bed. This time around, I chose to leave a t-shirt for her.
Mr. FG found this on Shirt Woot a couple of months ago, so we snapped it up and saved it for Sonia's birthday. It's a little hard to find cute turtle merchandise, so when we see something like this, we usually jump on it. 😉
Now, Sonia is not the most patient soul in the world, so she opened some of her presents after breakfast.
Mr. FG had to go to work, of course, so we had dinner at lunchtime, as usual. We ate Thin Crust Pizza, because Sonia is not a fan of thick crusts.
Since Mr. FG was at work, we decided to have Sonia's cousin sleep over on her actual birthday, and then do our family celebration on Saturday night.
We decorated cupcakes together, and I'm fairly certain more sprinkles landed on the floor than on the cupcakes.
Since we spread Sonia's birthday over two days, I hid another shirt under her bed...this time a bus shirt from Dandelion Dream. Lisey and Zoe both had one, so Sonia was dying to have one too, of course.
We made her real birthday cake on Saturday...a turtle shape, which Sonia designed and frosted.
And sprinkled.
Sonia has been a big fan of sprinkles from the time she was very small.
We made turtle rolls again this year.
They're awfully cute, aren't they??
I remember to try making a fish roll for Zoe, and all was well until I tried to make a fanned tail, and then it started to look like a squid. Whoops.
After dinner came the rest of the presents. Sonia made herself a sort of present-receiving throne. She is nothing if not enthusiastic when it comes to presents.
I made her a turtle blanket since she liked Zoe's whale blanket so much.
And she was overjoyed to receive a turtle nightlight from a little local toy store.
It shines colored stars all over her ceiling at night, which is lovely, and of course since it's a turtle, that makes it all the more fabulous.
Cake comes after presents.
We snuck in some trick candles, which sparked like mad. Sonia was pretty surprised, but she did get them all blown out eventually.
Happy Birthday, turtle-loving Sonia! You add lots of color to our lives and we're glad you're in our family. 🙂
Oh my goodness, what a beautiful little thing Ms. Sonia is!!! Her eyes are so sparkly, you can just see all the love and joy she is filled with!!!
I have to say, I can really relate to that picture of you when she was 6 days old. You look so tired, yet happy. It's nice that you share a peek into your life like this. I really enjoy "sharing" in your family memories 🙂 (I hope that doesn't sound weird!!)
No, no, I understand! It's always fun to see bloggers and their families in their pre-blog days, I think.
happy birthday sonia!
Wow....it was so neat seeing her pictures! I have 2 daughters ages 5 and 1. This post brought tears to my eyes with a reminder of how quickly they grow up! Happy birthday to your little Sonia! Glad she had such an awesome birthday! (oh and I love the turtle rolls....I think I need to try these to surprise my 5 year old!)
Happy Happy Birthday Sonia! I think most of us feel drawn in by your family's love and your very frugal, giving family members. Each one is blessed with gifts that show you each know each other so well and want to bless their individuality. Such a great example of how we were all created uniquely. Thanks for your transparency and showing a smidgen of your love for each other to us.
Happy Birthday Sonia! Thanks for asking your Mom to put together a Sonia-through-the-years post. It was great!
I was struck by how thoughtful the birthday presents and celebration were. It wasn't just "a lot" thrown at a kid: presents & hoopla. The dinner rolls, cake, and turtle-themed presents were all carefully chosen to have signficance to Sonia. Very meaningful without being overwhelming.
Also loved how Mom's Xmas fox snuck into several photos being loved by others 🙂
Beautiful! Happy birthday, sweet Sonia!
I love these pictures of the birthday girl. Since mine are all grown now, posts like these bring back so many memories for me. Thanks!
Happy birthday to your darling girl! I was checking out your cake recipe (now officially printed and added to my collection). Have you ever successfully doubled it for a 9x13 cake?
happy birthday again sonia.. Hope you had a great day!
My kids have the turtle night light.... its very cute.....
Sonia is adorable! Happy birthday to her 🙂
Happy Birthday, Sonia!
(Sonia's 7 and Zoe's 6?)
Oh, never mind, now I see the 7-year picture from last year.
Uh, actually, I added that after your first comment. I'd inadvertently left out a year! 🙂
Don't tell Sonia. I'd imagine 8 versus 7 is a VERY big deal. 🙂
I think my wife would love all those turtles. In fact last Saturday we went to a new pet shop in our mall and she wanted to buy a red eared slider.
So lovely -- especially enjoyed the "present-receiving throne" -- Happy Birthday, Sonia!
I like how very thoughtful the gifts and celebration were, and how you adapted it to her dad's work schedule
I loved the turtle cake and the present receiving throne. You sure know how to celebrate in style. Happy Birthday Sonia! Looks like you had a wonderful day.
Wishing you many blessings this year!
Happy birthday Sonia! It looks like it was an amazing turtle-tastic birthday!
Adorable. Thanks for the great reminder of how it all happens too fast. I think I will make some turtle rolls. Blessings to you.
Happy Birthday, Sonia! Thank you for sharing.
Happy bday Sonia! Glad she had a sprinkleful day!
What a sweet reminder of how fast our kiddos grow up and how the most precious memories (the ones I believe they will treasure the most later) are from time and love--not money.
Silly, I know, but I want to see a picture of the stars on the ceiling!!! 🙂
Hmm. I'll have to see what I can do about that. Nighttime photography isn't my specialty, but I bet I can figure it out.
Happy big b-day to a gorgeous wee one C: Don't you sometimes wish you could just slow them down a bit?
I just stumbled upon your blog and I LOVE it! Thank you for sharing, can't wait to read more! Your little lady is beautiful 🙂
Thank you again, Kristen, for reminding me that life is about the people and not the stuff. You've got it so right. Happy birthday to your wonderful little girl!
My birthday was this past weekend as well, so I send birthday greetings to my fellow March baby, Sonia!
Thanks so much for sharing your photos and family with us! I feel like I'm your neighbor (ok, maybe your internet neighbor!) and get to share in the fun and joys of your family! And you do have SUCH a beautiful family! Thanks so much for sharing with all of us!! Hugs and kisses to all! xoxo
Did you get the sprinkles at Aldi? I recognize them. 50 cents, and my knitting group loves them!
I love how you share your family with us! Your kids are precious!
May Sonia have a zillion more such happy birthdays!